Top 30 Most Useful Facebook Blog Posts of 2009

By Neal Schaffer

Although I recently blogged that 2009 was, without doubt, the year of Twitter, Facebook had a similarly impressive year where we can say it became a truly mainstream social networking platform boasting over 350 million members.  It seems that every business now has a Facebook Fan Page, and it becomes harder and harder for us to avoid spending too much time on Facebook.  After all, we now spend more time on Facebook than on any other website!

Facebook will become an even more important place for businesses in 2010, and because of this I have placed an emphasis on finding resources from 2009 to help businesses with establishing and strategically managing their Fan Page.  If you are looking for social media marketing information in utilizing Facebook, I believe you are in for a pleasant surprise with my list of Facebook for Business best posts of 2009 below.

For professionals, I placed an emphasis on selecting blog posts that first of all paint a picture of the true demographics of Facebook today.  Facebook, as you have probably already figured out, is no longer the exclusive playground of high school and college students.  It is important for all of us to realize the present demographics and feel comfortable utilizing it as a social networking platform for professionals.

There were also some great blog posts with advice on anything from Professional Networking, Personal Branding, as well as utilizing applications on Facebook.  Hopefully you will begin to see the potential for Windmill Networking on Facebook as you would do on Twitter or LinkedIn.  And, yes, there is even an article on how to use Facebook Apps to help you find your next job!

Finally, as privacy is a major issue with Facebook, I included some articles that I felt best describe your privacy options as well as the recent changes that Facebook implemented.

As with my similar Top 25 Most Useful LinkedIn Blog Posts of 2009 and Top 35 Most Useful Twitter Blog Posts of 2009, I used a number of factors when considering which were the best blog posts to recommend to you all. Within each section I have ordered the listing in descending order by most retweets on Twitter at the time of this post, which are indicated in parentheses.

On a final note, although the main emphasis of my blog up until now has been LinkedIn and Twitter, I was surprised by the lack of great Facebook articles on personal branding, professional networking, and job search.  I hope to add more Facebook blog posts to my arsenal in 2010 and help you all better understand how to best utilize this most complex yet increasingly ubiquitous social networking platform.

Understanding the Present Facebook Demographics

Sharing on Facebook Now More Popular Than Sharing by Email by Adam Ostrow (1,071)

Statistics which prove what we all knew was coming: people share more information via Facebook than email these days.  This has significant implications for all of us and how we communicate with each other moving forward.

Why Facebook is for Old Fogies by Lev Grossman (497)

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the demographic of Facebook is now older, much older than it used to be.  If you are Gen X or a Baby Boomer and are feeling embarrassed about joining or remaining active on Facebook, please read this article!

Facebook Users are Getting Older.  Much Older. by Stan Schroeder (252)

Excellent statistics on Facebook demographics to help any professional or business understand the potential that is Facebook.

Facebook Top Trends of 2009 by Brian Solis (?)

An excellent article looking at top Facebook trends of 2009.  The most important contribution of this article are the stats that give us a great snapshot as to how many people are doing what on Facebook.

Facebook Usage Statistics by Country – December 31st, 2009 by Nick Burcher (?)

If you’re wondering how many Facebook users there are in each of the top 30 countries combined with their recent growth rates, this chart is for you.  Some pretty convincing stats on the global popularity of Facebook.

Facebook General Advice & Tips

HOW TO: Use Facebook for Professional Networking by Boris Epstein (1,296)

Since you are reading this blog and have an interest in Windmill Networking, this is the one MUST READ article to give you some ideas of how you can start to use Facebook for professional networking as you do with LinkedIn and Twitter.  Excellent post.

HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Facebook by Dan Schawbel (580)

Good list of common-sense ideas to establish and build upon your Facebook presence.

25 Great Facebook Tips and Tricks by Tehseen (389)

Good collection of Facebook tips including some Facebook applications and browser plug-ins that you might not have known about.

20 Facebook Desktop Apps to Try by Don Reisinger (239)

Twitter has loads of desktop applications that you can use such as HootSuite and TweetDeck.  Were you aware that there are many similar 3rd party applications available for Facebook?  A great list…as to whether they are more convenient than going to Facebook.com, you will have to be the judge…

The 20 Best Facebook Apps for Job Search by Tawny Labrum (111)

Yes, you can use Facebook as part of your job search strategy!  Check out this great list of apps for some ideas!

There’s an art to writing on Facebook or Twitter — really by Maria Puente (?)

While not specifically on Facebook, this insightful article talks about the art of writing an interesting Facebook Status Update.  Great food for thought!

Facebook and Your Privacy

10 Solid Tips to Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy by Mahendra Palsule (829)

Excellent advice on general privacy settings that you have at your disposal on Facebook.

10 New Privacy Settings that Every Facebook User Should Know by Nick O’Neill (?)

An excellent article that hand-holds you through establishing your Facebook privacy settings in the new paradigm that was recently introduced to the world.  No more reason to be afraid of privacy issues on Facebook after reading this post.

Facebook’s New Privacy Changes: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly by Kevin Bankston (?)

This in-depth article looks at the new Facebook Privacy Settings.  If you really want to know the potential privacy dangers lurking in Facebook, this article is the most informative that I have found.

Facebook for Business

How to Spam Facebook Like a Pro: An Insider’s Confession by Dennis Yu (2,008)

This is an excellent article to understand how Facebook advertising works.  The first 3/4 of this article is a behind-the-scenes and brutal look into the early days of Facebook advertisers and their spammy methods, which in itself is extremely eye-opening.  The last few paragraphs, though, deal with the potential goldmine for Facebook advertisers by being able to target Facebook demographics.  If you’re thinking of advertising on Facebook, you must read this article!

HOW TO: Set Up a Winning Facebook Fan Page by Susan Payton (1,396)

While basic in details compared to some of the other similar posts in this list, this is comprehensive in scope and goes over areas which you want to make sure you cover in creating your Facebook Fan Page.

5 Elements of a Successful Facebook Fan Page by Samir Balwani (1,159)

An excellent analysis of 5 strategies for a successful Facebook Fan Page.  Highly recommended.

HOW TO: Make Facebook Your Company Newsroom by Josh Peters (987)

An excellent look at a reason to establish a Facebook Fan Page for any company, with step-by-step instructions with how to automate it through pulling in content from your other company sources such as blogs, photos, and videos.  If you’re looking to start a Facebook Fan Page, you should read this article first.

Facebook Pages vs. Facebook Groups: What’s the Difference? by Howard Greenstein (841)

This question comes up at almost every Social Media for Business 101 workshop that I present at.  This article explains the difference in details.

32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business by Meryl Evans (709)

Meryl Evans wrote similar blog posts which made my best of LinkedIn as well as Twitter blog posts for 2009, and she repeats here successful formula here with a similar list of ideas for businesses to make use of Facebook.

How to Create the Perfect Facebook Fan Page by Jesse Stay (648)

When Jesse Stay, the CEO of SocialToo.com does a guest post on Tamar Weinberg’s blog, you know it is something special.  This blog post does not disappoint, as Jesse, an FBML expert in his own right, gives excellent advice, both technical and non-technical, on creating that perfect Facebook Fan Page.

30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook by Josh Peters (401)

Excellent compilation of Applications that will help any business.  There are a lot of applications that you might not have known of that appear here in the following categories: Blog Promotion, Business Promotion, Communication, Networking, Collaboration, Audio/Visual, and Miscellaneous.

Five Facebook-Only Strategies for Business Success by Jason Falls (324)

A good overview of how businesses can utilize Facebook-specific functionalities.

New Studies Show Marketing Powers of Facebook by Amy Porterfield (240)

Very recent information based on a ComScore as well as a Morgan Stanley report on the sheer reach of the popular social networking platform from a marketing perspective.  A must read to understand the marketing potential of Facebook.

Top 50 Branded Facebook Pages of 2009 by Jim Tobin (85)

A great post which includes stats on number of fans as well as best practices advice for Fan Pages.  A good place to start if you’re looking to emulate the successful case studies of Fan Pages that presently exist.

8 Essential Apps for Your Brand’s Facebook Page by Alison Driscoll (58)

If you haven’t installed any applications on your company’s Fan Page, you haven’t even started to realize the potential.  Read this article for starters.

5 Tips for Optimizing Your Brand’s Facebook Presence by Steve Coulson (31)

Great tips for optimizing Fan Pages…although some of the tips are technical and may require you to understand some FBML.

10 Key SEO Strategies Every Facebook Page Owner Should Know by Justin Smith (?)

If your company has a Fan Page, you should be utilizing it to also help with your corporate home page’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  This article will show you how.

How to Develop a Facebook Page that Attracts Millions of Fans by Nick O’Neill (?)

An amazing article with lots of strategic advice on developing a successful Fan Page.

10 Ways a Facebook Fan Page Helps Your Business by Mikal E. Belicove (?)

If you are unsure as to why your business needs a Fan Page, you definitely need to read this article.  It is also a great checklist to ensure that your company is properly utilizing their own existing Fan Page as well.

Also be sure to check out my own 5 Reasons Why Businesses Should Like Birthdays on Facebook (10).

Hope you found this list informative.  Tell me which blog posts you liked the most as well as any others that you might like to recommend and why!  Thanks!