| By Evan Carmichael
Entrepreneurs are discovering the value of Facebook applications, third-part mini-programs that can run on the site. Since the platform was first made available in May, its popularity has exploded, with even LinkedIn creating a job search application on Facebook.
When was the last time you wrote on somebody's wall? I'm not talking about when you were five and you thought drawing on your bedroom's walls was a good idea. I'm talking about on Facebook, the Palo Alto-based online networking site that is taking the world by storm. If you're an entrepreneur and you don't have an answer to that question, or if you don't even know what that question means then your business is in trouble.
Facebook is no longer just about teens looking to find old friends, or maybe even old flames. Facebook is about making new connections, and everyone from your sister to your colleagues to your competitors are online.
Once shunned by the corporate world in favour of the more professionally-geared LinkedIn, small and big businesses alike are beginning to embrace Facebook as a potentially valuable tool to establish and cultivate professional relationships.
According to TechCrunch, MySpace remains the leading social networking site with 46 billion page views per month, but Facebook has been slowly growing to now stand at 15 billion page views per month. And, while MySpace might be more accepted among adolescents, Facebook has proven more popular among people with a university education.
But, just how exactly can businesses make the most of the tools on this rapidly expanding site?
First, it's simply a great way to connect in a much more community-oriented way than sites like LinkedIn allow. You can see who else has joined, send group messages, see or post relevant workshops and events, and more.
Facebook also allows for a good opportunity to promote your company. You can update your status and post notes about new product developments that you're working on next. You can post pictures of a new book you may be launching, or even advertise and sell your products in the Marketplace. You can also read other people's updates to see if there may be room for collaboration or to lend your services.
Once you make any changes to your profile, that information is automatically sent to all your friends' news feeds. In this sort of viral way, you can be slowly building your brand. If you choose your friends wisely, you will be creating a very solid reputation for yourself.
Finally, there are those entrepreneurs who are discovering the value of Facebook applications, third-part mini-programs that can run on the site. Since the platform was first made available in May, its popularity has exploded, with even LinkedIn creating a job search application on Facebook. When your competitors start coming to you, you know you're on to something.
But the site isn't perfect. There needs to be more space to promote business relationships. From being able to explain in more detail how you know someone, to maintaining a separate list of professional contacts versus other friends, there's a lot Facebook could do to broaden its appeal to business owners.
In the meantime the site should not be dismissed. Any entrepreneur who wants to live to see tomorrow needs to embrace the technology of tomorrow, and for now, that's Facebook. |
QuickBooks Danger Ahead?
