FaceBook.com has become the most popular site on the Internet. Several thousand new accounts are being created every day. What makes FaceBook so popular? How can you use it for your business? There is something really big happening in the world of Internet business. Social Networks are becoming key elements of any online business strategy. Why? People trust their social networks. People know how to use Social Networks. Search Engines know how to index Social Networks. Social Networks are the future for many reasons. FaceBook is the most popular social network, so let’s start there.

Focus on FaceBook

There are tons of social network sites out there. Many of them are very good. Plaxo.com, LinkedIn.com, YouTube.com, MySpace.com, Twitter.com, and dozens more. The best strategy is to be on all of them. But do you have the time to maintain ten or twenty social networks? Most people don’t. I love all those social networks and many others I haven’t listed.

FaceBook.com is the most popular website on the Internet. That’s the main reason I recommend you focus on FaceBook. The marketing principle is, “Go where your customers are.” And everyone’s customers are on FaceBook.

FaceBook – Your Online Professional Network

Do you participate in any professional networks such as BNI, Chambers of Commerce, etc? The principles of professional networking apply to online professional networking:

• Meet as many people as you can
• Help them achieve their goals and they will help you achieve yours

If you will use FaceBook as an online version of professional networking, then all the concepts of helping others, lead exchange, and making friends will all make perfect sense. It’s not just about silly updates, it’s about building relationships.

The benefits of online professional networking are:

• Network with thousands of people on a daily or weekly basis
• FaceBook supports video, email, public messages, private messages, groups, photo albums, business pages, and introductions
• It’s free, fast, and easy – less time consuming than any other type of networking
• Spam free since you can unsubscribe from anyone easily
• FaceBook can show your blog posts too

Getting Started on FaceBookCreate a personal profile. This has your photo, your friends, and your personal stuff. You are a human before anything else. If you search FaceBook for “Jerry Hobby”, you will find me, the person, and it will show me and my various interests, groups, or whatever. Start there. Get signed up and invite people to become your friends. FaceBook will walk you through the process.

Get to know FaceBook . Make friends, post updates, photos, and all that. Personally I become friends with everyone who asks. I don’t have to know someone in real life first. Set a goal to make 25, then 50, then 100 friends. When you create your account, be sure to add me as a friend too.

Update your status. This is the big lesson. I don’t care to know if you are walking your dog or making a cheese sandwich. But I also don’t want you to spam me with ads for your MLM opportunity or whatever. This is the part that takes practice. The key is to be entertaining, conversational, helpful, humorous, etc. You can market gently. I post updates to tell my friends about blog posts, etc. There is nothing wrong with a little self promotion. It’s about balance. You want to treat these people like friends, not prospects.

Post Private Messages. This is how you can send referrals to people and get to know them better. This is really email inside of FaceBook. You will take your FaceBook network to the next level with private messages.

Join Groups. FaceBook groups are nice ways to meet new people. Be sure to participate.

Create Your Business Pages. FaceBook business pages are also called “Fan Pages”. You can create as many as you like. Create one for each business you own or manage. It is like a FaceBook profile and has basically the same features. But it is identified as a business page and the search engines understand that. Then you invite people to become “fans” of your business page.

This structure allows you to have personal friends, multiple business pages, and recruit fans of those business pages. You can post updates on your business page or on your personal page or in groups. The whole structure is very well thought out. People who don’t care about your business does not have to read those updates if they don’t want to. All your interests are divided into business, personal, and group interests.

Don’t forget to add “Jerry Hobby” to your friends network. Get started today and build your personal and business network on FaceBook.