Not a day goes by that I do not have a client ask what social media sites they should be on and why (usually right after they ask if I will charge them for the work I just did). A site that I steer EVERY ONE of my clients to is Facebook.
“Facebook (while looking puzzled) - that site is not for adults, business owners or entrepreneurs; it is a site for kids.” Yes, there are kids on the site; however, there are many, many, many adults on Facebook as well. The Atlanta network of Facebook (as of this writing) has 416,557 people in it. All of which I can assure you are not kids!
Here is why Facebook has been and will be (until something better comes along) my number one choice in social media sites. In a nutshell, it captures my digital business life; it allows me to connect with people from around the world and share real-time information easily; and, it has more applications on the site than I could ever possibly use.
Facebook hosts my digital business life. When you log onto my account, you see my digital business card, a short bio on me and Town Planner Calendar, pictures and videos of my clients and other information that I have deemed important about me. It is not just a site that tells you what I do and what I have done, but a site that I use to share information about me. It funnels my twitter, flicker, You Tube, and blog accounts to one specific site.
Connecting with people from around the world is simple to do. Join a group that interests you and connect with people from around the world to share ideas. I have bounced ideas off of people that I have never met face-to-face but have a working digital relationship with. (On a side note, these people are not kids, but leaders in their industry who I would have been unable to collaborate with had I not met them through Facebook.) It is easy to join a conversation and get connected.
Lastly, Facebook is a great place for me to stay in touch with new applications being developed on the web. Let’s face it, after working till 2:00 in the morning, who doesn’t like to test their music skills by playing the music challenge? Yes, it is mindless fun but at 2:00 in the morning, this is all I need to help me sleep.
Microsoft, if you read this blog: be very, very, very careful if you are able to purchase Facebook. Develop better applications within Facebook to make it easier for me to “Get Connnected”! Make all of the software interact with each other. Make my experience more enjoyable and I will thank you for it. Make it more difficult and I will dump the application in a heart beat.
What are your thoughts? How are you using social media to create, build and strengthen business relationships? Click the link below and share your ideas with the world!
Scott T. Dunn
