Not long ago I saw a question about utilizing MySpace for promoting a website. The trend is that MySpace is out & Facebook is in. These statistics are from Jeremiah O’s blog:

• Over 150,000 registrants daily.
• Average visitor stays 20 minutes.
• Most growth is among people over age 25.

Each post in this series will give you an overview of using these sites followed by marketing ideas.

Facebook used to be limited to college students, but since they’ve opened it up to everyone, it’s being flooded. Professionals are using it to network in addition to people just connecting informally. Exchanging messages there is easier than email because they’re displayed in a logical way.

So after that background info, let’s get started!

Registration is easy & you can provide as much or as little info as you want.

There are two main pages that I use:

Profile Page

• wall - where people can leave you public messages that everyone sees
• friends list - click on a friend to send them a private message
• groups list - shows which groups that you belong to
• You’ll see that on my profile I also feed in our blog.

Home Page

News Feed - these list what your friends have done at Facebook

• you can see if they’ve joined new groups, updated their profile, added applications, etc
• Requests & Notifications are also here on right - these are things that people have invited you to do requiring action on your part
  • I don’t really get into the applications - so I tend them (like Ninja, Mardi Gras, etc)

*tip for finding people that you know: Once you have someone that you know as a friend, look at their friend list. Invite mutual friend’s to be your friend. This works well in Facebook & LinkedIn. Or if you see someone in a group that you’d like to befriend (due to the views they express), then invite them & add a personal note as to why you’re inviting them. Personally, I enjoy meeting new people & when people that I don’t know invite me I view it as an adventure. I haven’t had any trouble in Facebook with ‘yucky’ people or being harassed.

Feel free to add me as a friend - Connie Bensen

Facebook allows you to exchange public & private messages with friends. But the true value are the many groups that you can join. For example, I created an ACDSee group. Donna Pelletier created a Scrap Outside of the Box group. There are digiscrapping groups. So if you own a site - you could create your own. There is a field for News with live links, and a Discussion Board where threads can be started & people can contribute. There is also a wall where people can post messages.

Here is what the ACDSee group looks like. Under related groups, you can see digiscrapping groups & Donna’s Scrap Outside the Box group.

So, you may be asking why do this in Facebook when digiland has so many forums? As I mentioned above, it’s all about networking with people you know & those you don’t. It’s another place to connect people with your business too. And it’s fun!

Feel free to join the ACDSee group (whether you use the software or not). Browse thru my groups & see if there are any you’re interested in & click on them to join.

For additional reading - Jeremiah O’s post on Facebook

Leave a comment if you use Facebook or have more ideas on how to use it for promoting your business. I’d like this series to generate ideas that everyone can use.

Edited - Here’s a list of DigiScrapping groups at Facebook - I’ll add yours when you create it!

• Scrap Outside the Box
• Scrapbook-Bytes
  
• ACDSee
• Nuts4Digi
• Photo Walking with Hummie
• Butternug Squash Designs
• Ztampfans
• Missouri Digital Scrapbookers
• Minnesota Digital Scrapbookers - and area states
• Digital Scrapbook Artisan Guild
• Dallas Digiscrappers
• Digi S4O - For people who digitally scrapbook for other people.
• Launch Pads Fanclub

My inspiration comes from a variety of places, but mostly from the people I interact with. I’m a very social person as you’ve noticed if you’re a regular reader. I love to share information & I find it very gratifying if I can empower people with knowledge so they can succeed. I spend a fair amount of time searching for information that will be helpful to our readers.

This morning I was surprised to see my name in Jeremiah Owyang’s blog post yesterday as he thanked two people for being community leaders in his Web Strategy group at Facebook. I was astounded to be recognized by someone that I hold in such high regard.

So who is Jeremiah Owyang? He’s a Web Strategist & prolific blogger (4 posts/day on the avg). His message is about how to use online tools to to maximize your web presence. Are you seeing the connection now? When you go to sign up for our newsletters here, you have two choices: 1) ACDSee information & 2) blogging, online tools, and marketing ideas. As you’ve noticed I have quite a fascination with the second topic & enjoy exploring creative marketing ideas. People have told me to just do one, but I truly believe that it’s important to share my background knowledge with anyone that can utilize the information. And I recognize that not everyone is interested in ACDSee products & some aren’t interested in promotional themes.

Another place where Jeremiah truly shines is that he unselfishly practices & promotes mentorship. I wholeheartedly share that philosophy & I believe that’s what makes the digital scrapbooking community so strong & great. I love translating what the thought leaders are talking about into practical uses for our community. And Jeremiah is truly on the cutting edge. He inspired my newest series on social networking & utilizing applications like Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Kaboodle, etc (and for those of you waiting on that - my work schedule this past week interrupted my blogging, but I will get there!).

Jeremiah also does a fabulous job of building community. We all know the value of that because it’s so important here in digiscrapping land! Participating, sharing, & learning are all part of the community experience & Jeremiah’s blog has opened new doors for me at a level I never would have dreamed of. Remember my articles on Windows Live Writer that so many found useful? Well, when I was at Facebook networking (talking, my sister would say) on one of Jeremiah’s groups, I had a conversation with someone. He befriended me, saw my blog post that included all of your comments about Live Writer & said he was forwarding them to the team who created it! And this person was Sean O’Driscoll, Microsoft’s Community Guy! That is the power of networking and building community. The blogosphere & places like Facebook allow all of us to connect at a whole new level based on our interests & needs. The secret is to get out there & get involved (which is the purpose of my new series that’s coming).

So if you enjoy my articles on marketing, now you know where much of my inspiration comes from. Jeremiah doesn’t consider his blog a marketing blog, but he’s listed in the top 30 of the Top Marketing Blogs which says a lot.

Jeremiah’s post was also a good reminder that if you have people that inspire you or help you many ways (like your Creative Team), remember to thank them. In my work as a manager, this is the one thing that I don’t do enough of. And this should be a post all on it’s own, but I’m so very, VERY thankful for all that my sister does here & the friendship & inspiration that she provides. She shares her technical talents so freely & helps me implement all the ideas that I bring back from my forays on the web. Our partnership is very gratifying!

Who should you be thanking for inspiring you?