Mari Smith Knows Facebook
September 28th, 2008
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by BobTheTeacher · Filed Under: Business Blogging · Business Building · Business Mentoring · Social Networking · facebook
My Twitter friend and Master Facebook teacher Mari Smith wrote an excellent article about using Facebook for business. Here it is:
10 Reasons to Use Facebook For Business
By Mari Smith
Social networking websites, especially Facebook, have significant implications for business owners, marketers, and entrepreneurs. To keep your business current, you should at least be familiar with the latest conversational marketing techniques and viral technologies, including Facebook and its array of powerful features.
Here are ten reasons to be active on Facebook:
- Meet your peers.Facebook is not just for college kids anymore. Members are typically older and more mature than on other sites, and there are more white collar users.
- Find business contacts.With more than 100 million active users, and predicted to be 500 million by 2011, not only are your friends on Facebook, so are your prospects, your customers, your JV partners… and, of course, your competitors. You need to be on too.
- Instant gate opener.Facebook members are open to connecting. You can easily begin a dialog with highly successful–even famous–people who were previously otherwise unreachable.
- Build relationships.By engaging in conversations with your prospects and customers, you can better adapt your marketing and business services to meet their needs.
- Raise visibility.By consistently showing up, posting relevant information, and being a thought leader, you can increase visibility and credibility as an expert in your area.
- Develop your personal brand.The lines between business and personal have become blurred. You can reveal as much or as little about yourself as you wish, allowing you to personalize your brand.
- Target your niche.Users volunteer vast amounts of information about themselves that you can readily access. These kinds of demographics, psychographics, and technographics would previously have cost fortunes to access. Author, John Battelle, calls Facebook a “database of intentions.”
- Get rapid top Google placement.Create a Page for your business and “push” information to your “fans.” Pages (for business) and Profiles (for personal) are indexed for optimal search engine positioning. Facebook has a page rank of #5 according to Alexa.
- Place targeted ads.With Facebook Social Ads, you can test out extremely targeted advertising for minimal cost.
- Free marketing.Aside from paid ads, Facebook is totally free to use and with regular activity you’ll end up with more traffic, more subscribers, and more paying clients.
Visit Mari’s blogs for two free e-courses: 21 Keys To Profitable Relationships at MariSmith.com and 7-Day Facebook Marketing Tips at WhyFacebook.com
Mari Smith is a Relationship Marketing Specialist and Facebook Business Coach. She helps entrepreneurs to accelerate their business growth using an integrated social marketing strategy, with particular focus on Facebook. Mari is passionate about showing professionals how to develop powerful profitable relationships.
Article Reprinted from Ezine Articles
Let me know which of these 10 reasons is your biggest reason for using Facebook.
Bob Jenkins
p.s. Mari’s best training on Facebook is at FacebookPodclass.com.
And of course, more Facebook for business tips can be found inside the DSN 201 lessons at DiscoverSocialNetworking.com.
p.p.s. Sept. 29 update: Would you like a webinar on using Facebook OR Twitter for business? And if so, what would be a fair price for such a webinar (approx. 90 minutes). Post your answer as a comment below…
21 Responses to “Mari Smith Knows Facebook”
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| Bob Jenkins is an internet business marketing teacher, with ten years experience teaching teenagers and teachers. He is the creator of several online training courses that teach you how to get better customers and increase your profits. Specializing in social networking strategies for business and creating information products from teleseminars, Bob can help you use internet marketing tools and strategies to promote your business online. |
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Bob,
A webinar is good but 90 minutes is way too long. It is hard to schedule my time at your time to be at the live event. I like to listen to the recordings when I want and at my free time.
Sorry, but I will not sign up for a 90 minute event.
Carol
Hi Bob,
I use Facebook for ease of communication.
Plus the ‘Instant gate opener’ … Get to contact people one might not get to contact normally… (Twitter is also good for this). But I’m particularly interested in knowing how to use Facebook for Google (SEO) placement.
For the teleseminar I think Facebook would be better. But ideally both. I use both frequently. 90 minutes, maybe $29, $49 or higher. It would have to be a call where I knew I’d be getting really valuable, and usable, information. But I’m sure if you’re hosting it, that it would be.
Thanks, and see you on FaceBook. :)
PS. http://twitter.com/martinhurley
Martin
I think every one of the reasons given is equally valid and right on the money.
Starting a Facebook group has been another massive boost for us here. I took way too long to get that going.
Interestingly, Facebook has been much more effective a medium for us than MySpace.
Cheers,
Scot McKay
X & Y Communications
Thanks ..great info
A workshop on Facebook would be awesome. It doesn’t seem like there is that much to learn about Twitter but Facebook seems really complicated to me :) Your trainings are always worth the price and I’ve always learned tons. Priced in the range you normally price seminars would work for me! Great post and great info on Facebook – Thanks Bob!
I took the basic course on Twitter at Discover Social Networking and it was a good class. I think a webinar at a reasonable price is something I would be interested in. From reading the help section on Facebook it is best to add a business page. So I hope you will include this in the webinar. Facebook gives instructions but the button to create the new page can’t be found on the new version.
Mari is amazing. I love how much Facebook knowledge she shares. I’ve learned a lot from her. Having said that, I think I’d rather have a Facebook training over Twitter. Facebook seems to be more my speed – though I twitter day in and day out, it’s more personal than professional and I like it that way.
I’ve had a facebook account for quite some time but don’t do much with it as I haven’t really learned how to best use it to help my many business ventures. I’d love a teleseminar, but my advice would be maybe 2 1 hour sessions or something like that with all the trimmings that you normally do Bob! Since it is so narrowly focused, $29-49 sounds about right. How about something like http://discoverfacebook.com ?
Hi Bob,
Regarding your question if Facebook or Twitter, I defenetly need more info on Facebook. I totally agree with Brad Pollina. A series of live webinars that can be recorded on Facebook sounds great.
I don’t think in just 1 webinar you could cover everything and it could be divided in 3 parts: beginners, so-so (?), and advanced.
By the way, I love your DiscoverSocialNetworking course. It’s just what I needed!
Thanks,
Romy
I would most certainly love to attend this seminar. Since I am a mom who works from home while trying to get a business off of the ground with close to zero start up money I would have to say it would be great news to here it was on a donation basis ;)
Hi Bob,
1) Thanks, you are always giving so much!
2) Love the people you introduce us to.
3) I’m too busy for a seminar now. However, 3 30 minute videos, or audios might offer folks a way to absorb. Hey it’s a mini-course.
3 30 minute videos for $10.00, then create a package with some other stuff for $27.32. In three weeks offer 2 more audios for free, and your or Mari’s or a combo coaching self study on topic of your choice course for $49.22. Also offer your coaching package at regular price.
You have a ning site too. Get 3000 to 5000 people to sign up there the way Bob Doyle did. If you got a 4% conversion rate: do the math. Thanks, Mary MacIntyre http://www.about-albuquerquenm.com Come visit.
Hi Bob…
Wow choices! I’ve been using facebook and Twitter for several months now… it took me quite a while to get the hang of what it’s all about. The suggestion was made earlier that it be divided into perhaps two or three seminars… given people’s experience and knowledge base will be incredibly different. 90 minutes is a long time but I think if it was divided into different levels more people would attend and get greater benefit from it.
My preference for a seminar would definitely be on facebook… I believe it is much more versatile.
Jeanne
A webinar on Facebook for business this weekend would be great for me for all ten reasons listed with your usual nominal pricing as Brad Polina and others suggest. And, yes, a Discover Facebook for Business Ning workshop could follow if there’s interest and need. I’m learning a lot to apply to business at Discover Social Networking and your workshops; 2008 Success, Blogging, Squidoo, and Teleseminar. Your organized step-by-step teaching methods are the best. Thanks for sharing so much!
Hi Bob – thanks a million for this post!! You da best!! Just let me know if I can support your project in any way. ;)
Cheers,
Mari
@marismith
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I’m not sure about this.
What could there possibly be to “learn” about such centres of inanity?
I don’t know anyone that goes to any social site.
I suppose you might meet someone that would want to buy something occasionally.
What DO the participants find to “communicate” about? LOL
To each his own, I suppose.
Bob,
Definitely a session about Facebook. I haven’t used FB that much (yet). I prefer LinkedIn for my typical work-related PPL. See? I can almost “text” like my nieces and nephews (ha). PPL = people. Twitter is covered well. I enjoyed this article. Good job, @MariSmith! Hope to see you both at Ken’s JVAlertLive soon. Take care.
Cheri S.
@LongestWiener (Dog) Contest ;-)
like your site.
Am surprised though that you are not using KYTE.com for your seminars–do we know any marketer that is using in this way.
keep up the good work
Hi Bob : I have subsrcibed to many of your recomendations. You are one of the few that actually gives more than they get. I’m starting to us facebook. Getting used to the layout takes alittle time, pretty easy when spend some time on the site. I’m going to start some pages this week. I recived some traffic from facebook already. It’s easy to see that you care about what you do. thanks for all you great information
matthew faulkner
Hi Bob,
Good article. Mari’s supposed to be teaching me some cool tips and techniques about Facebook in my “Discover Social Networking course that I’m doing with you.
I haven’t got to the Facebook course yet, I’m still on the Twitter one, but I’m looking forward to her teachings.
For someone to be called “The Pied Piper of Facebook” by Fast Company 2.0 magazine…she must know her stuff!
Bill:)
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