Facebook chat is the bane of Facebook and the interesting little tool that can make your social networking that much easier.
I figured it was worth a shot to re-evaluate my thoughts on this tool. The last time we discussed Facebook chat in any bit of a serious discourse was Get To The Point back in March, 2010. A year and a half later I am ready to talk about this in more depth! In the video below I go through how to use it as a tool for business good!
Facebook Chat
Facebook Chat Pros And Cons
As you can see from the video above Facebook chat is relatively easy to use. That is what makes it so easy for some business owners to use it for their prospecting and business formation.
At the same time, the cons are that a number of business owners will abuse that privilege. That is why I call Facebook Chat the bane and the beauty. When used right it is beautiful and used incorrectly it is a bane on all man’s existence. Use the force wisely young Skywalker.
Facebook Chat Rules
Henceforth, and heretofore, I declare it ethically illegal to go onto Facebook chat and simply promote your wares without first spending the time to get to know someone first.
Hello, prepare for the greatest opportunity of your life is a roller coaster ride that I have no intention of riding anytime soon! Instead, I want to talk with people prepared to give a two sided conversation about building a better business together.
That is why I know that if you use Facebook chat as a relationship builder you will have a greater chance of building a successful business with this tool. Otherwise, use Facebook chat at your own peril!
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Andy,
I think Facebook has changed the chat function and really screwed it up. I can’t find all my people, can’t search like you could. I no longer use FB chat for anything. Hopefully they will get their act together and make it functional and useful. But, then again, who is FB out there for? Certainly not the user.
RICK
Rick,
Agree with you that they completely messed everything up! Hopefully the skype addition will change all that. They just integrated skype in today.
Andy
I have to say I have a hate/love relationship with all things Facebook. Example – couple of months ago I was invited to join a group who’s sole purpose is to support each other by liking new business/welcome pages – I like your page/ you like mine in return. Great for people with new business pages or simply got a slow start. The person who started the group was very, very clear about not spamming, no pitching, etc. Of course no matter how many times she posted a reminder – every single day new members of the group did just that – she now spends a LOT of time removing members and a lot of those people got their pages liked but never bothered to reciprocate. One morning I went to the group wall and all I saw was one pitch after another so I opted out of the group. It’s really a shame because she’s a very nice woman, with a great idea for people to work together and just got overwhelmed with the spoilers.
Marquita,
I know few entrepreneurs who do not have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. The thing with your post, however, seems less about Facebook than some bad apples on the site.
Andy
Some interesting ideas on the use of FB chat. I use it a lot with my professional colleagues. It save me time to chat while I might be doing another task online.
Joyce,
It can definitely be a time saver. Looking to see how the Skype integration will work.
Andy
The bane/beauty of Facebook chat as a marketing tool aside, have you noticed how weird they’ve been making it lately? I wish they would just stick with one way to use the chat and stay there instead of changing it every other day as they seem to have been doing.
Laurie
Laurie,
Agreed! I think that they are preparing for their integration of chat with Skype. Probably a lot harder in terms of coding than expected.
Andy