A few days ago I got an email from an outdoor writer/photographer who said he has closed his Facebook account. He had created the account in the expectation of its being good for business. Instead, it had been a distraction and a nuisance, as friends played games, conducted polls, and otherwise filled his page with non-work-related apps. Not only was Facebook not good for his business, it was detrimental to his getting work done.

It really made me think about how I use Facebook and how writers, editors, and photographers can benefit from it rather than have their work disturbed. I’ll admit that until fairly recently, I disliked Facebook intensely. While I opened an account with business purposes in mind, it quickly turned into a place to connect with old friends. Not that I didn’t want to do that, but high school friends and business associates didn’t belong on the same page. I also experienced the same distractions as the writer who closed his account: games, virtual hugs, teddy bears, polls, and the like that didn’t appeal to me, especially in a forum where I’m trying to do business. So I just connected on Twitter and avoided Facebook.

But the past year has taught me that the outdoor industry’s clients, consumers, and participants are online, and Facebook is the number one platform where they congregate. Any of us who aren’t also there are missing a valuable means of connecting with them and with one another. And the networking benefits alone make it worthwhile to me. In the past month alone, I’ve met writers, editors, photographers, outfitters, prospective clients, wildlife agency people, and others online with whom I might work in the future. I’ve also introduced two photographers to multiple editors, helped several writers connect with editors who were looking for their expertise, and facilitated numerous introductions between people who might have common business interests.

If the writer who left Facebook had asked me how to use it more effectively to benefit his business, here are 10 tips I would have passed along:

1. Hide all the games, virtual hugs, bunnies, flowers, quizzes, and anything else you find distracting. These don’t have to appear on your page.
2. Create a business page to separate business from pleasure. Invite your business friends to become “fans” of the page. Personally, I’m a little turned off by that term, but it’s a connection nonetheless. Post to it or start a discussion every day.
3. Use the business page for business interactions. Give fans a reason to be there. Post teasers and links to current articles and blog posts, initiate discussions, post photos of business travel or samples of your portfolio, talk about what’s going on at your magazine or website. Are you a book author? Here’s about the best book promotion I’ve ever seen.
4. Set up “lists” of your friends. I have lists for Outdoors, hometown friends, Raindogs (look it up), and other categories. When I just want to see what the Outdoors list is talking about, that’s the view I choose. When I’m only interested in the Raindogs, I choose that tab.
5. Build your network. This can only be useful if you have a network. Chances are, most of the people in your email address book are on Facebook; look for them. One easy way to find connections for your network is to look at the friends of your friends, then invite the ones you know or want to know.
6. Promote your page. If you blog, write magazine articles, have a TV show, produce hunting videos, have a website, or have any other public presence, provide a link to your Facebook page. Post a link on Twitter, and add it to your LinkedIn profile.
7. Engage. If you are simply posting to your page but not engaging, having conversations, responding to others’ posts, and being part of a community, you are doing it wrong.
8. Produce some content exclusively for each platform. If you use a social media application like TweetDeck or FriendFeed, it’s easy to post to, say, both Twitter and Facebook at the same time. But don’t make it automatic. Those who follow you in both places don’t want to read all the same posts twice. Also, the practices of Twitter – hashtags, @ replies, retweets, text-speak, the limitations of 140 characters, and other contrivances must be annoying to non-Tweeting Facebook friends.
9. Step outside your comfort zone. Don’t limit your friends to people you already know. Make new connections. Read profiles and learn about other people’s professions and interests. Make and ask for introductions.
10. Talk to people like me. Let us know what you’re working on, whom you need to meet, what types of markets you’re looking for, the connections you’d like to make. Maybe I can make the introduction you need or at least brainstorm the project you’re trying to figure out.

What would you tell the writer who left Facebook about making it a productive place? How do you use it for business?

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