FaceBook: The 800 lb. Gorilla

TrackBacks (0) Comments (2)

FaceBook is by far the largest social network. Charlie Wollborg offers advice on how to effectively use FaceBook in a business context. A key component of his approach is taking a less formal more human approach to interacting with people you interact with on FaceBook.

Like this? Let us know with a $5 donation, so we can do more

The worlds of work and social life are merging according to Charlie Wollborg, Curve Detroit's founder and chief troublemaker. Devices like the blackberry bring work home, and business meetings often begin with personal chit chat.

Facebook is positioning itself as the network that allows people to achieve a balance between professional and social communication. With over 200 Million active subscribers (those who log in at least weekly), Facebook is the 800 lb. guerilla in this rapidly growing area. To effectively present a social business presence on FaceBook, Charlie recommends:

  • Have a photo
  • Present the human side, not just the business side, of who you are. Draw the line where you are comfortable.
  • Make sure to promote your public corporate events there as FaceBook is very viral.

Some things, Charlie recommends you not do with FaceBook:

  • Don't create content solely for Facebook. It's invisible to search engines.
  • By the same token, don't store photos and other content there that you want to be publicly accessible. FaceBook prohibits access to outsiders.

Finally, Charlie recommends that you gear any FaceBook advertising to a soft sell wrapped in information. People come to FaceBook to socialize, not hear hard core pitches.

0 TrackBacks

Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: FaceBook: The 800 lb. Gorilla.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://michiganinnovators.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/fpgibson/MI/mt41/mt-tb.cgi/279

2 Comments

Megan Flewelling on November 22, 2009 4:08 PM
I think that it is important to not only think of Facebook as a social networking site, but also for businesses something that you might want to consider. I know that basically all of my friends have a Facebook page and check it daily. I am pretty sure that this is the same for most college students, and no even family and friends are now creating Facebook pages. I agree that Facebook is a good way to blend in your work life and home life. It allows you to decide what type of things you want people to see, so choosing your picture and the content is totally up to you. Creating events and posting information for your company is pretty much guaranteeing that many people will see it, which is what companies want. The more friends you have the better, if they attend an event it will show up on their news feed and their friends will then see it and possibly attend. Putting information on Facebook is a great way to get any sort of information out to people. I agree with what Charlie says about advertising on Facebook. It is not a good idea to do hard core advertising, people are not on the site to see advertising, they are their to socialize. Megan Flewelling
Hello, my name is Jessica and I am a senior at Eastern Michigan University. I think that Facebook is good and bad for the business world. As a senior, I am looking for jobs and are constantly out there looking for a job and it is important that anything about me on the web is appropriate and tasteful. Someone I’m interviewing with isn’t going want to see pictures of me out and about on a Friday night. So in some cases Facebook isn’t really a good idea for connecting with people that could be apart of your professional life. On the other hand, my father is a realtor and he uses Facebook to connect with clients and colleagues. It is the same thing as what was discussed in this video. It gives people in your professional life an idea of who you are and what your life outside of work. It is a great tool for networking and in this technologically advanced day in age I wonder what will be next.

Leave a comment

From Our Readers

Embed this Video

copy this code into your web page.

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address:

Network Businesses

From the New Enterprise Forum