WHY use Facebook?

There was an excellent question posted today at DST:

Hi,
I went and read thru your blog posts about facebook. But in a nutshell, can you explain to me WHY I should sign up??? LOL
Actually, I have recently (really) gotten into blogging…. LOL But it took me awhile…. LOL
So what really is Facebook all about? I am really clueless??? I went to Facebook, but they don’t seem to have all a lot of info - ie tour etc…. it is pretty vague…. WHat is it’s purpose and how will it benefit me as a designer and scrapper???
Thank you!!!
Lori

Hi Lori,
Those are very good questions. I like people to ask why! I’m one of those people too. At my day job in my role as a leader/manager, I always try to explain ‘why’ when explaining something new.

I’m going to answer in two parts:

Why use Facebook?

Facebook is a site where you can do a number of things that is different from the experience that you have on a traditional forum. It’s more of a 2 way interaction than on a blog (which is mostly the author speaking). There are a lot of things to ‘do’ which sounds odd. I tried to point out things that can be helpful, but people like playing with the app’s. Let’s just say that there are diversions there. My suggestion is that if you’ve just gotten into blogging & are working to get a routine down, then work with that. (Are you using Live Writer?). My prediction is that Facebook is going to become more mainstream. The message system there is nicer to read than email. Making a profile is quick & then you can look around. Add me & then look thru my friends & I bet you’ll find lots of digiscrappers to add as friends.

What is it’s purpose & how will it benefit you?

Facebook was built for college students, but it is now open to everyone. People are realizing that it can be used for business networking in addition to socializing. It’s another place to talk about your digiscrapping, upload layouts, or link to your layouts. My guess is that if you ask around, your family members/friends may be a part of Facebook (or Flickr - I’ll be talking about that later) & you can share your work there whereas they probably wouldn’t join in at a digiscrapping site. We’re just kind of intense at our forums . Hummie had a great idea today in creating a regional group. She created a Missouri Digiscrapping group. I will get one made for Minnesota soon too. What a great way to have a central place for planning crops! & sharing news. Because digiland is spread pretty far & wide. I’m not a designer, but if I were, I would want to expose new people to my products. Your existing customers are very important, but growing your business has value. So why not go where the people are? And there are LOTS at Facebook. 35 million people are using Facebook & spending 20 min’s per day there.

Lie Fhung has been putting up her products in Facebook with links to her store. She puts up her previews into albums. I love how the previews come up full screen! (and I put comments on them for her — you’ll need to register to see the link) Amy from SBB has started a group for her store. As I see new ideas I’ll let you know. And please share if you have ideas.

Since I started this series, I’ve been having a blast! My friend’s list has doubled. (If you’re feeling blue about not having many friends, go thru my list of friends & invite the people you know. And as you gain friends continue to find mutual friends. If you’d like to add new people, put a note in like Amy did below.)

I’ll try to get around & say hi to people as I have time. I totally agree with Hummie that the networking should be sincere & genuine. And I love meeting new people, so I’m in my element. And these happy notes are just awesome!

Amy says, “Hi! I just read your blog on Facebook. Since I am addicted to both digiscrapping and Facebook, this is perfect. Thanks so much for the tips!”

And for those of you eager to read more, I found these last night. This blogger is from MN too & has some great ideas! There’s something in there for the beginner Facebooker to the advanced.

Top 10 Facebook Business Uses (note the one on Limiting your Profile - I can do screenshots if you’d like help? just ask)

Hummie talked about mixing it up with Facebook & Kaboodle. I nominate her to blog on it!

Keep your ideas coming ladies! And if you’re enjoying the information, sign up for our newsletter.

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