How to Make a Facebook Application Using Widgetbox to Promote Your Articles on AC

If you are a content producer, it is a good bet that you are fairly web savvy. While you may not be able to develop your own software, you certainly know how to utilize user-friendly sites and applications. This level of computer competence is all you need to create your own Facebook application to promote your articles on AC. Log in to Facebook and then click here to see the one I created. (If you are not already on Facebook, click here to set up your account before you proceed.)

Preparation
All you need to do to get ready to make this process go smoothly is your XML URL for your Content Producer page. You can get this by viewing your AC profile page and clicking on the bright orange RSS button right above where your articles are listed. When the page loads, write down the website address shown at the top of the page. This is the XML URL. Now you are ready to make your Facebook application!

Make Your AC Widget
Click here to begin working on your widget in a different frame. First you will need to create a profile on Widgetbox. This must be done before you create your facebook application. From the homepage, click on the "Make a Widget" button. On the following screen, choose the "Blog/Feed" option. This is the best option because you are using the RSS feed from your CP Profile. Fill in the box that appears with the XML URL and click Continue. On the following page, customize your widget however you want. (I would strongly suggest choosing "listed" under Gallery Listing) When you're done, click the "Publish Blidget" button. Congratulations! You now have a widget you can customize to place on your blog or other webspaces that will automatically update every time you are published!

Turn Your Widget Into a Facebook Application
Once you have created your "Blidget", you can choose to create a Facebook Application that will allow you and your friends to place your Blidget on your Facebook profile. The best part is it requires absolutely no coding or technical knowledge on your part! To start, while you are logged in to your Widgetbox account, click on the "My Widgetbox" tab at the top of the page. This should list any and all widgets you have created. Locate the widget you created for your AC content and across from it's title should be a little button with the Facebook logo. Click on it to begin creating your Facebook Application. The instructions will appear at the top of the page and the bottom of the page should show an interactive screen of your Facebook profile. Follow the directions exactly. You do not have to understand why you are doing each step, just be careful to follow the instructions appropriately and you will be fine. As you complete each step, click to confirm that you are done with that instruction. There are about five pages worth of instructions, but the steps are very simple and you can complete them very quickly. When you are done, be sure to invite your friends to add your application to their facebook profiles. This will increase the number of people who see your work and they might even subscribe to it themselves!

In addition to the ways you choose to publicize your widget and your new Facebook Application, by choosing "listed" under the Gallery Listing option in the customization features, your blidget will be listed in the Widgetbox Gallery. This will allow others to peruse and add it to their own blogs or webspaces. As you can see, the benefits of making a widget and Facebook application can be very far reaching without a ton of effort. As with all other promotion techniques, you will have the most response if you are a prolific writer and you write quality, relevant content. So your best bet is to take a little time now to set this up and then return your focus to what you really want to do- write!