Will Facebook Help Your Business?

Whether you are a Career Coach, Entrepreneur or employee, reading posts on Facebook with an eye for the needs of others can help you in your business.

A recent study by researcher Ethan Kross, a social psychologist and faculty associate at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, reported by several sources including The Huffington Post, said in a statement, "But rather than enhance well-being, we found that Facebook use predicts the opposite result -- it undermines it."

If social media is used as a tool to learn more about others, and reach out to them through your business, giving, and prayer then social media can add to your happiness. When these tools are used to compare yourself to others, avoid real interaction, or passively observe the world you are not taking part in, then it is another way of adding to your unhappiness.

We often hear that people talk about frivolous things on Facebook, but the all of the little things make up the big life. As a Personal/Career Coach, I began thinking about all of the trends and life events I hear about through Facebook. People moving, losing their jobs, finding a new career, enjoying their work, building a new business, personal and health concerns, babies being born, and then kids going off to school. I feel the heartbeat of clients and potential clients everyday.

If you work with students it would be helpful to know that some of them may be feeling bad about their lives when compared to others on Facebook. How can you help them?

Working with creative entrepreneurs, career changers, and job seekers, I can see what people are doing in their businesses and how it impacts their lives. Seeing what people are buying and selling—including what they had for breakfast--gives me a clue about trends that affect business and work. Are people gardening? Traveling? Exercising? Eating healthy? All these things are important trends that help me work with clients.

Whether you work directly with people or work with a computer, what people are doing and buying affects the company you work for or the career field you are in.

Look at social media with an eye on others rather than yourself and Facebook will be more than a let down. Think of Facebook as a neighborhood where you share with others and build a reputation. Through connections on social media, I sold books, and added clients. Look to the needs of others whether in person or electronically and you will create opportunities for business success.