Happy New Year, dear reader. First off, I want to welcome new subscribers, noting you could be excused for wondering what happened to the newsletter you signed up to receive. Because this is the first issue since the end of November last year.

By way of explanation and partial excuse, on December 2 I headed off to Colombo, Sri Lanka, to deliver a keynote at a conference there. That went well, and so did I for a couple of days, then came home with a very debilitating influenza A, which knocked me out for a good two weeks – then I had a recuperative vacation. But now I am back and rearing to go.

In this issue, first a nice chewy bite with some facts and figures for 2018 on the key social networks for business. Then, perhaps confirming what some suspected, a post on the implications for brands and marketing from a survey showing social networks are the preferred medium for a majority of Americans announcing important life events. And finally, an informed, thoughtful look at the implications of Facebook’s latest limiting of the reach of (business) pages in favor of personal profiles. Happy reading!

3  Top Stories This Week

Social media facts and figures: Booming Business in 2018

Pooja Agarwal

Struggling to keep up with the constantly changing world of social media? Don’t lose sight of your best advocates, influencers, and adversaries in the shuffle. Here’s a peek at the top social media networks with key audience demographics and usage characteristics.

Americans prefer sharing life’s milestones with their social network than in person

Eileen Brown

The rise of social media has forged a seismic shift in the way people share life’s milestones with friends and family. More and more of us are announcing our significant events online on social platforms. 

Facebook Announces Coming News Feed Changes Which Will Reduce the Reach of Page Posts

Andrew Hutchinson

Publishers have long seen it coming, and Facebook has made no secret about it, but now The Social Network has confirmed that they’ll be making concerted moves to show users more posts from people they know – and fewer posts from Pages.

Laser Coaching – Special New Year, One-off Offer

Would you like support in clarifying your opportunities, challenges and goals for the year ahead? Consider a laser coaching session to drill down rapidly to what you really know and desire for a great year.

Laser coaching works on the principle that there is a truth in every situation, a truth that may not always be obvious. Laser coaching brings that truth to the surface and supports the process of facing it square on, and then deciding on appropriate action. When describing the laser coaching process, coaches often quote the saying “The truth will set you free – but it may piss you off in the process”. 🙂

For one week only, till midnight January 25th (US Pacific time), I’m offering a “two for the price of one”, that is, an additional, bonus (i.e. free!) session to be taken up any time between now and December 31, 2018.

PS: if you would like to receive Social Business Bites in your email inbox, you can register for that at this link. And remember there is an easy unsubscribe link in every update).