Are you ready to get the party started? Because that’s what Facebook is. It can be any kind of party, but what I really mean is that it follows the rules of being at a party.

If you attend a birthday party at the home of a friend (or even if you’re just tagging along with another friend), a certain amount of trust can exist just because you are under the roof of a mutual friend. When you meet someone at a party, how do you greet them? For example, let’s say you sell insurance for a living. Imagine this scenario:

Joe: “Hi, I’m Joe, do you know when you’re going to die?”
Guest: “What?”
Joe: “Do you know when you’re going to die? No, of course not. No one knows. You might die tomorrow! If you did, do you have enough life insurance to protect your family?”
Guest: “Uh, I need to use the restroom, urgently. Nice talking with you.”

Now, of course, no one would really start with that kind of conversation right off. It would be more like this:

Joe: “Hi, I’m Joe.”
Guest: “Hi, I’m Bob. Nice to meet you.”
Joe: “Likewise! How do you know the birthday girl?”
Guest: “Ha ha. Well, I’m an Ex, actually. Long time ago from school.”
Joe: “No kidding? What school?”
Guest: “USC.”
Joe: “I went to USC!”

Before you know it, you’ll be exchanging cards and that can eventually lead to a business deal. But first the friendship was established.
Following a similar conversational pattern on Facebook, building relationships with the tacit trust that Facebook provides can help bring in business the same way word of mouth does. In fact, that’s exactly what Facebook is made of. Word of Mouth between friends.

It’s less effective if you only try to “friend” people you don’t know. No trust = uphill battle. Try to stay under the roof of your friend’s house, virtually speaking. In other words, express who you are personally on your personal profile so others have a way to “meet” you and know a little bit about you, via the friends you already are connected to on Facebook.

By the way, not only friends are important on Facebook. More than likely consumers are chatting about your competitors, and your competitors themselves may be on Facebook. You can party with them while doing a little competitors analysis, and they’ll be none the wiser. And they can do the same analysis on you, so it’s not spying. Everyone’s in the same room.

It’s said you are only 6 degrees of separation from the rest of the world. On Facebook, you can see if that’s actually true! And every one of your friends and contacts could potentially refer you if they “know” you and what you do for a living. In other words, being a party animal (on Facebook) can be part of an effective marketing plan!