Facebook has taken the Internet by storm. From its humble beginnings in Harvard, it now boasts an estimated 60 million active users all over the globe. From a simple social networking system, it has evolved as a useful marketing tool for businesses all over the world.

Many college entrepreneurs have decided that Facebook is important to their business – so it’s not surprising that most of them have Facebook accounts.

But what do potential customers, business partners, and peers see when they look at your Facebook profile? Do they see a complete gallery of your drunken face during frat parties, or do they see someone they’ll be confident in doing business with?

Since your Facebook profile will give the first impression, you must learn how to optimize your profile to your advantage. Here are a few steps for you to follow:

A picture is worth a thousand words.
If you want to establish credibility and trust, take the few extra seconds to find and upload an image that reflects the ideal image of your business. After all, a big question mark in the place for your image can be quite a turn-off.

So take the extra mile and upload a profile pic that reflects the image of your business. Is it casual? Professional? Offbeat? Take the time to choose a picture that reflects the image you want.

Keep it updated.
People don’t care so much about what happened to you 2 years ago. They’d want the latest information you can provide. By having an up to date profile, more people will get to know your recent activities – this is important if you’re launching a new product or website.

Plus, regularly updating your profile means that your name and updates will appear on your contacts’ notification lists, reminding them that you exist. For all you know, that little reminder could land you a new client.

Add applications.
Research what applications could best help you to market yourself. Find out what works and what doesn’t. Most Facebook business experts recommend the following applications: RadicalBuy, IntroduceMe, Blog Friends, and Testimonials.

However, be careful that you don’t clutter your profile page too much. Also, make sure that the Information module is on top, allowing your visitors to get to know you without the need to scroll down.

That’s it, folks. Of course, there are many other ways how you can fix your profile. The most important thing to remember is that simple is always good. Create a profile which will give readers the best impression of you and your business with a single glance.

What most of you probably don’t know is that that little bee is the place where:

1. I spend most of my time online
2. I make most of my money online
3. I meet other smart people who are making lots of money online

For almost a year, I’ve been part of a completely private forum for Internet professionals. It’s the best community I’ve ever been a part of…bar none. Not only has it enabled me to make more money than I could have ever dreamed of as an online entrepreneur, but through it I’ve met some of my very best friends.

The cool thing is that we’ve opened up our community to those willing to pay $10/month. Given that you will:

A) Get lots of help with social media promotion
B) Gain personal access to people who have lots and lots of online leverage (upward networking)
C) Gain access to insider tips on everything from monetization to content development
D) Get weekly professional reports on the state of blogging and SEO

…and lots more, the $10 is more than worth it.

So check out Performancing Hive and you’ll be well on your way to building a strong, durable network.

As Userplane President Michael Jones said in an article, this use of “online, friend/associate-based networking will prove to be one of the most valuable business tools the internet has yet provided.”

With a wide database of users and user-friendly interfaces, online social networks are good for advertising and publicity. You just have to create a profile and place all the necessary information about your company for your potential network to see. It doesn’t have to be complex and lengthy – just include your business name, the industry you’re in, the current employers, a brief history, and links to your website and business partners, if any.

You can talk to anyone about your products or services, and let them try if they wish. Nonetheless, you don’t use your page to sell directly. You don’t send spam e-mails about your product and ask everyone to see and buy. Successful online networking involves making new friends and business connections or groups, not trying hard to widen customer base.

For a more formal and business tailored online networking, however, there are more than a couple of websites to choose from (e.g. www.linkedin.com, www.rize.com and www.tribe.net). These services are particularly geared towards hosting communication and referrals for professional purposes. Just like in social networking sites, they allow you to create a profile and invite friends to be part of an “inner circle” of business or personal colleagues. You then can use the system to seek “friends of friends” or business contacts of your friends.

It is very fun and easy to network online. With proper use, it can definitely be a powerful marketing tool.

All you have to do is nominate your blog at this link.

The gist of the article is that the most effective marketing employs a mix of 1. great content and 2. strong networking.

The easiest form of marketing is brute force spam. Many newbies, and I don’t exclude myself from this list, tend to gravitate towards the brute force method. Brute force means submitting every story to Reddit, Propeller, Digg, etc. Brute force means going for immediate gratification without focusing on long-term strategy. Brute force means neglecting the “human” side of marketing and trying to turn marketing into an easy algorithm.

If you’re just getting started out with online marketing here are three keys to success:

1. Produce quality content that gives readers what they want
2. Only market your best stuff
3. Network your way up the social hierarchy

To market effectively online, you need a solid group of friends (preferably, friends in high places) and something worth marketing. Once you have these two things, you’ll find that online marketing is like water flowing down a mountain. It happens naturally.