Doing Business on Facebook

Over the last few years I've noticed some interesting things shifting in business on the internet. It used to be all work and no play. Then MySpace ( www.MySpace.com ) showed up and every boss wanted to block the site due to a decline in productivity.

Many business owners have came to me asking why in the world they would use something like Facebook ( www.Facebook.com ) inside their company. An article by Harvard Business Publishing said it best "Let’s start with a fundamental premise – that all business is social and personal." Facebook is just that, social and personal.

The problem with allowing social networking into a business is the fear of loss in productivity. That is understandable considering the addictive nature of social networks. However, that addictive nature is why you want this too. It's because of that nature that the marketing spin of utilizing online social networks like MySpace, Facebook or Twitter ( www.Twitter.com ) is so powerful.

There are literally over 100 million users worldwide on Facebook alone ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook ). That is one social network.

As of July of 2008 there were over 2.2 million active users on Twitter.com ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter ).

What is the purpose of this? I think you see the potential market.

The other problem I most commonly hear is where do I begin? With millions of people what do I do. That comes down to your own marketing strategies. It is almost certain nearly any niche is on these networks.

In merely two weeks I was able to successfully add over 300 people to my networks ( http://www.Twitter.com/epstudios and Randall YourGeekGuy Benson on www.Facebook.com ). Now these people are asking if I can assist them in web development and other multimedia work.

If you have a sales team, and the sales team is attempting to find new leads this is the way to do it. Whether you are looking globally or locally doesn't matter. You can find in a simple search on Facebook over 500 results for Joplin, Missouri alone.

The case is simple. There are lots of people and lots of opportunity.

The concepts on the internet are similar to that of analog sales. By this I simply mean internet selling is much like selling without the internet.

Many times sales people and business owners get online and start hounding people with opportunities and products. People got on the internet in these social networks to talk to friends not to be pitched. So the trick is simple: Don't pitch them.

Internet sells may take longer to develop and they may not. Either way if you build the relationship the sell is simple.

Doing business on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networks are obvious opportunities for both local and global markets. It is also a necessity in today's society to be connected to your customers. These networks are that opportunity.