Effective Steps To Maximise Facebook: Social Networking Special Report

Jorrian Gelink delivers a Special Report to WCW inSiGHT on how to maximise social networking by harnessing the increasing influence of Facebook for corporations

Viewpoint by Jorrian Gelink, Managment Architect, WCW Columnist

The social media trend has been climbing upwards since the launch of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook ranks as the second most visited web site in the United States behind Google. Twitter has grown exponentially in 2008. In 2009, when the global economy was in turmoil, LinkedIn expanded its business network.

How does one manage all these networks?

Information and requests come flooding at you in real time and not only is it just you absorbing material from the internet, social media requires you to also respond to the information being shot out every five minutes.

Exponentially increasing the contacts in your network can inversely affect the quality of your network.

I have over 6000 contacts on LinkedIn, 4000 followers on Twitter and 1000 friends on Facebook, and I have a system that I use daily to get the most and provide the most out of my network.

Organizing, making sure my profile is up to date and removing the clutter all help me maintain a grasp and have an easy profile for others to navigate.

1. Eliminate all the Clutter

Out of the three major social networks, Facebook has the most clutter. Event requests, applications requests, gift requests, game requests, group joining requests and dozens of others can clog your productivity.

If all you are doing on Facebook is getting pets as gifts or joining groups that want to “Preserve the gases of Neptune”, you are wasting time by not providing value and interacting with your network. With my network of 1000 friends on Facebook, I get over 100 requests per week! Let’s pretend I cater to 20% of those requests, which are still 20 requests not increasing the value of my network. Here are some ways I reduce clutter.

On the main Facebook page, hide EVERYTHING that is an application or invite request that is online only. Keep News, Photos, Videos and Status Updates Only.

One of the main reasons people get off Facebook is the multiple requests on the main page to join games like “Mafia Wars” or “Farmville”.

Once you click Hide, those applications will no longer bother you. All I have on my Live Feed is Status Updates, Videos and Photos others share and News items. All these are items I can share with others, if I find breaking news on Facebook from one of my contacts, I can share it with my friends. Same with photos or videos, these can be shared with your network. I promise you sharing news updates is more helpful to your network than sharing how many points you have on your Facebook games.

2. Start using Lists for Contacts. NOW!

The Lists feature in Facebook Contacts is the most useful feature initiated in Facebook recently. I have Lists for my Work, Elementary, Junior High, High School, University, Offline Friends, Online Network and Round Table. If you have over 100 friends, it will take you awhile to separate everyone into lists, but the payoff is huge.

Now when I go through my list of 1000, I immediately recognize who is who. The “Round Table” list are those in my network that I wish to know more about and have on my side, one mine is consultants, executives in my area and close friends. Who you have in your Round Table depends on your life goals and who you think is a valuable resource.

Once a friend adds you to Facebook, put them in a list right away so you can easily back track later. Lists are the be all and end all of my Facebook Contact Management System.

3. Review your “Info” Box on your Profile Page

This is the area with Basic, Personal, Contact and Education Info. Almost everyone fills out this section when they first create their profile; the problem is they never check it again to make sure it is accurate.

Review everything. Is your Current Job still correct?

Are your e-mails the same? How about your phone numbers, nothing is more embarrassing then calling an old or wrong phone number. Check your “Groups”. Maybe the “Grass should not be Green but Blue” group you joined is no longer relevant to what you believe in.

4. Clean up any Applications on your Profile

Applications on Facebook are in abundance and there is an application for almost anything. Remember, building a profile is not about what you like when you’re trying to network; it’s about the person on the receiving end. Having too many applications such as games, stats, buttons and other apps slow down the loading time of your profile and can clutter it to the point where the person reading it will just move on, or assume all you use Facebook for is the applications and not truly wanting to build a strong network.

If you do have applications, streamline it so you have apps that help the reader. On mine I have a button to add me to LinkedIn and Google Latitude to pinpoint my location. That’s it. Just two and they both take up small boxes on the side. Reducing the clutter on your profile will help narrow what’s important, your activity with your network.

Reducing clutter, updating your information so it’s current and organizing your contacts are all key aspects to effectively using your Facebook profile. This just covers the first steps in order to help you navigate and these need to be done first before you try any other tactics to gain a hold on any of your online networks, get the weeds out of the garden before planting new flowers.

For further information, visit Jorrian Gelink
Management Architect
http://www.jorrian.com