Jump into Facebook!

If you still haven’t immersed yourself into Facebook, then this article is for you.

WHO
Facebook.com, FB is the most popular web site on the planet. They claim to have over 400 Million active users! That is up 50 Million from January.

It is crazy how quickly Facebook has grown. There is a strange status attached to being a user. It is understood by people that are connected as well as those that aren’t.  I was recently speaking to a group of professionals and one lady admitted to not being on Facebook. She is an educated and accomplished lady, but she was a little embarrassed that she wasn’t on Facebook yet.

WHAT
Facebook is free web site where people and businesses connect. For a business you can post content about your company/services, interact with current and potential customers and learn valuable info from your fans. Create a plan and execute.

Facebook’s got Game
They also play a bunch of games! Our fearless editor especially enjoys Farmville. A game where you create a virtual farm. Sound like fun? over 80 Million people think so. If you want to learn more about Farmville ask Summer from omOriginals. She is our resident FV expert. I must admit I play my fair share of Texas Hold ‘em at night.

WHY
Everybody uses Facebook. Connect with Everybody, I recently read this in ‘Six Pixels of Separation’, a great book written by Mitch Joel. The bottom line is to be where your customers are and Facebook is THE place to be.

There is some esoteric coolness about being on Facebook. It is a great way to communicate with friends and family through Facebook that we rarely interact with in the real world. Many young <you define young as you wish> people use Facebook as their desired contact method.

Why? because you can interact on your own terms. Read and respond when you have a moment and your friends can do the same.

This works for business too, repeat clients and potential clients check our our FB to learn about what omOriginals is up to. Again on their own terms, people can check a business and it’s culture and engage if and when they wish. Businesses should definitely consider getting their own free FB Page. Businesses should create a basic FB plan and consistently deliver each month to their friends and fans. Check out the Bugler’s Facebook at facebook.com/valleybugler.

It is a nice way to see what is coming up and sometimes get your comments posted in your favorite newspaper!

WHERE
You can sign-up directly at Facebook.com or have a friend send you an invite. If you’d like you can send me an eMail or call my office to get an invite. Just call 360-575-9839 and say please send me a Facebook invite.
We will ask for your eMail address and get you pointed in the right direction.

To get setup with a “Page” for your business you can point your browser to www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages …or call us and we’ll get you hooked up.

FB on the Go
Don’t forget your mobile. Yes, there is an app for that. If you phone is smart you can download an app to take your Facebook with you. Most of my FB time is on my phone.

Hire a Pro
If this sounds good, but you are overwhelmed you might consider hiring a professional. An hour or so of insight and planning with a professional geek can save you time and get you off to a great start.

I hope to see you on Facebook soon!

~:-) God Bless, Oscar Myre IV
omOriginals Marketing! & Valley Bugler Newspaper.
You can reach omOriginals at (360) 575-9839 or online at omoriginals.com

As promised here are amazing stats about FB. Google — eat your heart out.
FACEBOOK Stats as of 3/22/10

• 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• More than 35 million users update their status each day
• More than 60 million status updates posted each day
• More than 3 billion photos uploaded to the site each month
• More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week
• More than 3.5 million events created each month
• More than 3 million active Pages on Facebook
• More than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook
• More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day
• Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans