It seems these days that most people are on Facebook for either their personal life or their business life, or both. Social media is very popular, but I would still say that Facebook is king in the social media world.
From a business standpoint, Facebook is a very effective way of networking, different than Twitter or LinkedIn or some of the others out there, Facebook is easy because it’s so … well … big, for lack of a better word!
It’s easy to browse around and see what people are up to, and it’s easy to connect and network with people, but there are a few tips that you might want to use to improve your business networking so that you can maximize your time online and really use it effectively.
Be selective. It’s important to have quality over quantity for your business contacts. On your wall feed, you will see posts from all of your connections. If you have people who post valuable content once a day, and you have others who post things that don’t interest you much more often, you may miss the things you are really interested in. It’s not a race, and it’s not a contest. Only connect (or stay connected) with people that you really want to be in contact with. And don’t be afraid to try people on for size first. I have friended and unfriended many business people/pages/groups – if they take away from my online experience (or even just don’t add to it), I am not afraid to disconnect with them.
Mix it up. Be sure to have a good balance of personal and business posts going. Business is business, and of course you want to use your social media to expand your business, but the people that will work with you are going to want to connect with you, the person, so it’s important to balance that. Same can be said for the other way – if you are posting only personal content, people may not find that business connection with you that you want them to find.
Build lists. The easiest way to separate the content that comes in over your wall feed is to use lists. You can create lists to segregate all of the people you are friends with – so you can keep your personal contacts and your business ones separate. I also keep a couple of separate business lists, for pages, people and really interesting contacts, so when I view my feed I can select to view only what they have posted. On the Most Recent tab, there is a dropdown menu where you can choose which list of contacts you want to show. This is a great way to get yourself up to date quickly. Pick a list to check out, scan the posts, and comment or share as you wish!
Interact. It is social media after all! Don’t just lurk on people’s walls – comment on their posts and updates. Interaction is the networking part of things. Share things that others have posted to your own wall. You may think that they don’t want to hear what you have to say, but they really do. Everyone likes to have someone comment on something they have ‘put out there’. From a business standpoint, it makes great sense to post interesting things and to comment on other people’s as well. You are trying to establish a reputation as an expert, so share your knowledge and opinion!
Be active. Once you put your social media strategy in place, it’s important to keep up your activity. Check in regularly, and interact regularly. Post your own content regularly too. Share your expertise in your industry. Be interesting. Don’t overload people, but don’t disappear. It can be a fine balance, but using a social media strategy will help you keep on track.
Connecting with potential clients and colleagues alike on Facebook makes good business networking sense. You can do it easily in minutes a day when you follow these simple tips!
