One of the fastest growing social networks online today is Facebook.
You can find friends on Facebook who are from every industry, age group, and demographic group.
Because so many people have joined, this is one of the most effective places to start your online marketing.
Facebook began as a social network for college students.
You could only join if you had a college email address ending in.
edu.
Once those college students began entering the workforce, they wanted to keep their communications with friend.
Eventually Facebook changed the rule and opened its doors to everyone.
Since that time, the network has exploded in size making it one of the most useful places to start your online marketing activities.
This network is a place for you to share information about yourself with your friends.
You may share as much or as little information as you like.
You will invite friends who also have Facebook accounts.
Once you have added a friend to your page, they can see all of your information if you set your privacy settings up in that way.
You can regularly post a status update that leaves a short message for friends letting them know what you are up to or telling them anything you like.
Facebook is a great way to brand yourself and your product.
You get to control the information you put out for your community to see.
It also allows you to further relationships you have with customers and potential customers.
Facebook is a great place to start if you are new to social media.
When creating a Facebook account, the first thing you will be asked to do is create a profile.
Facebook makes it easy to share information about yourself and your business.
You can include any information you like or you can skip items you would prefer not to share.
For instance, I choose not to answer the question regarding "Relationship Status".
I simply don't feel that question is appropriate for my purposes of connecting with friends in my online community.
Other people may have no problem sharing such information.
It is up to each of us to decide what we will share.
Use your real name when signing up for a profile.
Would you buy something from a person you know only as coolguy55? Not likely.
Using your real name helps build trust between you and your buyer.
It lets them know you are a real person.
Be sure to include a photo of yourself in your profile.
A photo is very important in establishing a relationship with your community.
Let your audience get to know you through personal information.
Build Your Community Once you have created a profile, now it is time to invite friends to your community.
Start with your existing customers, friends and family members.
Use the search field to search for your friends.
If you find a friend who already has an account, invite them to your page.
Your friend will receive an email invitation.
If they confirm you are indeed a friend, they will have access to your profile and you will have access to theirs.
Your goal is to build a friend list that includes friends, family, existing customers and other people who may become your customers.
Build Your Friend List For your Facebook strategy, you will want to continue to build your friend list.
One way to do this is through your face-to-face networking.
When you receive business cards from people at face-to-face networking functions, follow up by inviting them to be your Facebook friend.
Look at the friend lists of all your friends.
If you know any of their friends, you can immediately invite them to your list.
Spend a little time every week building your list.
Remember these are people you are gathering for your sales funnel.
Interact with Friends It is not enough to collect friends.
Now you will need to interact regularly with friends.
Here are some ideas on how to continually stay in touch.
Facebook allows you to send a status update to your friends.
When you enter a sentence or two about what you are doing, all of your friends will see this update.
You should send updates a few times each week to stay active in your community.
Updates can be about anything you like.
When marketing your business, I recommend that the updates should fall into three categories.
-Personal -Informative -Business related Personal messages can be used for one third of your updates.
These would be updates about you, your hobbies or your family.
One third should be informational.
You can provide tips on how to use your product, or provide links to articles you've recently read that relate to our industry.
The last third of your updates can be related to what you are working on in your business.
These types of updates will remind people what your business is about without sounding like a sales message.
For instance, an interior designer might mention that she is helping a client choose countertop materials today.
This reminds her community of what line of business she is in and lets them know a little about her services and day-to-day work activities.
Following these basic strategies, you will begin to build a network of friends, customers and potential customers.
The relationships you have with this community will continue to strengthen.
Now when you have an event to publicize, you have a community ready and waiting to hear your message.
You can find friends on Facebook who are from every industry, age group, and demographic group.
Because so many people have joined, this is one of the most effective places to start your online marketing.
Facebook began as a social network for college students.
You could only join if you had a college email address ending in.
edu.
Once those college students began entering the workforce, they wanted to keep their communications with friend.
Eventually Facebook changed the rule and opened its doors to everyone.
Since that time, the network has exploded in size making it one of the most useful places to start your online marketing activities.
This network is a place for you to share information about yourself with your friends.
You may share as much or as little information as you like.
You will invite friends who also have Facebook accounts.
Once you have added a friend to your page, they can see all of your information if you set your privacy settings up in that way.
You can regularly post a status update that leaves a short message for friends letting them know what you are up to or telling them anything you like.
Facebook is a great way to brand yourself and your product.
You get to control the information you put out for your community to see.
It also allows you to further relationships you have with customers and potential customers.
Facebook is a great place to start if you are new to social media.
When creating a Facebook account, the first thing you will be asked to do is create a profile.
Facebook makes it easy to share information about yourself and your business.
You can include any information you like or you can skip items you would prefer not to share.
For instance, I choose not to answer the question regarding "Relationship Status".
I simply don't feel that question is appropriate for my purposes of connecting with friends in my online community.
Other people may have no problem sharing such information.
It is up to each of us to decide what we will share.
Use your real name when signing up for a profile.
Would you buy something from a person you know only as coolguy55? Not likely.
Using your real name helps build trust between you and your buyer.
It lets them know you are a real person.
Be sure to include a photo of yourself in your profile.
A photo is very important in establishing a relationship with your community.
Let your audience get to know you through personal information.
Build Your Community Once you have created a profile, now it is time to invite friends to your community.
Start with your existing customers, friends and family members.
Use the search field to search for your friends.
If you find a friend who already has an account, invite them to your page.
Your friend will receive an email invitation.
If they confirm you are indeed a friend, they will have access to your profile and you will have access to theirs.
Your goal is to build a friend list that includes friends, family, existing customers and other people who may become your customers.
Build Your Friend List For your Facebook strategy, you will want to continue to build your friend list.
One way to do this is through your face-to-face networking.
When you receive business cards from people at face-to-face networking functions, follow up by inviting them to be your Facebook friend.
Look at the friend lists of all your friends.
If you know any of their friends, you can immediately invite them to your list.
Spend a little time every week building your list.
Remember these are people you are gathering for your sales funnel.
Interact with Friends It is not enough to collect friends.
Now you will need to interact regularly with friends.
Here are some ideas on how to continually stay in touch.
Facebook allows you to send a status update to your friends.
When you enter a sentence or two about what you are doing, all of your friends will see this update.
You should send updates a few times each week to stay active in your community.
Updates can be about anything you like.
When marketing your business, I recommend that the updates should fall into three categories.
-Personal -Informative -Business related Personal messages can be used for one third of your updates.
These would be updates about you, your hobbies or your family.
One third should be informational.
You can provide tips on how to use your product, or provide links to articles you've recently read that relate to our industry.
The last third of your updates can be related to what you are working on in your business.
These types of updates will remind people what your business is about without sounding like a sales message.
For instance, an interior designer might mention that she is helping a client choose countertop materials today.
This reminds her community of what line of business she is in and lets them know a little about her services and day-to-day work activities.
Following these basic strategies, you will begin to build a network of friends, customers and potential customers.
The relationships you have with this community will continue to strengthen.
Now when you have an event to publicize, you have a community ready and waiting to hear your message.