Start Me Up! - Part 19

Social Media – And then there was Facebook

I totally have a love-hate relationship with Facebook and have for years. It literally is everywhere, and has claimed some serious territory on the social media landscape.

Again, I waited to join Facebook pretty much until it was deemed mandatory by my growing curiosity. The buzz became too much to ignore. Likely because I first heard of it about 5 years ago from my college aged interns – which of course made think - oh boy, another MySpace thing for the kids. Wow, could I have been more wrong? Yet something tells me I’m not the only one with that initial reaction. I created my very own personal Facebook page about two years ago and contrary to my fears, it was quite quick and easy to do. Suddenly, there were flurries of activity; friend requests coming at me left and right, old friends hunting you down and business acquaintances popping up everywhere.

Regardless, the scope of Facebook is truly amazing. I only pop on every few days or once a week. Many others I know stay on Facebook or “keep it open” all day long. Now, that’s commitment. Once I didn’t log on for 4 weeks and I got an email from Facebook reminding me to stop by and read my messages and that I had some “fiend requests” to reply to. On the one hand, it made me think –oh right, I forgot my old college professor friend requested me - as did my 12 year old nephew, guess he took a minute to stop tweeting and ask me to join his friend network. On the other hand I think – Excuse me Facebook, I’ll log on when I’m good and ready. At the end of the day I did appreciate the reminder, as eerie as it was.

Then… businesses started popping up. Or at least, I finally started to notice it. They may in fact have been there for years but I personally think the Facebook for business phenomenon has really taken off in the last 2 years. When you have some time, take a look around in there – you will find many large reputable and small start-ups with their own dedicated Facebook “fan pages”. If you already have an account, then you know exactly what I mean. This is proving to be quiet a fruitful platform for business networking, marketing and publicity. There are literally hundreds of Facebook Groups for wedding planners, event planners, brides, etc. What an insanely efficient way to connect with others on the same page as you. Ha-ha, get it? Page!

Now, I defer to the experts, below are links explaining Facebook – what it is, how it works and of course, how it can work for you and your business.

Hello again Wikipedia
(background and factual info mostly, pretty dry stuff but quality content)

How To Market Your Business on Facebook – About.com
(great descriptions and explanations of what Facebook is and a breakdown of Facebook terminology)

10 Ways a Facebook Fan Page Helps Your Business – Entrepreneur.com

Learn How Facebook Can Help You Advertise Your Business – Optimization Tutor.com

Social Media Examiner is a fun site that explains and recaps various social media platforms & applications including: Facebook, Twitter, LiknedIn & Blogging

Here is the direct link to the Getting Started With Social Media page of the site.

xx,
Belle