Connecting on Facebook

With the evolution of social networking sites, it is becoming easier and easier to promote your business online. With social networking sites like Facebook, you can easily relate to other people on a personal level. As in any type of business, when you can get to know someone first, the sale becomes that much easier. This is essentially what you can do with Facebook.So how exactly do you use this to promote your business?

One of the most important things you’ll do with your Facebook account is make friends. It’s easiest to start with your existing friends. Look at your addressbook and see who already has a Facebook account and ask to become their friend on Facebook. Next, you can expand your search and look for people that you can meet. Start off with something in common – like your hobbies. This makes it easier to get to know people.

Once you have a healthy list of friends on your Facebook account you can slowly start to promote your business. You want to remember to do this subtly. If you don’t, people will start to get annoyed quickly. They might report you as a spammer or get rid of you as their friend. You never want to seem like you’re too over-the-top. You also want to actually become their friends if possible. Take an interest in what they like. Send them messages from time to time and get to know them on a personal level. When someone trusts you, they will be much more likely to purchase from you.

One thing that works great to promote a vacation business on Facebook is to put your vacation pictures up on the FunWall. For example, if you just took a great trip to Disney World, you can post your pictures on your profile. Then when your friends come to see your new pictures, they will probably comment about how fun that looks. Then, eventually the conversation will shift to how great of a deal you got on your trip. This is the perfect time to let them know about your business and how you can help them create such wonderful memories for their family.

Groups, are another great way to make friends. Groups on Facebook are people that have similar hobbies, interests, and are like-minded. There are many different topics you can choose from: geography, religion, politics, sports, movies, music, and even your high school class.

Another great way to connect with people is through your status. Your status is a mini blog that ask you “what are you doing?”. you can get as personal or as vague as you want with this. You may be watching your favorite TV show, reading a great book that you want to share or perhaps you’re enjoying a day on the beach. Either way, it allows your friends to keep in touch with you and stay connected with what you are doing.

Posting links to your Facebook account is yet another way to connect with others. I like to post video links from YouTube. When you post those links, the video will automatically appear on your friends update page, so they can immediately watch the video you posted. maybe you’re learning how to bowl and you’ve got a great blooper video from Friday nights bowling practice. You might also want to share news articles, your blog posts, and your favorite pictures.

No matter what your objective is, Facebook is one of the best places online to connect with other people. You can get your word out to your current customers and even make new ones. Premier business into 2009 requires a Facebook account and regular updates to truly connect and successfully thrive with social networking.