Why You Should Get Started on Facebook

There are over 500,000,000 Facebook profiles registered worldwide, and the fastest growing segment is people aged 50 years old and over. You, or someone you know, may be resisting joining even though friends and relatives are begging participation.

My friend Richard explained to me why he didn’t want to get on Facebook.

Richard: I prefer to talk on the phone. If I make myself available on Facebook, they’ll stop calling me.

Linda: Your kids are putting stories and photos on Facebook that they want to share with you.

Richard: They can send photos to me by email.

Linda: Being on Facebook makes you more a part of their lives – not less. I have relatives who want photos by email or print photos by snail mail, I don’t get around to that much. It doesn’t mean I don’t love them.

Richard: What about talking on the phone?

Linda: Because they see you on Facebook, you are more top of mind. I have many on-line, off-line relationships that are very rich. They are more likely to call you.

Richard: I need to call a large group of people to invite them to my annual benefit concert.

Linda: That is a another great use for Facebook. You can create a Facebook event for your concert and invite your friends, who can easily invite their friends through Facebook. It’s giving them access where they already are.

Linda: Facebook birthdays are a lot of fun. Getting a bunch of Facebook birthday messages is a great feeling. Facebook alerts your friends that it is your birthday so they won’t forget. You will be able to add your birthday message for your friends and relatives to their profile walls as well. Here’s just one page of many pages that I got on Facebook my last birthday.

I would love to hear your story about getting onto Facebook.

I will be following with guidelines on how to set up a profile on Facebook and other simple tips. On our BTT Small Business section, we will have Facebook Pages for Business (fan pages) and other related information.