Tim’s Tips on Using Facebook for Business
So, I’m a Facebook addict. As I’ve taken steps in the last couple months to increase my focus, I’ve spent less and less time there.
With the proliferation of applications in the recent months, (the majority of them at least mildly annoying with a healthy portion ranging from completely juvenile to all-out inappropriate), it’s become easier for the businessperson to tune out Facebook. I don’t blame them either, Facebook still hasn’t added a way to filter these annoying apps and the durn invites just keep coming, cluttering up the user experience.
Still, I believe the use of the site itself has value for building business relationships and staying in touch with people–in both personal and professional spheres–that can bring value to your career or business.
Here are four ways you can use Facebook to identify and develop new relationships:
- Use Groups to find people with similar interests. Search for groups, or look at a friend’s profile and see what groups they are in. If they’re a professional contact, there’s likely at least one group on their list with members who you would have a professional interest in.
- Research contacts and potential contacts on Facebook. It’s a great way to get to know some basic biographical info about someone you’re looking to reach out to or do business with if they happen to have a profile.
- Polish up your profile. With the above, realize that people will be looking for info on you there as well. If you aren’t comfortable with random people peeking, lock your privacy settings down. If you are, make sure you present only the details about yourself you want public. And don’t forget the Limited Profile feature, where you can limit what information certain “friends” are able to see (you can find that at the bottom of the Privacy page). Just like the age-old adage about email–if you don’t want something to appear on the cover of the New York Times, don’t write it.
- Create a fan page for your company or product. Facebook’s new Fan feature has been met with mixed reviews. Setting this up is easy, though I haven’t published one yet. If you have, please comment on your success and/or lessons learned.
There’s no magic bullet or one technique for using Facebook for business. In fact, often times you might struggle to tie your FB activities directly to sales or growth — it’s in that soft area of relationship building that isn’t always measurable. Introductions made and relationships built there can grow in value with time, just as within any other networking context.
What are your strategies for using Facebook for business?