Using Facebook to spread the word

Unless you’ve been living under a rock since early 2004 you’ve probably at least heard of Facebook.com. This is a free site that makes it easy to connect to not only friends but also other people who share your same interests. It’s free, it’s easy and it’s effective.The 100 million+ people who use Facebook.com are divided into “networks” such as the high school you attended, the college you went to, where you live, where you work and so on. The basic idea behind the system is stunning simple yet amazingly powerful. When you log into Facebook for the first time, remember it’s free, you fill out some information about yourself (high school, the city you live in, where you’ve lived before, and so on) and you’re ready to go. The site then searches around for people you may know who are already members of the site and you can connect with them.

When I first got on the site I knew very little about it and really didn’t expect much. However within a few days I was finding, and getting found, by people I’d not spoken to in years..lots of people. It’s really pretty amazing. So as you quickly gain “friends” on the site you also are then exposed to friends of friends (example: Your friend Bob from Nevada has a friend Sally in New York) and you have the ability to make those people your friends as well. With in a very short period of time you can have a circle of friends numbering in the hundreds with very little effort. 

You may be saying, “Gee, that’s great..but so what? How’s that helping me sell tickets?” As you get comfortable with Facebook you’ll realize that it can quickly become something you check on a daily, or several times per day, basis. Everyone is able to post little updates that you can see (”Little Suzy took her first steps today!), pictures and videos, news clips, ask questions, trade jokes, send private emails and more. It becomes a little community. People post updates about their day..sometimes many times per day.

Think of it as your corner coffee shop where everyone stops in to trade gossip, show you the latest pictures of their kids, talk about politics, talk about business and so on. Your business is selling raffle tickets. Tell your new facebook friends about your trials and successes with the raffle. Tell them about your charity and the raffle prize. Facebook exists to network. Use it. Spread the word about your raffle and charity, meet some good people and expand your network as far as you wish.

Another benefit to Facebook: If you’ve got your raffle posted for free on OldCarRaffle.com or HarleyDavidsonRaffles.com you can post your raffle from those sites right to your facebook account with one click of the “Share This” button! Not bad, eh? As always if you’ve got any questions feel free to drop me an EMAIL. And if you want a “friend right off the back just Facebook me!