Riiiiight.

On the face of it, it seems feasible. After all, Facebook is – depending on who you consult - one of the top 3 most visited web sites in the world. Visitors spend more time there than at the sites of any of the other big players-almost 7 hours a month, according to recent statistics.

And, when you factor in the power of social networking, where vast numbers of people are linked together in “islands of trust”, you can’t help but drool at the opportunities.

But it’s not that simple, despite the assurances of the Net Marketers who have apparently unlocked the code. Especially considering FaceBook itself hasn’t mastered the art of making their business profitable; up to as recently as a year ago, their ability to survive long-term was being questioned.

The problem-for marketers and the owners of Facebook-is the way people use the service. My girlfriend and I were sitting around the supper table the other night talking about this, and I asked her, “what’s the main difference between the ways you use Google and FaceBook?”

“Well”, she said, “when I go on FaceBook, I go there to see what Jenn or Tina or Suzanne are doing, to check out new pictures, do a little chatting, and so on.”

“Uh-huh,” I said. “And have you ever noticed or clicked on an ad in FaceBook?”

“No”, she replied.

“And so when you go to Google, what are you doing?”

“I’m searching for something.”

“Uh-huh. And have you ever clicked on an ad at Google?”

“Yep. Lots of times.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m often investigating a possible purchase, and the advertisements are highly targeted – sometimes moreso than the listings themselves.”

EXACTLY.

And that’s the big problem for FaceBook; it is a place where people go to interact with others, stay in touch with the comings and goings of their contacts, and view videos and pictures, play games, etc, etc.

In short, it is a social media tool.

People don’t go to Facebook to buy stuff, or even to research the stuff they want to buy. For that, they go to Google. This, in a nutshell, is why Facebook has been a monetization nightmare for its owners. And that’s why you need to be extremely skeptical of offers from those who have mastered the “Facebook code.”

With its legions of visitors, Facebook does offer HUGE opportunities to the right businesses; the ones who leverage their presence by creating cool, “viral” apps which can be shared between users.

But it’s no alternative to Google, nor will it likely ever be.

However, if advertising on FaceBook sounds like something you’d like to experiment with, you can do it quite easily on your own – it’s not rocket science.

Any guesses as to what that might be?

Yep… it’s the failure of individuals to make a committed effort to the diet plan they have chosen. Many continue to analyze new programs despite having chosen a solution, and before long, begin to second guess what they are doing – especially if they do not see immediate results. Surely a better, easier and more rapid solution to weight loss lies just around the corner?

Sound familiar?

It’s this “paralysis by analysis” that also prevents many people from making an income online.

If you happen to be subscribed to the newsletters of a guru or two, you’ll know exactly what I mean. There’s hardly a day goes by where one or another of them is not promoting the new key to instant online riches. And it’s easy to get drawn into the pitch. After all, these folks are good at what they do. Their PREselling copy is mesmerizing. Their offer, compelling. And, should you click through to the sales page of the promoted product/service in question – with its lurid, red, all-caps title and breathless promise of instant riches – you may find yourself seriously considering the offer.

Don’t.

There will be another one just like it tomorrow.

And when you see it, you’ll wonder if you made the right decision by buying the product / solution offered to you yesterday.

And so it goes. On and on and on.

The constant analysis of offers and opportunities is indeed paralyzing, and in the end, you’re unable to move ahead on anything. I can attest to buying dozens of products over the years that I have never used, and on occassion, never even looked at. After spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars, I’ve learned my lessons; my efforts are always best channeled towards my existing businesses, and there is no better, quicker, faster, or more effective way to make a living online. If you did your due dilligence when you selected the route you are currently on, don’t deviate.

Don’t alter your course. In fact, don’t even LOOK at other offers.

Paralysis by analysis is a killer.

Being inherently curious of any online tool that has certain authoritative figures in the Internet Marketing field buzzing with excitement, I decided to spend a little time looking into Twitter lately.

I’ve read authoritative articles on the subject, J.B. Allen’s “The Tweet Virus”, the gushing of numerous gurus, and I am currently in the middle of Joel Comm’s new book on the subject, “Twitter Power: How To Dominate Your Market One Tweet At A Time.”

And I don’t get it.

Twitter might be fun, but it is one heck of an inefficient business building tool. That’s how it looks to me – at least for my business. So far.

Am I missing something?

Well, here’s how I see it…

Any strategies I implement on my main sites (UltimateFatBurner.com and Real-Customer-Comments.com) have to leverage my time effectively, delivering the best possible return for my investment. While I’ll admit Twitter appears to offer benefits for SOME marketers, I can think of much better uses of my time than establishing the sort of Twitter following it would take to make any difference to my current traffic levels and/or revenue.

Here’s the gist of Twitter for marketers…

Twitter can be used to build a number of followers, who can be gently exposed to your business over time, and may eventually become customers.

The problem with Twitter is that if you want to use it effectively and have it work for you, you have to adhere to an established protocol of etiquette (for instance, you cannot bombard followers with your sales message; this is not acceptable. You will brand yourself as a pariah and lose your followers if you do). Twitter is not a “pure” marketing medium, and those who Twitter do not consider themselves “targets” for marketing.

To build a large group of followers, you need to either…

• Establish yourself as an authority within your niche.
• Develop relationships with the authorities within your niche, and capitalize on that by having their followers become yours.
• Follow a large number of people, many of whom will “follow you back”, if only out of a sense of obligation.

The fastest way to build a large list of followers is to do the latter; follow a ton of people. The problem with this is twofold; first, the majority of these people are completely un-targeted to your marketing message, and two, you’ll be receiving regular updates from a large number of people you have no interest in “hearing” from. Then of course, you’ll need to provide regular, witty, credibility-boosting, informative “tweets”…

… all limited to 140 characters of text.

Obviously then, building a large list of un-targeted followers is of little value. Your smartest option is to build a list of extremely targeted prospects.

And that takes time.

To me, it makes much more sense to create new product reviews. (To put things into proper context: I’m investigating Twitter as an option to further leverage my UltimateFatBurner.com domain, which reviews weight loss products, body building supplements and functional foods). Every review is inherently “keyword focused” and constructed to rank well. Additionally, UltimateFatBurner.com has a lot of credibility with the SEs (Search Engines), so new content is usually listed and driving highly targeted traffic within a few days. And it will continue to do so, day in and day out, forever.

I don’t need to spend hours messing around with Twitter searching for folks who are interested in my message.

Why would I, when the SEs will send qualified visitors right to me?

That said, I can see where it might make sense to utilize Twitter to establish new contacts and build a following.

If you are a software designer, a copywriter – heck, if you provide any service or sell any product where a new customer is worth hundreds, even thousands of dollars, it makes sense to cultivate a large following on Twitter. In other words, the potential payoff is worth the investment of your time. There are other possibilities as well; if you sell a moderately priced digital product, you might be further able to leverage your Twitter efforts to recruit affiliates. These will generate additional sales and exposure for you.

But for me, it’s a different story. UltimateFatBurner.com is monetized by advertising and affiliate programs, and the value of every visitor is measured in pennies – not nickels or dimes, and certainly not dollars. So I don’t see Twitter as being a good investment, time-wise.

Will that change?

Possibly. Maybe I’ll finish Joel’s book and realize I’ve made a huge mistake (but I doubt it). More than likely, Twitter will only make sense for me when the value of a single visitor to my sites increases dramatically. And, since I’m not changing my monetization model, that’s unlikely to happen.

Bottom line?

The beauty of having an Internet business is that it really allows you to work smarter, not harder. At the same time, it’s SOOOOO easy to get sidetracked by things that can get in the way of building your business. Any time something new comes up (like Twitter) it’s important not to get caught up in the hype. Instead, carefully analyze the benefits as it pertains to your business. And if it doesn’t make sense to you, don’t get caught up in it, just because “everyone else is doing it.”

Chances are, you’ll only be wasting your time.