For me, over the years, Facebook has slowly become a part of everyday life: from keeping in touch with friends and family on the other side of the planet to reading the news and getting information on local events in the Denver area that may interest me. It’s even become a subconscious habit where I catch myself unlocking my phone and checking my timeline before I know I’m doing it. It’s almost like it’s become as commonplace as eating and sleeping.
With these thoughts swirling around my mind the last several days, I began to think of Facebook and technology and how quickly they have advanced in a relatively short amount of time. These days we all seemingly have the entire world at our fingertips, and everything we want or need is just a few clicks away.
While scrolling through my timeline and sifting through pictures and posts, I realized how powerful the reach can be. Not only can I view anything that is of personal interest to me, but I noticed I have been spending time clicking on ads for things like Amazon—long story short, two-days later my latest shipment has arrived. Facebook really has become a gateway to anything that you can imagine.
I am fortunate my career is in a field I love—IT. It’s ever changing and ever impressive. Facebook, for example, reaches just shy of 2 billion people worldwide. Knowing this, I wondered how well Facebook could work for me in terms of reaching out to potential clients. Perhaps I could do more than post about my thoughts on dinner plans; I could write posts about what I do to help our clients and spread the word about what PEI does every day to make the IT world easier for the people we work with. Because of this, I have started to share blog posts (like this one), events, and campaigns on my page. And through simple word-of-mouth, I have been receiving more “hits” than I could have even imagined.
Facebook does have the ability (if used properly) to be the best marketing and advertising you can use with the only cost being the amount of time you put into it. If you love what you do, they say that you never work a day in your life. But it doesn’t hurt to put in a little extra effort to try and reach the largest number of people that can benefit from your services.
Try thinking of Facebook as an extra tool to branch out and share who you are and what you can do. We don’t really need to know what your daily food habits are, unless perhaps you’re a dietitian or a trainer: maybe take that same effort of your normal posting regime and think a little differently about sharing what you can do make someone else’s life better in one way or another.
Give it a try! Until next time,
Alex Hoosz, PEI
