How Facebook is Creating its Own Internet

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How Facebook is Creating its Own Internet

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The Power of Facebook is a phenomenon and I have been involved from its inception. I joined the social network in 2004 within months of it being online. It started at Harvard and quickly spread to private colleges and then expanded to large public universities. Being that I was at Auburn University, we were up high on that list. I can still remember an influential friend of mine saying “man you really need to check out this site called The Facebook.” I told him that I probably wouldn’t be interested and he let me know it took literally 30 seconds to sign up.

So I signed up. Later that semester I remember looking around the computer labs and seeing at least half of the students on this site called “The Facebook” (before paying $200k for the simpler cleaner Facebook name).

It then expanded to high schools, then to workplaces, then to everyone. And now, the site that you now know as Facebook has more than 1 out of 6 people on the planet as a user on their website.

Large Companies are using it as a platform

I’m sure you’ve by now noticed when large companies give their facebook url on commercials rather than their webpage. For example, Mountain Dew may want to tell you to visit them at facebook.com/mountaindew rather than at mountaindew.com Oh the power of Facebook.

Why would a company want to do this? Simple. Become their fan once and they can push content to you for free for life.

Can their website do this? No. You’d have to decide yourself to manually visit their website each time that you wanted information from it or subscribe to an e-newsletter.

Since millions of people already spend daily time on Facebook, it’s more valuable for companies to tap into that. Granted only 12-17% of a page’s followers see each post that a company make, but if you can grow your following to 10,000 fans then 1,200-1,700 people seeing each message is pretty incredible.

Even more recently, I’ve seen companies say FB.com/xyz Why? Because FB is a brand and people know what FB means.

Facebook ‘unlikes’ are super uncommon

Once you can get a person to complete the simple task of clicking the ‘Like’ button you will basically have them as a fan for life. Very rarely will someone go through the trouble of ‘Unliking’ a business (unless you bombard, etc.)

Facebook is its own search engine

Facebook wants you to search its pages. They want your friends to provide you the content that you’re looking for. Are you looking for breaking news? Want to know about local events happening in your city? See where your friends are traveling? Know good restaurants? Bad ones? Follow the right sources and it’s all right at your fingertips in your newsfeed.

Facebook also ranks high in Google and other search engines. What does this mean? It means that you can create a fan page with a specific title that you want to rank high in Google for and it may quickly rank on the first page of Google, simply because Facebook is already an authority site. You may create an actual website and it may take ages to get these same results. What?!?!? That’s right. Create a fan page with a specific title that you want to rank high in Google for and it may quickly rank on the first page of Google, simply because Facebook is already an authority site.

Facebook is a free outlet

At least for now. And I don’t see any reason why that would ever change (of course I’ve got no crystal ball). Their revenue is made mainly from advertising revenue (and folks that actually pay real $$ to send a virtual gift to a friend). Of course they will always make the rules on how its users are able to use its website and can change those rules at any time they like.

You can even use your Facebook Fan Page as your website. Are you looking to create a site but don’t want to pay thousands at this time for a design? Simple. Just buy a domain name (the www.yourdomainname.com part of a website) through a domain reseller that I use like GoDaddy (aff link). Then forward your domain name to your Facebook Page. Boom. Instant web page all at the cost of a domain name. Some may say that this is unprofessional. Why? I think too many entrepreneurs get bogged down with perfecting a website before ever finding their first paying customer.

I think this is a smart move – and an incredible way to grow your Facebook page. As you grow your company, you can easily have a site built with profits and then link to your (now popular) Facebook Page from your website. It’s smart marketing in my opinion.

Why do most small businesses set up their websites anyway? To provide company hours, contact info, and to have a way to provide information to their customers. If you can provide all of this information for free through Facebook, then why even set up a website in your first year? Get your business off the ground first. Heck, you may find that you never even need a website presence. There are children’s clothing companies that run their entire business directly from their FB page; they post pictures and numbers of available clothing, fans claim them, the business sends an invoice, and once paid the company makes and ships the clothing. Talk about trust, initiative, and community!

“But I don’t know how to get started” some say. Google it. TONS of free resources for growing Facebook.

“But I’ve exhausted all the free info and I’m not sure what to do next” others cry. Pay for something. Take it to the next level. Use Get 10,000 Fans to grow your page. Use SplashPost to collect emails and sell products right inside of your Facebook page. I’m not affiliated with either company and I don’t get paid by those companies if you choose to use them. They’re companies that I’ve found online that I have in my arsenal of tools as I grow my projects, like The Rundown which we highly utilize Facebook marketing for.

What questions do you have? If BroCon knows the answer, I’ll save you some google time. Just ask below…[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

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