How to Make Money with Facebook and Advertise Your Business at the Same Time

When I think about Facebook as a tool to make money, the first thing that comes to my mind is 'The art of thinking inside' by Humphrey Bancroft Neill.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social network. If these words have no meaning to you, then you should read the following. In other words, Facebook is a website that allows people worldwide to create an account and interact with their friends. Most people join Facebook to have fun, to promote their business and chat. Feel free to share your latest photos or to list your favorite books and movies, hobbies and areas of interest.

But Facebook is mostly a free show, a sort of Big Brother online. As a member, you permanently receive news posted by your friends, comments, invitations and more. As more friends you have on Facebook, as more popular you are. Of course, it's required to respect some rules.

An expert in information security has managed to break the bank accounts of some friends, using the information they posted on Facebook. He only needed a few minutes to do it. This should be a warning sign for everyone. Therefore I recommend you to be careful when building your profile.

Anyone can make money on Facebook

As I said before, Facebook could become a gold mine if you do an exercise of "thinking backwards". Well, if everyone uses this platform for fun, why not to use it for business? Because Facebook is focused on people and, especially, because it's not built for business, it is the best tool you can use to build your personal brand.

Facebook does much more than to create a brand. It helps you create a database of people interested in you and what you do. They are your future customers, because your best customer is the customer who knows you best.

More than that, Facebook gives people the feeling of insight into privacy. You can strengthen this feeling by posting short messages describing what you do. It is a peep-show you control, because you decide who your friends are.

You might think that I'm not going to tell you about how to make money on Facebook. It's a wrong impression, because personal branding and the list of potential clients are two of the most powerful marketing tools. And marketing is the key to profit.

What are the best Facebook applications for business?

Facebook can do many things for you. It increases your productivity and offers you specific tools for business. Here is a list of possibilities:

- You can use Zoho applications to edit Office documents directly from your Facebook account;

- MyLists application allows you to make lists describing everything you have to do;

- Files application lets you store up to 1G text, audio and video files;

- You can create your own media channels using SplashCast for Facebook;

- You can edit photos directly from Facebook using Picnik application;

- With MyRSS, you can read your favorite blogs whenever you want;

- Telephone application allows you to make phone calls, to receive and send voicemail (audio emails);

- With Slideshare, you can post business presentations;

- CircleUp is an application that enables you to manage groups and events;

- Feel free to plan phone conferences with Free Conference Calls;

- Facebook Video allows you to upload files with video presentations;

- 'Testimonials' is an application that allows you to receive feedback from customers;

- You can even create business cards on Facebook;

- You can connect your LinkedIn profile directly to Facebook using My LinkedIn Profile;

These are only some of the Facebook applications that can be used. Put your creativity to work and make new marketing tools to increase your credibility and promote your business!

Sources: www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid...topic... , mashable.com/.../money-making-facebook, www.virtualmarketingblog.com/make-money-with-facebook/