Well it's happened. Facebook has announced in July of 2010 that it has passed the 500 million users milestone and for those that want to start or increase their social media as a marketing strategy for small business marketing , this type of internet marketing cannot be ignored.

Internet marketing through social media is becoming more popular, especially with various types of small businesses, such as home-based, online businesses, network marketing and the standard "brick and mortar" establishment.

Facebook provides business owners a great opportunity to not only socialize but to network with people. Now it shouldn't take place of live people-to-people networking events, but it should enhance and be a part of your entire marketing strategy.

Here are some basic pointers in wanting to use Facebook for business marketing.

• In your profile, post a great photo of yourself with a nice smile on your face. It's been proven that more people will likely to click on a person with a smile than without. And please, no photos of your pets or children as you profile picture. This isn't "Petbook" or "My Kids Book", this is Facebook.
• In your information area, have some basic items listed of yourself, schools you've attended, any movie, book or music interests. Use your discretion about posting where you're employed, especially if you're building a business of your own. But of course mention your own business if you're self-employed.
• I would suggest leaving out your religion or political beliefs or views. Not that you're ashamed of those beliefs, but you're trying to build a business and attract as many potential clients as possible. I understand having strong beliefs and views - I do myself - but I feel it's not something I need to wear on my sleeve in a social media marketing campaign.
• Build your "friend" list sincerely and slowly. You can separate your relatives and personal friends into a sub-list. What I mean by building a list "sincerely", don't just randomly pick people to be your friend. Take the time to see what they're interests are, what movies or music they like. Understandably, some don't allow their information to be viewed until you are accepted as friends - if that's how they show their profile, you can't do anything about that.
• Post memorable posts. Motivational quotes or sayings of people you admire from history or current events are good. Post some things that are going on in your life. Nothing personal or deep, but something like my kid is starting first grade tomorrow. Keep posts positive and upbeat. Even to get a conversation string going, something like, "I'm going to see the Stone Temple Pilots tonight in Philadelphia - what's your favorite 90's band?"
• Be interested in other people's posts. Comment or answer their posts, have dialog. Always answer people's questions.
• Keep your wall clean. There are Facebook games that some people participate, like Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc. Remove them from your wall. Prospective friends checking out your wall won't know about you with all that junk on your wall. Start a separate Facebook page if you want to play those games.
• Don't feel like you can't remove someone as a friend. You're Facebook page is to attract and hold the most people that interest each other. Remove anything and anyone that is offensive and degrading.

In future Facebook articles, we'll talk about using "fan pages" on Facebook as you build your popularity.

Remember Facebook is just one aspect of your total social media marketing strategy. As you build your Facebook page, your social networking continues all the time. You will be looked at as an expert in your business and build a following to where you'll get to the point of viral marketing your business and will include Facebook paid advertising, and using Google AdWords. http://MeetBillJur.com