If you're planning to use Facebook to promote your business, you're making  wise decision. If you aren't participating in the social networking phenomenon, you're passing up a huge opportunity. There are, however, certain principles you should be aware of if you want the time you spend on Facebook to be productive.

Get Started Immediately: when you are an active user of the Internet, there's no way that you've missed Facebook--everybody knows that the social network started small and then grew into the massive giant that it is today. But lots of people still haven't begun to use Facebook to build their businesses...how come? This is mostly because the majority of people out there prefer to watch those who enjoy experimenting. Don't procrastinate about this; start using the social revolution sweeping the web to your advantage. It's time to send your business up a few levels by joining into the Facebook social scene. It isn't easy but it isn't super hard either; if you start today you'll get the results you want tomorrow.

Facebook is Not a Place to Sell -Social networks are not good places to do direct selling to your contacts. Social networks can be effective for driving traffic to your own site, but this has to be done carefully. A good idea is to direct your traffic to a presell page, rather than your sales letter. The point to remember is that the atmosphere on social networks is just that, social, so you should suggest things to people rather than try to sell them outright. So if you really want Facebook to work for your business then don't sell, but recommend. It's certainly fine to let people know that you have a website or a product you're marketing, but do so in a casual and low key manner.

You should create a vanity url on Facebook, which means using your main keyword and making a customized page with your own url. This is good SEO wise because having your keyword in the url can help you rank better. This way, people who see your Facebook page will be able to know the subject just from seeing the url. The vanity url is another way you can customize your Facebook page and build a brand of your own. Communication is Key: Always remember that Facebook is primarily a tool for communication and that means that how you communicate with your fans and friends is vital to your business. Whether you're trying to help someone with a problem or just offering your opinions, stay on your toes. The more you interact with your chosen market inside this network, the better the response to you will be. This is how you build long term beneficial relationships: being there for your prospects. To sum it up, Facebook is going to continue to grow its network and will be here a long time to come. If you are not using it to benefit your business, then you should begin to re-think your strategy. If you haven't started working on your "social media" attack plan yet, get started now.

Shanix Pineda is a well-known blogger who writes informative articles on different topics such as marketing, online business, home business, network marketing etc. Checkout his article on exfuze training and on NuSkin training