Educated Emotion Reader Response to Facebook Networking

A couple weeks ago, I posted a podcast of an interview performed by Christy Haussler:

The Educated Emotion: Les Go Social Podcast Interview - The Secret Ingre...: Photo By Dwight Burdette [ CC-BY-3.0 ],  via Wikimedia Commons I was recently interviewed by Christy Haussler, of Brick and Mortar Rep...

I received a few reader responses, both on the blog and on other social media. One, in particular, was about ways to begin utilizing Facebook as a professional networking tool - even before you create a page. View the reader response, and my reply, below:

henry brown

1 week ago  -  Shared publicly

Very great podcast and information, it was very helpful with some insight that I needed. Tell me.... What are some of the best ways, that you think of course. How Facebook can be used as a "Social Utility "?

 

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Reply

Leslie McGraw

1 week ago

Hi Henry.
Thank you for listening to the podcast! There are dozens of simple ways in which Facebook can be used as a social utility for businesses. Here's a couple tips to get started:
*Manage the About section
 of your personal profile page to showcase what you would like to show up. It can be work history or projects, favorite music or books, or feeds from other social media like Instagram or Pinterest. Just make sure to "manage sections" so that what you want to show up in people's newsfeeds or when people come to your page is at the top of the list
*Be the news source
 for things that directly coincide with your skills. Verify all information before you post it and don't just post things you will receive a benefit from and people will start to see you as a source. For instance, if you are a promoter for local art events...it will help you in the long run by building community around that group of people. That means creating a special list in your settings composed of your friends that are interested in art (use the graph search to help with this), a list of local businesses that showcase art under Interests.
*Join Groups
there are millions of Facebook groups, both personal and professional. Each member can join up to 6000 of those groups. Professionally, 3-5 is a good number of groups to start with:) Take a few minutes each week to interact with the groups so that you can network with other professionals in your area(s) of expertise, learn about live networking events, build rapport, and make it such that if you have information to share it will be welcomed. Check out this link to access what groups you are already a member of, what groups your friends are members of, and suggested groups to join:https://www.facebook.com/browsegroups/?category=membership
*Use your Photo Albums
to capture each event, create a photo album with a simple name and add contributors of people that might be taking pictures at the event. Send them a message that you have added them as a contributor and welcome any pictures they would like to share with proper photo credit. This also allows new connections to see archived photos and the owner to make the album portable by sharing the link in email and such.
*Once you have optimized your personal profile and have something to sell or a community that has been developed (not just on Facebook), create a brand page.

Thanks again for listening and responding.
Peace and Prosperity,

                              Leslie 

Please chime (in the comments below) with ways that you have optimized your professional Facebook presence.