What is Facebook?
And how can I use it for personal vs. business uses?
“Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work,
study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.”
Facebook began as a way for a group of alumni to keep track of each other after leaving college. It still is a great way to reconnect with classmates from college and high school, but now has become so much more. The number of people who are on Facebook is astronomical and it’s now the most-used People Search Engine on the web. All age groups are represented, and you would be hard-pressed to not know someone who is on Facebook.
Can Facebook be used as a professional tool? Absolutely. Everything is moving toward electronic mediums, and people are becoming more adept at communicating with all of the new tools at hand. Recently, there has been a rash of businesses creating professional profile pages on Facebook from bars, restaurants, clubs, artists, entrepreneurs, and many more. In today’s marketplace, it is critical to think outside the box, and Facebook is one way to innovatively market your business.
If you are unfamiliar with Facebook, it is like anything else that is new. It takes time to learn both the basics as well as the more advanced features. There may be an intimidation factor, or you may have heard something negative. My take is that it is normal to be fearful of any new medium. When the telephone was first invented, some people were just as intimidated or saw it as being a negative step.
And, yes, Facebook can be very beneficial to market a business. Maybe even yours. If you are looking to use Facebook professionally, here are just a couple of tips. And, if you still have questions on using Facebook, please feel free to give me a call.
- Take some time to become familiar with the privacy settings. A little time taken can alleviate a lot of headaches. Set the privacy settings to meet your needs.
- Use the feature that allows you to download your address book to find friends who are on Facebook. This is the quickest way to add people you know to your profile. Plus, the nice thing about Facebook is that you can select who you want to be added to your friends list, and likewise you do not have to add someone if they request you to be their friend. Choose your friends wisely.
- If you are concerned with mixing business with pleasure, then create a professional profile and a personal profile. Create two separate pages.
- Use the applications that are available on Facebook. There are several business-focused applications, but one that can be used either for personal or a professional purpose is the event calendar. If you have a grand opening, for example, you can use the calendar to promote it electronically at no cost. Use the entire tool kit.
- They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so it may not be in your best interest to post those pictures of the wild party you had last weekend. Also, whatever you say or do can be viewed as a representation of your brand. Be conscientious about what you share with the world.
- Understand that everyone uses Facebook differently. Be considerate of others. No one likes to be hassled in person by a pushy, overbearing sales person and the same applies online. Be respectful of others. Bryan Hayes is a writer, social network facilitator and relationship advisor. Bryan works with business owners and companies, showing them how social media can be used for them instead of against them. If you have any questions regarding Facebook, or other online solutions including website development, Bryan does one-on-one consulting as well as group instruction. He can be contacted at (561) 866-0976 or BryanWhayes@aol.com