One of the most popular searches on Google is ‘Using Facebook For Business’ and with good reason. Facebook is a phenomenon that offers new ways to find customers and develop relationships. It can also help to build and reinforce your brand.

In this article I will outline some of the practical steps that you can take if you wish to use Facebook for Business.

• use your Facebook Profile – a full-detailed page becomes available once people connect to you and it is your opportunity to create an impression and stamp your personality.
• use Facebook Groups – you can set up (or join) a group on any topic. Within groups you have the ability to post text, discussions, photos, videos and links. As the owner of a group you can also send out messages to your members as often as you like. Members of groups can invite others to join and so it possible for a group to grow exponentially in a very short time. With popularity comes spam – so you will have to devote more time to moderating your groups as they grow larger.
• Facebook Pages – a Facebook page can include HTML, Flash and Facebook applications. Fans can sign up to your pages (and pass them on to their friends) and you can again send messages. DonâEUR(TM)t do anything naughty though, pages are monitored closely by Facebook!
• News Feed and Mini Feed – the News Feed is what you everyone sees on their login page. It is a summary of what’s going in your Facebook world – what your friends are doing, which applications they are installing, which groups they are joining – even simply changing their image, you get to know. The feeds are amongst the most powerful aspects in using Facebook for business. Consider this for a moment. In our viral marketing campaign, we connect with others and when they connect, their connections see the connection through their News Feed. Should some of their friends decide to connect, then their friends see the connection. And the chain reaction goes on.
• Groups, Pages and Feeds – the foundation to viral marketing. What many organizations fail to do in trying to use Facebook for business is to apply what Malcolm Gladwell calls ‘The Law of the Few’. There are three types of people who have disproportionate impact on others – connectors (know lots of people), mavens (find new information) and sales people (persuaders). These are the people that you want as fans for your pages and members of your groups. By targeting these people, rather than indiscriminately trying to connect with hundreds of people, your marketing can take on a life of its own. Your marketing will be driven by people who know your target audience and whom your target audience trust. The key principle is that using Facebook for business requires a rifle rather than a shotgun approach. You may be wondering how you get these connectors, mavens and salespeople on your side. The answer is simple – by offering something of value to them. Involve them in pre-launch activities, send them products for testing, ask for their opinions, hold events. You may notice the similarity with classic PR activities. That’s exactly what they are. In the digital, socially-connected world, these people are the new journalists.
• Facebook Events
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  – Facebook Events is an interface for promoting … events. You can create a page and invite friends to events through facebook and receive replies through the system.

• Notes and Photos – you can share photos and blog posts and by ‘tagging’ they can appear in your friends’ News Feed. This is not an opportunity for you to broadcast your stock product photos. You need to be creative in everything you do. It is the unusual and different that gets passed on. Bore them and you will be ‘disconnected’.
• use Facebook marketing applications such as Facebook Video, social RSS to promote your blog, IEndorse for testimonials and the various applications to connect with business networks such as LinkedIn and Xing.
• Marketplace and Networks – in the past heavily spammed and so tread with caution.

Using Facebook For Business – The Key Principles

To summarize, to make the most effective use of Facebook for business you should:

• participate by offering valuable and unique input
• be proactive and create groups, pages and events
• identify and network with ‘the few’
• get involved regularly – this is a hands-on activity

Paul Taylor, MA(Oxon), MBA, member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and creator of the Internet Marketing Program an internet marketing approach for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

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Facebook is one of the most prominent social networking sites. When blended with affiliate marketing, it can generate enormous income.

There are many ways that allow you to make money on Facebook. Facebook is one of the best social networking websites. People are unaware of the fact that Facebook also offers good earning opportunities. This site enjoys enormous user traffic every day. If you would like to promote any product or services, you can utilize Facebook as a platform to sell your products and earn good income. You can create a page on Facebook to exhibit your product and other information. Make sure that your Facebook profile is attractive and quite interesting so that it keeps the user glued to your page and keeps them flipping to read more.

Though there are many ways to promote your product and services, affiliate marketing is considered as one the optimum methods of earning income. Affiliate programs with Facebook are an efficient way of generating traffic toward you webpage. To make money on Facebook you should associate with others who belong to the same niche. This will help you get decent traffic who can view your Facebook page which is linked with your website. People would land up on the page which has the affiliated advertisement by clicking the link on your Facebook account. You can also purchase Facebook ads to onset affiliating. Join groups according to the niche of your product and then inform them about your product and services. You can also draw exposure towards your site by writing ‘Facebook’ notes to your associates and other members. Facebook affiliate is a productive way of earning but even better is two tier affiliate programs.

Two tier affiliate programs are added advantage to affiliate marketing. This method includes more than one sub-affiliate under one affiliate that uses the same affiliate program link. As you earn decent money with typical affiliate marketing programs, you stand a chance to earn excess income with two tier affiliate-programs. Numerous users adopt this technique to make money on Facebook, as this method generates extra income for you. All you have to do is sign up numerous sub affiliate to promote the same product as you do. Every sale transaction made by your own affiliated page link generates good income for you. Additionally, you also gather commission from the revenue earned by the company, through sub affiliates. Since this technique offers surplus money it is considered amongst the best ways to make money on Facebook.

To learn more about how to make money on Facebook Click Here. Or to see how Troy Pryczek can mentor you to make money online, and to claim your FREE! Internet marketing training videos visit http://www.BecomeAnOnlineGuru.com

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There are a growing number of social media sites being used by businesses in their company marketing efforts. The secret to using social media effectively is not to be everywhere, but instead to have an online presence where your current and prospective customers are online. Contrary to what many believe- Facebook is not just for college students or for personal use. Facebook is increasingly being used by companies in many creative ways such as to build their brand image, to drive traffic to their website and blogs, to announce or get feedback on new products, manage their online reputation, attract employees, communicate company information, and as a means to intercept potential prospects. For many companies, this increased company communication is leading to enhanced relationships with current and prospective customers. In this article, I will outline how a planned internet marketing approach can lead to positive results for your business. I will begin the article by addressing a few common misperceptions about Facebook that I hear most frequently from my clients. Next, I will detail how to use and set up the various sections of a Facebook account. I will conclude with several recommended applications that will add functionality to your company Facebook page.

Common misperception #1: Facebook is only for personal use

Each time I give presentations on using social networking sites for business there is the perception in the audience that Facebook is only useful for communicating with friends and family. Facebook started as a closed community for college students, and has not been as effective as Linkedin at highlighting the business page and advertising features. However, Facebook continues to grow in use by companies looking to reach the more than 200 million active users, and has very powerful and targeted demographic tools that help companies to hone in on their target market.

Common misperception #2: Facebook is only for college students

According to the Facebook Press Room page, there are more than 200 million active users on Facebook and a million new members are joining each week in the U.S. alone. Contrary to what many of my audiences believe- more than two-thirds of Facebook users are not in college. According to comscore.com, more than 50% of Facebook’s users in the U.S. are over 35; the single biggest age demographic in the U.S. on Facebook is now between 35 and 44, and Facebook’s fastest growing age group is 55 and older. They also reported that Facebook ranks as the top social networking site in the majority of European countries.

Common misperception #3: I am too busy for this, and besides-it is not worth my time

Some of the reasons why social networking sites like Facebook are increasingly being used by companies is because they provide businesses the opportunity to easily and efficiently communicate regularly with the people in their network. Networks can include people with whom they are currently doing business, people whom they would like to do business, vendors, and potential business partners.

Social networking sites like Facebook are serving as an adjunct to, and in some cases, replacement for, traditional means of communication such as newsletters and direct mail. Facebook can be used to regularly announce or get feedback on new products, spotlight new employees or existing employees accomplishments or talents, reward customer loyalty, promote special events and special offers, as well as to create partnerships. According to a Forrester Research interactive marketing online research survey (March 2009): “40% of companies surveyed expect to cut direct mail budgets, while 35% will decrease newspaper spend, and 28% will slash magazine money in order to spend more in interactive media.” Some companies have reported that by using these online means of communication they have reduced their marketing budget while at the same time increasing sales.

Why Social Networking works:

What companies that use social networking sites are finding is that these sites allow them to more regularly communicate with people, vendors, clients, colleagues, and prospects, which, in turn, helps business understand their customers needs better, increase trust, and therefore build better business relationships. Most people know that Facebook has been helpful as a tool for connecting or re-connecting with friends, family and co-workers. And most understand that even the personal connections have the potential to become new business opportunities-so it makes sense that Facebook can be used to communicate with those in the business milieu.

How to Set Up a Facebook Profile:

To make use of Facebook you need to set up an account. After registering you need to do the following in order of importance:

1. Create a Profile

In order to begin to use Facebook you must create a profile detailing information about yourself. Based on site policies, you can create only 1 profile, and it must be tied to a human name, preferably your real name, not a business name. We will review setting up your business page later in this article, but first you must set up your personal profile. If you are a married female, use your maiden and married names so more people can find you. Facebook has a “Friend Finder” feature that allows users to search for people by school, company, or organization. In order for people to find you -you must so be sure to list all of your previous schools, organizations, employers, in your profile. Thoroughly complete the “About Me” section to describe your business and what services or products you offer. In the “Information” box on your profile page, you need to include links to your website address, newsletter, blog and other business information such as your company contact information, logo and a photo of yourself. Your profile page should be considered your “branding” page or your marketing campaign. If you are working for a company-you don’t have to list all your personal interests-just limit your entry to listing your professional interests. You can syndicate your blog on your profile page. By doing this you are enabling any post that you make to automatically appear on your profile page and all of those people who are connected to you will see it.

2. Build Your Contact List

Facebook was created based on the concept of connecting with friends. You can send and receive “friend requests” and once accepted, your friend can view your profile and you can view theirs. To begin connecting with people that you know, you can either import your address book/ contact database, or you can also search Facebook for individual people.

You can also view the friends list of each person with whom you are connected. If you know any of your new friend’s connections, or you would like to know them-you can send a connection request. You can grow your friend list by inviting all your clients, business associates, customers, family, friends, co-workers, school alumni, neighbors, and anyone else you think would be interested in connecting. I would suggest also using the search feature on Facebook to look up people with whom you have lost contact. After befriending -your profile will show up on all your friends’ pages. Therefore, the more friends you have- the more pages your profile will appear-leading to more people who will see your page and possibly get in touch with you.

3. Communicate by using Wall Posts

Each Facebook member has a “wall” where friends can post messages. In the business networking world, this is the online equivalent of calling them on the phone. You can send a complement to a colleague on their work by writing this on their wall, comment on their new service or product offering, or communicate an upcoming training or networking opportunity.

4. Update Your Status

At the top of your Facebook page is a status box. When you post a status update, everyone in your friends list can see your update on their home page. For business owners, this is the place to share tips, promote events, post blog updates, announce new products, links to your affiliate programs, links to interesting video or audio presentations, websites, articles, and newsletters.You can add updates as often as you are able in the ” What’s on you mind?” box. These will appear on all of your friends’ pages so ensure that they are meant for everyone on your friend list, and are professional in nature. Otherwise, you risk people removing you from their list.

5. Participate in Groups

Online groups allow you to network virtually with potential clients and peers. You can also join Groups on Facebook that are related to your work. There are groups for therapist, teachers, coaches, and every conceivable profession. You can network, and learn from experts in the field. Another way to maximize the potential and relevance of these groups is to start one of your own. There is no cost to do this and this is a great way to improve your company’s visibility. For example, I started a group for mental health facility administrators in Boston. This group is now a resource for sharing best practices and may over time lead to mutual referral relationships. To access groups, start from your Facebook home page, view the list of applications and click on “Groups.” You can browse through thousands of groups by area of interest, by industry and geography. There are an incredibly varied selection of topics and professions all over the map.

6. Build Your Friends List

For business purposes, it makes sense to have as many friends as possible. One way to do this is to join a group and send connection requests to fellow members with a note letting them know of your interest in connecting with them on Facebook. Just as you would with an in-person business introduction, be sure to check out their profile and learn about what they are currently doing. Networking always works best when there is a two-way exchange. Find ways you can be helpful to them such as introducing them to a colleague or potential business partner and they may likely reciprocate and return the favor. Also, create your own events page, or post on the Facebook “Events page.” You can even see how many RSVP and get feedback from attendees.

7. Create Fan Pages

Because Facebook requires that a profile be designated to a person, not a business, they have instead provided the ability to create fan pages. You can create a fan page for a business, book, product, author, speaker, celebrity or just about anything else you want. To create a fan page, scroll all the way down to the bottom of Facebook and click on “Advertising” (don’t worry, this is free to set-up). Next, click on “Pages” at the top of the screen. You will find some helpful explanations about how pages work, along with the link that will allow you to create your own fan page. Once your page is created you can add links, events, discussion boards and other features that make them interactive. Your updates from your fan pages will appear on your profile so your friends will know about them. You can invite people to become a “fan” of your page as an alternative to sending friend requests which will help you to further cultivate an online community

8. Use the Marketplace

Facebook has an online marketplace that allows you to list your services and products at no cost. This is a great way for you or your company to get exposure. You can also use the marketplace to find items or services that you need.

How To Set Up a Business Page on Facebook

Setting up a business page is easy. Just log in to your profile page and scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Then click on “Advertising” or by following this link: http://www.facebook.com/business That will bring up a page with the blue links one of which is called “Pages.” Click on Pages, and then click on the green “Create a Page” box on the right of the screen. You can now start filling this information in to create and customize your business page.

After you create your business page, Facebook will automatically add an application called the “Page Manager” which should be located on the top and left side of your log. Again choose Facebook Pages, then choose the best category for your business. Click this link to load your business page where you can then edit and add to the existing content.

It is important that you choose the name of your Facebook page carefully because the page name will become your key word search terms, and is the only text that is used in a search on a Facebook page. Once your page is in place, you can add applications that help to enhance how you represent your company in your own unique way. To find applications for Facebook, click on “Applications” in the upper left corner of your page, or search for them at this link: http://www.facebook.com/apps Applications are fairly easy to install and to set up. If you have difficulty with any one application-please note that there is often more than one application available to accomplish the same task.

Facebook Applications for Business:

Simply RSS : This allows you to display up to eight RSS feeds on your Facebook page and display the feeds from your business’s main site and newsrooms.

Upcoming: Add all of your events to upcoming.org, and you can easily display them on your Facebook page with Upcoming’s Facebook application.

My Flickr: Display photos from your Flickr account using this application. These photos can include logos, product photos, photos from events, etc.

Posted Items Pro: Allows you to embed multiple YouTube, Yahoo, and Google Videos, music mp3s, sites, files, and more onto your profile and Facebook pages. You can add any variety of these elements, making it great for a media center or press section.

Twitter APP: If you have a Twitter account this application will automatically pull your tweets into your Facebook status, and it automatically installs a Twitter-themed icon letting all you friends on Facebook know that you are on Twitter. It also saves you time in updating and ensures that you have some profile activity to keep you relevant. If you are not on Twitter yet-you can add this at any time.

By implementing these applications you will be creating an interactive page that gives visitors a more complete understanding of your business.

Make the Time to Stay Relevant

In order to stay relevant on Facebook, you need to continually update your Page and use the site. If you do not have the time needed to do this consistently- then I would suggest you hire a copywriter or social media consultant to help. The more actions you take, the more you appear in a fan’s News Feed. This keeps you in their mind, and in their friend’s feeds when they interact with you. But updating content will do more than keep you on the News Feed; it will also help make your Facebook Page one that people will return to by offering fans an incentive to continue to read your content and return to your page. There are many ways to do this such as providing exclusive content, special promotional pricing, exclusive contests, product previews, or privileged access to company events.

I hope this information has been helpful to you in getting started in using Facebook. Make no mistake about it-social networking is not a passing fad. Facebook, and other social media sites are here to stay. So regardless of whether you make use of all the social networking sites- you cannot discount the recent research indicating that customers are increasingly going online to gather company and product information, compare prices, and place orders. As with any new technology social networking will take time and effort for businesses to fully benefit from it; however, it is my belief that this time and effort, if done consistently and in a planned, thoughtful manner, will be time well spent.

Wayne Kessler

The author of this article, Wayne Kessler, is an Internet Marketing Strategist, speaker and behavioral change consultant focused on helping individuals and small businesses to increase online sales, strengthen their brand, and dramatically boost web site traffic through proven online marketing concepts. His business, Accelerated Business Services, is based in Massachusetts, and provides in-office, or remote services worldwide. Visit him on the web at http://www.waynekessler.com

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According to Alexa, Facebook is the second most popular website next to Google. I researched more and found that around 30% of the global internet subscribers visit Facebook every day. Facebook currently has 300 million subscribers and is growing rapidly. 45 Million updates are made on Facebook every day and world wide users spend around 8 billion minutes per day.

What does it mean to you as an internet marketer? It is a large gold mine. Isn’t it? However, How are you going to position yourself uniquely and promote your business on Facebook considering the large volume of updates being posted on Facebook every day? How do you grasp the attention of the Facebook users? The purpose of this post is to make you aware of the basic Facebook marketing strategies and tools that you need to successfully generate leads and dominate.

Always remember Facebook is a social network and should not be used to pitch your business. Prosperity in your Facebook marketing is directly proportial to the number of solid relationships developed with fellow users.So, Lets gets started

Facebook Profile

- A picture is worth thousand words. Make sure to add a picture in your profile
- Fill in your past info such as schools went and make it public so that people can find you through search
- Fill in your interests and make it public so that fellow subscribers could relate to you
- Fill in all your websites such as a blog, Twitter, your capture pages etc on your profile. By default, only your primary website is displayed. I would highly recommend to display all your websites in your profile. Anyone visiting your profile page could click on your URLS and learn more about you

Add Friends

After creating a profile, do not wait for things to happen. Go ahead and find and add few friends a day every day. It is advised that you can add up to 25-30 friends everyday. Excessive adding of friends will result in removing your page by Facebook administrators.

Interact with friends through like and comment

Once you have added a few friends and see their content on your home page, start interacting with them by liking and commenting on their updates. Commenting on updates could have a viral effect. When you comment on an update, your comment will show up on the updater’s wall and is visible to all his friends. So, it pays to make intelligent comments and get traffic back to your page. Also, feel free to share quotes, posts, and videos that had a positive impact on you. Key is to interact with Facebook friends as much as possible.

Facebook Photo Albums

Feel free to share your pictures and videos with your friends on Facebook. People would love to know more about you through pictures and videos. If you have been to a networking event and have taken pictures with the leaders and fellow networkers, share those pictures with stories about the events and see the traffic to your website increasing

Facebook Videos

If a picture is worth thousand words, how much is a video worth? In 2009, video marketing has been growing rapidly and is here to stay. Facebook allows you to either upload videos or shoot a video instantly. More you share the videos, better it is. Do share your videos about networking events, funny incidents, achievements and any other video that could have a positive influence on others. I use the video feature of Facebook in a couple of ways and am seeing phenomenal results:

1. I introduce myself to recently added friends. A short video describing who I am and appreciating for friendship
2. I use instant Facebook video recording option to wish birthdays to friends

Facebook Groups

Group positions you as a leader and displays the value you can provide to fellow networkers. Facebook users who join your group can be converted to prospects for your biz by using effective attraction marketing strategies. It pays to establish a group and providing value to the members of the group through emails, invitations to an event etc. I also use groups in Facebook to identify like minded people and to promote my posts.

Facebook Events

Facebook allows you to create a public event ( viewable to all members of Facebook) and provides you URL that can be used to communicate on other social networks like Twitter, MySpace etc. I send an event invitation via email to all my group members. Event feature keeps track of the users status (attending, not attending, may be) about the event. I see an increase in numbers for the event when I blast a reminder email to people who were not sure or were planning to attend.

Facebook Wall posts

Evey user in Facebook has a wall where he posts messages and moderates the comments made. If you are a core Facebook user, I am sure that you must be posting and promoting your content on your wall. However, It is worth much more to learn how to post your content effectively on walls of the members having a huge number of friends. It can be done by giving a lot of value that could be beneficial to the users visiting the page. Facebook will disable your account if they see you spamming. So, be cautious while using this approach.

Facebook Notes

Do you have a self hosted word press blog? If no, I would highly recommend you to start blogging and provide valuable content. Facebook notes is an awesome feature you can use to make your valuable blog content visible publicly to all members of Facebook. Also, there are applications that imports your blog content into the notes in an automated way. Isn’t that cool?

This feature would increase your blog traffic tremendously and ultimately your sales if you are using the blog as central hub/nerve center as I mentioned in my Attraction Marketing Blueprint post.

Facebook Applications

I am not a big fan of applications on Facebook as I generate enough traffic using the resources mentioned above. However, there are couple of applications that I personally use

Vuyou (Video Email Application): If you are an internet marketer and are generating leads through various marketing strategies like PPC, classifieds etc, you already might know the value of connecting with the prospect. I use this FREE video email application to connect with my leads as soon as they enter in to my sales funnel.

Networked Blogs: I use this application to increase the visibility for my blog. This is a cool application which allows Facebook users to subscribe to my blog and access my updates regularly.

Once you have these Basic Facebook Marketing tools in place, learn exact step by step Facebook Marketing Blueprint of how you can spend only 30 minutes a day to create at least 20 Raving Fans per day on Facebook and convert them into Paying customers and Distributors for FREE.

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The idea behind using Facebook as a venue for doing business is building a user base in the form of a community who respond to you as a person or to your product. If you just turn your page into one big advertisement, you are not going to get much in the way of a response. You need to educate people about the product without coming across as a hard sell.

You want to create the impression that you are here for socializing, not business. People will come to trust you and be more likely to buy your product or service if you can do this.

Facebook has built in tools which can be used to build your business. These include:

- Social Ads

- Pages

- Beacon

- Insights

- Platform

- Polls

These tools can help you to build awareness of your brand through Facebook and bring in potential clients. Needless to say, you are going to have to learn to use them effectively. Read on to find out how to harness these tools to build your business using Facebook.

You can learn how to take further advantage of these features by visiting the facebook website business section.

SOCIAL ADS

Social ads have a lot of promise for building your business since they can go directly to the news feeds of your Facebook friends. Anyone who is on your friends list will be able to get the word about your business right on their profile page.

This is also a very easy way of target marketing. You can control exactly who sees your ads – and target marketing is the way to get sales.

FACEBOOK PAGES

You can make a Face book page for a business, just as you would for yourself. This allows people to interact with and even become friends with your business. It is a great way to make a lot of people aware of your product and your brand who would not otherwise.

You know when someone becomes friends with your business on Facebook that you have a potential client; at the very least, they have shown some interest. People can interact with your business as they would with any of their other Facebook friends – they can leave comments and generally enhance the experience of a visit to your page.

You can use Facebook to your best advantage by adding features that will appeal to your target market and fit in with the brand image you are aiming to create. Quizzes, games, a Facebook group and so on.

FACEBOOK BEACON

Like social ads, Facebook Beacon gives you the ability to build your business by promoting yourself via your Facebook friends news feeds. You can set Beacon to notify all of your Facebook friends whenever you have a new product available, or any other sort of news or information you would like to disseminate amongst your Facebook friends. All you need to do is to add a little code to your Facebook page (this can be done by copy and paste, so no need to panic).

This encourages more interaction with your page, the website of your business and your company in general. This also helps get the word out about your businesses product or service.

Do not fret that you will be mercilessly spamming your Facebook friends and invading their privacy – they can opt out of these updates at any time they choose. You of course have the same ability for Facebook Beacon updates from others.

FACEBOOK INSIGHTS

If you are using facebook as a method of promoting your business you will of course want to know just who is checking out your Facebook page, clicking on your ads and joining your friends list. Facebook Insights is a tool which can give you a lot more detail on these sorts of statistics, which can help you to evaluate the efficacy of your campaign.

Armed with this information you can make the call as to whether viral marketing is working in your favor. Word of mouth is one of the best means of advertising and Facebook can facilitate it on a large scale. Facebook Insights lets you figure out what parts of your campaign are working and which are not as well as giving you valuable demographic information which will help you refine your campaign further.

FACEBOOK PLATFORM

Facebook Platform is an exciting tool for business indeed. Programmers can use this tool to build programs which will work with Facebook and add to the usefulness and fun of your Facebook page. If people like what you have on your page, they will spread the word and this build your client base.

You can add all manner of different applications to your site using this platform. Many opt for games, quizzes and other interactive features. You can have a look at the Applications page on the Facebook site to get an idea what sort of things others are using the platform for. These kinds of features can really help you build your brand image; take advantage of them.

FACEBOOK POLLS

Facebook polls can be a great way to gather demographic information from people using the site. Since you can make the poll interactive and fun to use, you’ll have no trouble gathering data. Best of all, you can target your polling.

You can make sure your polls are targeted just where you want them to be since you already have access to some data such as marital status and age of your Facebook friends. This helps you keep your polling relevant.

Do not forget about these valuable tools – they can really help out your business.

Anyone who is willing to put in just a little bit of effort can make their own applications for Facebook. You just need to learn Facebook Markup Language – there are plenty of tutorials online which can help you learn the ropes of this quickly.

Remember to have a look through what is already out there in terms of Facebook applications before you develop your own. If everyone is already using a very similar application, not too many of your fellow facebook users will be enticed by it. Do something a little different if you want to grab the attentionof people.

CREATING APPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS

With just a little bit of programming know how, anybody can make and distribute their own applications. You’ll be doing this to build your business and it can make a big difference. Applications can really draw in people and keep them on your site. Games are especially popular and can build your brand while keeping users engaged and entertained.

You would be unwise to neglect the use of these applications available to you through Facebook. They can help get the word out about your business – and that is why you made a Facebook page for your business in the first place, no?

You will also be building a sense of community amongst all of these potential customers which will help you get sales.

Here are a few tips for getting the best results from your applications:

1) Make it relevant

In marketing, relevancy is everything. If your potential customers can not get into it, or if it is unclear how the application ties into your product or service, rethink your application.

2) Privacy policy

Even if they are on facebook to socialize, people still want their privacy to be respected. This is why there are friend lists and groups, to which one must be invited. Privacy is a natural human desire and Facebook facilitates this while still allowing for socialization. Remember to respect the privacy of users and retain that trust you have worked so hard to build with them.

3) Free distribution

Once your application is finished and ready to go, you will distribute it. You can do this by listing it on the site along with all of the other Facebook applications and then invite others to install it. If your facebook friends like your application, they will spread the word.

Leon Edward helps people to start, build, market and promote internet based home businesses and ways to earn money at home

Learn More about Facebook Business Applications at http://www.homebusinessit.com/facebookaplications

Learn the secrets to awesome success and wealth from the greatest minds in the field of personal achievement..Leon Edward recommends personal development training at [http://www.PersonalAchievementOnline.com]

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Where have YOU been?

Unless you have lived in a cave the last 4 years, you have probably heard of this. It is a rocking hot social networking site that seems to be almost everywhere today. It is on the news. It is on the radio. It is on the minds of millions of folks a day.

It is called “Facebook” and over 175 million people are active on this site.

Ok- I know that you may be asking,” A LAW about facebook?” Yes, 10 of them for marketing and business success in what you do. I am a marketer and have been for 20 years. I built a training and consulting business that does business in over 20 countries, because of social media and the internet. And there are marketing laws that all marketers and business professionals must follow if they are going to have Success in the marketplace online.

It is the same for Facebook.

Lets cover them briefly:

1) The Law of Visibility on Facebook.

You MUST be visible on facebook of you are going to get your message out. You must spend time on facebook and get to know people. You must put yourself together a “facebook blueprint” and work it. How many hours a week are you going to be seen on FB? How many times are you going to befriend someone this week? How many times are you going to upload photos this week? All of these things put you in the ‘Visibility Zone” on facebook, and on the radar as far as people on facebook. Be SEEN and be THERE on a daily basis.

2) The Law of the Powerful Facebook Profile.

Why would people want to get to know you? One of the first things they check out is your facebook profile. What does it say- but better yet- what does it DO? Does it make people curious and want to get to know you? Does it make them think? Does it make them smile? Does it make them see that you have Value for their life and can help change it?

Powerful facebook profiles are NOT based on what is said in your profile- but what it DOES.

Does it direct them to DO something? Does it tell them you are person they MUST know? Or someone that has a nice picture and a nice profile- with no magnetism? Put yourself OUT THERE and tell the world WHY they need you as a friend, and get them to take action towards YOU.

3) The Law of the Facebook WALL.

You MUST use your Wall to market or message. many folks regard their Wall as a communication utility like email. It is not that. You already have a facebook email. The Wall is for you to BUILD- BRICK BY BRICK- MESSAGE BY MESSAGE- NOTE BY NOTE- VIDEO BY VIDEO- your Brand on Facebook. Every time something happens with you- it goes on your Wall. Don’t stare at the wall- CLIMB THE SUCKER and make your message the PEAK of the page- and keep yourself out there with the Wall. And answer the messages on your Wall. Thank people for sharing with you their visit or message. This will show up on THEIR wall. This will set you apart from most on facebook. The Wall is simply a BILLBOARD of what you are doing and your friends are doing on Facebook. Use it often and wisely.

4) The Law of Your Facebook Network.

You are part of a local facebook network and you have access to that network to befriend them. I live in Birmingham Michigan, and the network i am a part of is the Detroit network. There are 640,926 people in my network that I could potentially MEET LIVE in a local place and get to know them and connect with them. You have local folks as well. Where do you find your network?

Click on “settings” and then click on “network.” You will find it there. This is a GOLD MINE of people in your local area to CONNECT and Construct new trust bridges that may lead to business down the road.

5) The Law of the Facebook Notifications.

This is an overlooked and rarely talked about utility. Notifications are part of your “facebook email system.” Go to “email” at the top of your Facebook profile page, and then click on “notifications.”This is list of who is thinking about you, talking about you, including you in tags, and generally is pointing to you. This is a GOLD MINE of people that have PROVEN they are behind you and willing to make you a part of their Facebook experience. Pay attention to the facebook notifications. Thank them for their thoughts of you on their Wall and let them know you appreciate it. Include them as well on your tags and other activity on facebook. The notifications are GOLD and is a prospecting Vault of Leads. And make sure you stay CONNECTED to them.

6) The Law of Facebook Link Love.

The Link application on Facebook is a HOT commodity. It allows you to post a link that you like and then sends it out on the news feed that is on your home page. It picks up the image that you want on the link page, and allows it to be a LIVE link. Send out other people’s LINK and givem some LOVE. Do NOT just send out your own links. Let others do that. Find interesting links of others and send them out.

WHY? EXPOSURE for you. You will be given credit for the link. People LOVE link love. If you send out a LOT of other people’s links on facebook, they will start sending out YOUR links. Been there done that.

7) The Law of Facebook Groups.

Join groups. Join a LOT of Groups. Start your OWN groups. The join MORE groups. Why? Here are a few reasons: EXPOSURE. CONNECTION to other Group members. AUTHORITY. Start your own and be a Leader. INCREASE YOUR REACH.Groups extend your reach into Facebook. MULTIPLIED PROSPECTS. There are more people in a group — then on a profile page.

Duh. Build a list in your own group and then you can become an admin and email messages to them. Make them messages of VALUE and interest.

The Law of Facebook Events.

Attend events. Attend more Events. And then attend many MORE events. Why? It allows you to leave a message on the events page wall, and create exposure. I attend at least 2 facebook events every week- to learn- and to network. Events can be found on the new Facebook page in the upper right under “Upcoming”-these are the events that are upcoming. There is one unique twist: You have birthdays under the “upcoming” tag- and you can send presents to folks. THIS will get their attention as it shows up on their wall and the news feed as well. Attend as many events as you can. make them worth your while- learn and grow from them. BUT’always leave a RSVP message about attending or not- with an encouraging message. This will show your professionalism, and caring.

Event UP! This will do you well on facebook. Put the term “events” in the search box, and it will find every event that is going on in your network of friends. It is a GOLD MINE of new possibilties of business. Become a master of events!

9) The Law of Facebook Multimedia- Videos and Photos.

People LOVE photos and videos. They are the most looked at and watched pages on facebook. Make some videos and upload them. Upload some photographs. Not only will the be seen on your wall and the facebook news feed, but also will allow you to “tag” others on these. This means that you can pick out people you have befriended and let them know you are thinking of them. And when you tag someone- it shows up on THEIR wall. Not isn’t THAT cool? It is called EXPOSURE!

10) The Law of the Facebook NEWS FEED.

This is the big kahuna of Exposure on facebook. This gets you out to ALL of your friends and creates a massive exposure vehicle that can keep your brand in front and recognized. You also will be many times on the “featured” part of the new news feed on the right. This gives you HUGE exposure. Whatever you do, like change your status, upload a video, write and publish a note, or just comment on another person’s message on the facebook news feed- it SHOWS UP in the news Feed. Be seen- and be seen often if you are trying to brand yourself on facebook.

Yes, you need to establish relationships, and build community. But if you are going to MARKET on facebook-then you need to at least get a guideline of what and how to do it. The 10 Social Media Laws of Facebook hopefully gave you some idea in your social media marketing.

blessings…doug firebaugh

About the Author

Doug Firebaugh is one of theTop Social Media strategists, MLM, Network Marketing Home Business Trainers, Speakers and Authors in the world. A Million people a month read his training letter.He has helped over 10,000 people worldwide earn in excess of 50,000 a year. He wants to help you do the same. You can subscribe to his FR-ee training letter -which includes 3 FR-ee gifts just for subscribing at http://www.passionfire.com – plus FREE ebook:

(ArticlesBase SC #831161)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Social Media Marketing- The 10 Social Media Laws of Facebook

It takes getting eyeballs to see your product or service, millions of eyeballs, and Facebook is an untapped marketing resource. Only a handful of Internet wise guys know how to use it. Here are some tips.

Facebook, Inc., runs a leading social networking web site, Facebook.com. Initially launched by undergraduates at Harvard University for college students, the site was soon expanded to include alumni in the corporate world as well as high school students. Membership was opened to anyone with a valid e-mail address in 2006 and it has grown into the millions since.

The key to marketing on Facebook is this: A members full profile information is available only to other members who are somehow connected. The resulting “connections” is what makes Facebook a billion-dollar idea that offers fat bank accounts to marketers who know how to be one of “them”.

A news feed feature, controversial at first, allows sponsors to push ads to highly targeted audiences in ways never before imagined. The value of these online connections that imitate those in real life is also reflected in classified advertising and that is where marketing is done, for free, among those connected “friends”.

Forget about trying to spam the system. Friends tell their friends about spammers and global searches of all registered users are not possible, limiting the possibilities for SPAM and other abuses.

Facebook has features to stay relevant in the Web 2.0 world. It leads the generation of interactive web sites designed to make it easy for users to share video, music, and other multimedia content. And, for marketers to reach those people in this sharing model.

Facebook ranked as the sixth or seventh largest social networking site. It was on top in some key metrics, according to ComScore Media Metrix statistics quoted in Fast Company. It led the country in photo sharing, a capability at the heart of the Web 2.0 challenge. In 2007 the company signed up with Comcast to produce a webcast called the “Facebook Diaries,” based on video contributed by users. Opening membership to the general public swelled the membership rolls and shifted the demographics away from the college age crowd. Interestingly, more than one-quarter of users were outside the United States.

Some marketers saw this shift to an older, more affluent, user base and moved in to make Facebook a steady source of steady income.

Some of the site features these marketers are using include:

…….. The Wall

The Wall is a space on each user’s profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see. One user’s wall is visible to anyone with the ability to see their full profile, and different users’ wall posts show up in an individual’s News Feed. Many marketers use their friend’s walls for leaving short, temporal notes. More private discourse is saved for Messages, which are sent to a person’s Inbox, and are visible only to the sender and recipient(s) of the Message, much like email.

Facebook users are allowed to post attachments to the wall, whereas previously the wall was limited to textual content only. Marketers are wisely using this feature.

…….. TheMarketplace

In May 2007, Facebook introduced the Facebook Marketplace allowing users to post free classified ads within the following categories: For Sale, Housing, Jobs, and Other. The market place is available for all Facebook users and is currently free. You can guess how valuable this feature is to marketers.

…….. Pokes

Facebook includes a “poke” feature which allows one user to send a “poke” to another. Facebook defines it as – “a poke is a way to interact with your friends on Facebook. When we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose. People interpret the poke in many different ways, and we encourage you to come up with your own meanings.”

In principle this is intended to serve as a “nudge” to attract the attention of the other user. Friends often engage in what is known as a “poke war,” where the poke is exchanged back and forth continuously between two users by using the “poke back” feature.

There are several new applications such as “X Me” and “SuperPoke!”, that allow users to put any action in place of the word “poke.” Again, smart marketers have found ways of using this feature as well.

…….. Status

The “status” feature allows users to inform their friends and the Facebook community of what they are up to. Facebook prompts the status update with “(User name) is…” and Facebook users fill in the rest. Status updates are noted in the “Recently updated” section of a users’ friend list. How about “Mr. blue is working on a new ebook.”?

…….. Events

Facebook events are a way for members to let friends know about upcoming events in their community and to organize social gatherings. This can be used for seminars, meeting, courses, podcasts, etc., but, used very carefully to avoid being tagged as a spammer.

…….. Applications

The “Facebook Platform” provides a framework for developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features.

Among the most popular applications are “Top Friends”, which allows users to select and display their favorite friends; “Graffiti”, which gives users a visual version of Facebook’s wall; and “iLike”, a social music discovery service that features concert information and a music trivia game, similar to the one featured on the iPod. Even games such as chess and Scrabble are available.

…….. Facebook Video

Users can add their videos with the service by uploading video, adding video through Facebook Mobile, and using a webcam recording feature. Additionally, users can “tag” their friends in videos they add much like the way users can tag their friends in photos. This feature was expected to increase competition with MySpace. However, the Facebook Video Application does not allow sharing videos outside of Facebook.

Users are not supposed to be able to export or download videos from Facebook. I say “not supposed to” because a Greasemonkey Userscript was posted on Userscripts.org which allows both the downloading of Facebook Videos and the embedding of Videos on sites outside of Facebook’s website. Another marketers dream tool.

Get educated about FaceBook marketing today. Jim DeSantis is an Internet Publisher and former TV News Editor who provides information about FaceBooking for experienced and newbie Internet Marketers at http://www.answersplus.info – AnswersPlusInfo. Check the sidebar for “FaceBook Advanced” and FaceBook for Newbies.”

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_DeSantis

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