In it’s very generic, vanilla form, Facebook is just so-so as a business tool. Lots has been written and said about its use for business, but to me the real power comes when you hang the proper accessories, known as applications, on it and really trick it out for business and professional use.
There are thousands of application available with one click once you have a Facebook profile. But, don’t get caught up in adding every goofy dodad, just because you can. Think logically about your goals for being on Facebook and then choose the tools that will help your communicate, achieve and amplify those objectives.
Here’s a directory of Facebook applications
And, here are my favorite applications for business use.
- Telephone - With Telephone you can call, send and receive voice messages through Facebook, just like having voicemail on your phone. All you need is the application and a microphone and you can start sending messages to your friends.
- Slideshare - SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. You can upload your own PowerPoint, OpenOffice, Keynote or PDF files and view presentations shared by others. This is a great way to spread thought leadership and expertise through presentations you may have delivered locally.
- CircleUp - For Groups and Events is a lightweight collaboration app for groups and events. This tool facilitates some of the communication needed to promote your group activity and events on Facebook and elsewhere. This is particularly useful if you’ve created and maintain your own group on Facebook or often promote teleseminars and workshops.
- Free Conference Calls - Use Free Conference Calls to organize a business meeting on the fly. With free conference call you can call in from anywhere; your home, mobile, Skype, or any VoIP service. Using this app inside of Facebook can help make some immediate connections a little deeper.
- Facebook Video - Facebook Video provides a high-quality video platform for people and pages on Facebook. With Video, you can upload video files, send video from your mobile phone, and record video messages to your friends. This application is so easy to use that it makes sending video introductions or message a powerful way to network on Facebook
- Testimonials - Use Testimonials to gather your personal and professional references in one place. Encouraging customers and contacts to post testimonials about your work and expertise adds great marketing content to your profile.
- Introductions - Introduce your friends to each other and make new ones. Ask for an introduction to a web programmer or good lawyer. Then make introductions for your friends. This application speeds the process of effective networking by helping focus on giving and receiving introductions in a systematic way.
- Business Cards - Business Cards helps you network better on Facebook. Personalize your card and attach it to your Facebook messages! View postings and network with others! This application is much like the signature common in email messages. Itβs just one more way to say business when using Facebook.
- My LinkedIn Profile β Makes it easy to promote your LinkedIn account with a badge on your Facebook profile. Cross promoting social network activity is a great way to extend your reach.
- What I Do β Allows you to promote your services/products to your Facebook network. Display your skills/wares on your profile box and list yourself in a business directory. Recommend your colleagues services and products too.
So, I would love to hear how you have effectively used specific Facebook applications for business.
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Comments
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at Aug 27, 08 | 6:34 am and is filed under Social Marketing, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
John,
Thanks for this list. I also like the app called ‘blog networks’. Many people can find and favorite your blog and it’s another great way to connect with new readers.
Connie Ragen Green
Based on your recommendation I checked the last recommendation - What I Do - and… I love it. What a great way to offer services without blatant salesy sleaze.
Thank you for the tip! Steph
John,
What about posting your BLOG to Facebook? I use MirrorBlog, but since the new Facebook came out, it doesn’t seem to be working properly.
Ideas?
Adrianne Machina, DTM Coach
http://TornadoMktg.com
John, You forgot TWITTER, it’s not in the top ten! Rest of your apps are great, but can’t comment, I am trying to stay under 140 characters
Excellent list, John. I like and use most all of your Top 10 list. I’d also add these:
Posted Items, Notes, Events, Podclass, Twitter, TwitterSync, FriendFeed, MyBox, MyGoogleCalendar, MyBlogs, YouTube, StumbleUpon
I like Facebook Video for the reasons you state. And for more leveraged video content, I recommend uploading videos to YouTube and using the YouTube app.
Posted Items, Notes and Events are all FB default apps as I’m sure you know, and provide great opportunity for what I call “viral visibility!”
Cheers,
Mari
@marismith
John,
Great list. I will make use of several of these applications.
One Facebook application that I like is “I Endorse”.
This application allows you to endorse people or businesses that have provided you with good value. In return your clients can endorse your products or services that they value.
Best wishes.
Roger Ellerton
http://www.renewal.ca
Though not an application, Facebook Pages are a great outlet for businesses. The business name is the title of the Page, and instead of “friends” or “members,” the business has “fans.” There is room for information about the business, discussion boards, and more!
Am I missing something? I can’t get the What I Do app to even load. I get to their page, but if I click “Go to Application” it tells me it can’t find it. Hmm….
Anyway, I love the article. All great suggestions. I’ve been using the business card one for a while and really enjoy it. It’s nice to be able to attach it to Wall posts as well (an unusual use, but neat).
Yes, Twitter is fantastic. If for nothing else, to update your Facebook status on a regular basis which keeps you in the “feed activity” list of your friends/contacts.
John,
Awesome post!
Social Media is the wave of New Marketing and you gave a nice list for us, thank you!
Seth Godin’s book Meatball Sundae talks a lot about this very topic and I am doing a series of book review podcasts on my blog on the book.
http://www.MarketingHuddle.com
Thanks for all you do!
Mike Saunders
One of the things I really enjoy about your blog, John, besides the obvious value of the material you present, are the ideas, tips and thoughts of other comment-ers. One thing I’d like to figure out as regards Facebook, is how to utilize a group - I started one, but now don’t know what to do with it.
Great post!
1. I love to use the Twitter app to update my status and network.
2. Blognetworks is a great app and I always post my blogs to my profile and find that it drive more traffic to my blog.
3. Love the Calliflower app.
Thanks
Great post. Also check out the ability to automatically turn your blog posts (or any RSS feed) into Facebook notes which show up on friends’ newsfeeds.
Adrianne, I use Notes to post blog updates to FB automatically. Go into your Notes settings and you’ll see instructions for importing a blog.
Also, I checked out the Slideshare app for FB after reading this post, but couldn’t get it to work. Slideshare tech support told me that the app is out of date and just to use Slideshare itself instead. Which defeats the purpose of trying to post slideshows on FB!
Hi Lisa, I’m Ashwan from SlideShare and I was the one that replied to your email. The problem with the SlideShare app for Facebook is that it is severely broken because of changes on SlideShare as well as Facebook.
We do know how important it can be to have the ability to share your slideshows on Facebook especially since there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to make our embeds work there.
We are working on fixing/redeveloping the app though!
I think the Marketplace application is also very useful if you want to advertise some of your services or products.
John, Can I talk you into updating this list in six months? Also, Fast Company magazine has a great article about My Space vs. Facebook covering what My Space plans to do to overtake Facebook in the near term. Care to comment?
Angie A. Swartz, Founder, Six Figure Moms Club
http://www.SixFigureMomsClub.com
I think the funniest thing is the number of people who use facebook under the guise of a business tool, because of it’s recognised anf oft-commented on value as such, but all their really wanting to do is socialise..
Nevertheless, a very useful list.. Thanks John
Another great opportunity Facebook and the like give your business is the ability to spread your message through viral Facebook applications. I blogged about using viral marketing here. Specifically I gave examples of viral applications. Many businesses can replicate the same strategy.
Awesome post. I had never heard of many of these applications, specifically the conference call and the linkedin badge are very cool.
How do you then add any of these applications to your Facebook pages? For example, I tried adding “what I do” but I got a response to my action saying this app can not be added to my pages?!!!
My LinkedIn Profile β Makes it easy to promote your LinkedIn account with a badge on your Facebook profile. Cross promoting social network activity is a great way to extend your reach. I wasn’t able to add this too to my Facebook for some reason to do with types of pages I have…