Facebook is a rapidly growing and boasts 175 million users with about five million new users a week.  This makes it a ripe opportunity to boost your business.

Step One:  Build your Profile

Facebook now offers options for those who wish to use Facebook for both personal and professional uses.  If you already have a personal profile, you can now also create a profile specifically for your business.  If you wish to keep profiles unified, you can also set limitations so business associates do not see those posts to your sister, husband or best friend and vice versa – it’s fairly easy to privacy protect posts and we’ll show you how to do that in just a bit.

To sign up, simply click on the button on Facebook’s home page.

Decide how people are likely to search for you and create a username.  For example, if you’re creating a business profile then your business name will likely be your username however if you’re a service provider, people may search for you by your given name, for example Jane Smith.


Once you’ve created a username and a password it’s time to start adding information.  In the image below you’ll see there are a number of options and opportunities to build your credibility and share information about yourself and your business.


Step Two:  Start Connecting

The next step, once you’ve created a profile, is to invite your friends, associates, and anyone you’re interested in connecting with.

It also suggests people you may know based on your interests and people who are already in your group. You can also search for specific people and import your IM list.


 
Step Three: Editing Your Settings

As mentioned earlier in step one, you can modify your settings so only specified people can see your posts.  You can create groups so only your friends see personal posts and your business associates can see your business related posts.

To access your settings, click on the settings button in the top toolbar.  From there you’ll be taken to a page with several options, as seen in the image below.





Make the necessary adjustments to your settings, networks, notifications and so on. 
To set your privacy settings, visit http://www.facebook.com/privacy/
And make the necessary changes.  For example, you may only want friends to view photos and videos tagged with you in them. 

Step Four:  Begin Posting, Updating And Interacting 


You can post what you are doing right now. You can also post photos and links to video or audio.
Users can also send and receive messages to other Facebook friends. You can use this function to share a promotion, a special link, or an invitation reserved specifically for your Facebook friends.

Step Five: Adding Facebook Applications

Facebook offers a number of applications including creating and joining groups.  Adding and joining groups is another way to connect with a very specific target audience. If, for example, you are a writer and your market is work from home moms, you could create a group for aspiring mompreneurs and teach them the ropes of writing good copy. The group function allows you to also see the groups your friends and associates are participating in so you can make the decision about whether or not it’s a group you too want to join.

There are a large number of applications and with Facebook continually growing new applications will be added every day. 

A few great applications to consider include:

Twitter – This is only relevant if you also have a Twitter profile and wish to integrate your Twitter and Facebook account.  Doing so will publish all of your Twitter posts on your Facebook account and will be seen as posts by your network. 

BlogNetwork – This application is a great way to publicize your blog and gain new followers.




Other applications include the ability to add videos, photos, and notable links. Each of these applications provides valuable ways to connect to your audience, provide value, and to boost website traffic and profits.

To add any application, simply search for it in the Facebook search bar and follow the instructions to add the application and to modify your settings as they relate to each specific application.,

We mentioned Twitter earlier, it’s the other tremendously popular social networking site and it integrates quite nicely with Facebook.