10 Tips For Successful Facebook Marketing

There are a ton of social media websites that you can participate in today like Linked In and Friendster, and they all have their good and bad. The best way to choose a community to participate in is to look at the people who have already joined. For me, Facebook is quite possibly the best sites for networking personally and professionally. I also use Linked In and Myspace. Of all the social networks, Facebook is the best place when it comes to all around marketing and networking.

I have been using Facebook for the past two years, and it is an attractive tool for marketing to add to your marketing strategy. Following are ten ways you can use Facebook to introduce new people to your for FREE!

1. Make a Top-Notch Profile: This is absolutely the FIRST thing that you must do to make an impact on Facebook . Think of your Facebook profile as part of your branding. A effective profile will include a photo of you. Don't use the one of you at a Christmas party, unless that's what your selling. Make sure your new Facebook profile is complete. You should include your contact information, your web address (this is so important), education, work experience and your personal interests. A complete profile is the only way to go.

2. Add Friends: This is what makes Facebook a great platform - the ability to make friends, build relationships and foster them. The more relationships you build, the more worthwhile your marketing efforts will be. You can use Facebook's own tools to find friends that are already on Facebook. Once you add your friends, you can search for kindred spirits. Make their acquaintance, become their friend, build a relationship. One cool feature on Facebook is that you can see friends of your friends. This will help you build a extensive network in no time.

3. Join Facebook Groups: You can join groups within Facebook that are associated with what you do. There are groups for wealth building, coaches, and experts of all kinds. Almost every supposable type of professional service provider has some type of an online group. I belong to several groups on Facebook and have made hundreds of new contacts this way.

4. Create your Own Facebook Group: Can't find a group that really makes sense? Create your own! You can add members, publish articles, carry on discussions, and probably build some long lasting relationships. And even if you find great group to belong to, start your own. This gives you the opportunity to be the trendsetter!

5. Syndicate your Blog Using RSS: You can syndicate your own blog on your Facebook profile page. This inherently means that every time you make a post, it will automatically show up on your profile page. More Exposure = More Readers = More Leads = More Business. And the bonus is the back links to your site. I syndicate headlines from three blogs on Facebook.

6. Comment on Other Peoples Profiles: Are you a fan or devotee of someone's work? Reach out to them on Facebook! Many of my business acquaintances check their Facebook messages more regularly than their email. They are also more likely to respond to Facebook messages. Don't feel comfortable sending a message to someone you don't know? Don't worry! Leave them a "just saying hi!" or "I enjoy your work!" blurb on their wall. All profiles come with "virtual walls" where friends and acquaintances can leave messages. The more messages you leave on your friend's Facebook profiles the more exposure you get!

7. List your Events: Launching a New Service? Create an events page and invite all your friends and acquaintances. You can even see who RSVPed and get feedback from your guests. Marketing doesn't get much simpler (or cheaper!) than this.

8. Send Virtual Gifts: Want to show your appreciation for someone? Send them a virtual gift. You can choose from a bouquet of flowers to a potted plant that actually sits on the your friends profile and grows over time (plus hundreds of others). With all the 3rd party applications for gift giving available, what are you waiting for. This is a proven way to build long lasting relationships!

9. Use Some Cool Apps: Facebook has literally tons of applications that were built just for the site. Gaming, music, movie trivia and more. When you use an application, you get to invite your friends to use these interesting little applications (Apps). So just like number 8 above, this allows you another way to stay in touch with your Facebook friends. Again, this helps you build long lasting relationships.

10. Create a Community: Perhaps Facebook's greatest benefit is that it lets you to build a community. It provides you a group of people who are perpetually connected to you, and they are open to hearing what you have to say. Write on people's walls, give them feedback, and introduce them to each other. Start building your brand and leveraging Facebook for business building!

Facebook is a great place to introduce yourself to a ton of new people who may also become customers and/or clients. Just keep one thing in mind: don't get too carried away and spend all your time there. Facebook is a tool, part of your marketing strategy. Use the tips above, use them wisely and have a little fun at the same time.
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Lennie Appelquist is the Owner of FreeMarket Media Group. FreeMarket Media Group is dedicated to helping individuals and small businesses generate leads, convert those leads in customers/clients and build a web presence that works for them. We can show you how to make your online business profitable.

Profitable Social Networking

With the innovations in the Internet world, it is not a wonder that social networks are gaining their popularity. Information can easily be communicated to a larger group of individuals just by the viral effect of social networking. If you are starting up a business and would want to gain more connections, you should know the science of social networking.

Here are some special pointers that you can consider:

Get to know the places where the people on your target niche usually stay. If you want to meet people whose interest is more about cooking, then you should find social networking sites where their main topic is cooking. Most likely, these people are the ones who would frequently visit your website.

As much as possible influence partnerships in your network. People that have the same interest can help each other through these social networking sites. Start meeting more people. You would be amazed with the connections that you can get from each friend that you gain online.

Prepare your site and your resources before joining in social networks. Of course, you cannot expect words to spread fast but when words get to the people who are interested, you need to make sure that your website and resources are geared to sustain the traffic and clamors that would go your way.

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The Social Network for Mobile Operators: Warning

Adapt to web 2.0 or die. Warning for mobile operators.

Analytical Agency Arthur D. Little has prepared an analytical report which is the main appeal is "Use or lose profit!" The development of social networks and tools to enable users to create their own content and consume it as convenient to them, give operators potentsialny new source of revenue. But to take advantage of this source, operators need to greatly revise its approach. This is to renounce closed portals, own formats, high tariffs for the transmission of data and learn in every way encourage their active mobile communities.

More than 38% of young Europeans are already actively enjoy access to there own mail box from their mobile devices, and operators need to open access to already existing web 2.0 service. The lack of access to the provision that it would severely affect the operator income of these services.

What are the options available to mobile operators? - partnerships with major players web 2.0 (flickR, myspace and others), or self-development of competing services. Vodafone and 3 (formerly known as Hutchison 3G) has opted for the first option and choose to work with MySpace, Skype, Google, YouTube. Nevertheless, the report provides a more stable and less profitable option is to abandon all attempts to engage in the very web 2.0, and to concentrate on its key businesses - providing services for the transfer of data.

More Time to Communicate

The social network is the main reason for the increasing amount of time now spent on the Internet. This is conclusion of Never Ending Friending. The study was prepared jointly by the company TNS, Teenage Research Unlimited Marketing Evolution and instructions on MySpace, Carat and Isobar.

As it turned out, a third of those surveyed aged 14 to 40 years who enjoy the social networks, have increased as a result of this time presence on the Internet. And only 8% of users who communicate in social networks, the total period of stay decreased in Networks.

E-mail became more use 26% of respondents (less than-14%), internet-messengers -24% (less than-16%).

While those users who have become more time to conduct on the Net, not necessarily do so at the expense of viewing television programs. The authors of the study noticed that the fans of social communication in the network, there is a tendency to watch less TV. That is the difference from those whose pastime on the Web devoted not social networks, and other types internet activity. On average, social networks amatores watched television about two hours a week less than the general Internet users.

What are the same sites visited by amatores of social networks? The first is MySpace, the principal asset of the blogs communication amatores. That it spent most of the time that users spend on the Internet. In top ten of most popular portal sites also hit Facebook. In December 2006, at MySpace spent 12% of the total online time, which users had in the United States Network.

However, according to eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson, though these portals enjoyed great popularity among network users, it does not mean that they are good marketing channels. In eMarketer optimistic about the key benefits of social networks - users the opportunity to voice their concerns, to share it with otheres and make a relations with the pertinent people, -noted Williamson. However, she said, now it is time to social networks to prove its worth marketing. "They should not simply force users to communicate on the Net, but also show that social marketing networks can bring real results."