As Facebook launches their new platform, it’s the perfect time to explain the business potential of the social network. Although people are in love with Twitter, and LinkedIn has made some great changes, Facebook is quickly becoming the most powerful tool for business.
I’ve had a Facebook account since entering my freshman year of college in 2004 and, until recently, it’s been used solely as a fun way to stay in touch with old friends. However, Facebook is no longer just a place for college students. The largest growing demographic on Facebook is 55 year old women, which shows the shift in users. Facebook is an extremely powerful business tool for both real estate agents and small businesses alike. There are a few simple things that can transform your profile to make it more business oriented.
1. Create Friends Lists – Facebook friends list is a feature that allows you to manage your friends more effectively. I personally maintain three different lists; friends, family, and professional. By organizing my friends into lists I can control what features of my profile each list can see. Additionally, I can send messages by group. This allows me to use Facebook as a way to both stay in touch with family and friends as well as a way to promote my business to my professional network.
2. Groups – Groups are the one area where I feel LinkedIn is far superior to Facebook. That being said, joining groups on Facebook can be a valuable way to promote your blog as well as demonstrate your expertise in a given field. I would highly suggest starting a group based on your interest and expertise. The goal should be to to get as many people to join the group as possible. This way you can send out a mass message to all group members which goes directly to the group members inbox. This is a great way to advertise a new blog post or an upcoming event. Note that applications do work with groups, however I would not be surprised if Facebook launches applications for groups.
3. Professional Profile – Another great addition to Facebook is the professional profile application. This application adds a tab to your profile, which allows you to post your resume as well as write a biography. Similar to LinkedIn, you can write a receive recommendations from friends and colleagues. This acts as a virtual history of the business career.
4. Networked Blogs – Networked blogs is another cool application, it allows you to bring your blog on to Facebook. It is essentially a community of bloggers and blog lovers. You will need to temporarily add an HTML code to your blog to “claim your blog.” It’s very easy and only takes a minute or two. You could ask 10 friends to help you claim your blog, but this could take awhile, so the HTML code feature is best in my opinion. This is a great way to engage your friends and colleagues in your blog. Additionally, you can add a networked blogs widget to your blog which shows how many followers you have and allows people to easily follow you on Facebook. See the right-hand side of my blog for an example.
5. Other Applications – There are a number of great applications on Facebook. The next one I want to highlight is the LinkedIn application. This application adds a LinkedIn badge to your Facebook profile. This is a great way to get connected across platforms, while integrating a business aspect to your Facebook profile. If you’re new to Facebook, but have been active on LinkedIn, I highly suggest you add this application.
6. Business Pages – Business pages are now more like profile pages. Make sure you thoroughly complete your business page by adding the company logo, history, website, mission, and description. It’s also important to set the default page settings including, what tabs fans see when they first visit the page, what tab does everyone else see first, and whether or not fans can write on the wall and post photos or videos. Choose and arrange what applications you would like visible on the left-hand side of the wall. Add important applications to the page tab by selecting + to the right of your existing tabs. I like the RSS-Connect application:
RSS-Connect – RSS-connect brings your RSS feed directly into your business page. This updates automatically so as you make a post to your blog, it simultaneously appears in your business page.
Also, make sure to add business status updates to be distributed in the newsfeed. This can range from market updates and tips to information on local events and meetups. This acts as a great way to promote your page.
Here is a tip I learned from a facebook webinar given by Reggie Nicolay from Cyber Homes. Use the Share button to post an announcement of your page to your personal profile. This will show up in the newsfeed and works as a great way to promote your page.
Facebook is quickly becoming the most important site for businesses. By following my simple advice and you can transform your profile and business page into a great promotional and marketing tool.
I hope you will join A Student of the Real Estate Game’s business page and get connected with me on Facebook.
Similar Posts:
- 4 Ways Real Estate Professionals can Build their Brand Using LinkedIn
- How to Build a Community using Social Media (Blogs/Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn)
- ASotREG Launches A Facebook Business Page
Comments on this entry are closed.