If there is a hot topic right now in business marketing circles, it is Facebook marketing. It seems like most business owners think this is going to be the silver bullet that allows them to grow their business like wild fire. Let me be straight to the point…it’s not. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say that it doesn’t have value. It does. But it plays a very specific role in your marketing efforts.

Let me explain.

Facebook (and Twitter) is called social media. It’s a place for people to connect with friends and family. When using this medium in your business marketing toolbox, you must keep this in mind. It is NOT a place to blast out advertisements about your business. No one on Facebook cares how great your business is. This is not the time to tell them what great deals you are offering or to tell them to share your link with all their friends.

On Facebook, you need to accept that you will only be able to sell about 10% of the time. The other 90% is simply connecting and forming a bond with your clients or prospective clients. And the only time you can sell, is after you’ve given tremendous value and they have given permission to be sold to.

Now do you see why this is so difficult for most small business owners to accomplish? Most small business owners start a Facebook page, post about 5 times about how great their business is…nothing happens, so they stop.

Don’t be like one of them. Have the proper mindset in place when you’re going to use this powerful tool.