Facebook first rose to popularity as a way to connect with old friends, new friends and other people’s friends. In response to the younger generation’s mania with MySpace, Facebook rose up as a spot for a slightly older crowd. Many people still consider Facebook to be strictly a friend-based website purely used for social purposes. It still fills that purpose well, but Facebook can be a very useful tool to help build your business.

Five Ways You Can Use Facebook to Build Your Business

1. Facebook Pages – Facebook pages are special pages for businesses. When you create a Facebook page, you use it to brand your business. Upload your logo, photos, applications and other information connected to your company. Everything you post on your Facebook Page will automatically post on the Mini-Feed on your profile page as well, giving you extra exposure. In addition, people can become a “fan” of your Facebook Page, which shows on their own home page, so it extends your visibility.

2. Groups – Another Facebook feature useful for advertising your business is the “Groups” feature. Groups are not built around an individual business, but instead are a touch point for likeminded people and businesses to connect on issues related to their interest or industry.

3. Polls – A great way to market your business is to feature your excellent customer service. By showing your customers and prospects you are interested in their opinions and needs, you prove to them they are important to you, which builds trust. Facebook lets you conduct polls so you can ask people what they want from you. You can gather information about demographics through Facebook polls as well, allowing you to define your target market for more effective marketing.

4. Facebook Connect – Facebook’s newest application is particularly well suited to marketing your business through Facebook. With Facebook Connect, you can integrate your website directly with Facebook.  This allows your website users to authenticate with their Facebook credentials so they can find friends who are also on your site and publish information from your site to their Facebook feed. As all of their friends see it, your networking marketing reach is extending.

5. Facebook Applications – Facebook is known for its applications that add versatile and fun ways for users to interact with each other. You can use Facebook applications on your Facebook Pages to offer your visitors widgets and doo-dads tying into your business or your target market. For example, if your target market is men between 25 and 25, there are applications pertaining to NFL and other sports teams so your page visitors can check in on the latest stats and news of your local team. If your target market is WAHMs, then perhaps the Circle of Mom’s application would work well on your Page.

The number of software developers creating new applications for Facebook increases daily, so you are certain to find one perfect for your business. By providing an appropriate application to your business page, you encourage your friends to visit often and stay longer when they do stop, which increases your brand awareness and can lead to more website traffic.

It’s clear Facebook has evolved a great deal from its purely social beginnings into a strong business networking tool on one of the top rungs of the social media ladder. Open your business to all of your friends – and their friends – and theirs! This method of promoting and marketing your business will draw more visitors to your website on a regular basis for no cost. Go ahead – put a face on your business with Facebook.