The Social Network: Truth or Fiction?

There’s a lot of talk going on about Facebook these days, from the massive outage on September 23 to the new movie, The Social Network, coming out on October 1, a story about the founders and origins of Facebook.

Biographies are intriguing, and for Virtual Assistants and Online Professionals involved in Social Media, this movie is particularly compelling. We’re advised to take it with a grain of salt, though, because there’s a bit of controversy brewing about whether or not the movie gets the facts straight.

According to a blog post on AllFacebook.com, most people don’t know the movie is based on a fictionalized and sensationalized story about the founding of Facebook as described by Eduardo Saverin, one of the initial co-founders. This story became Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires and then was adapted into a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. Apparently Saverin presented co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in a bad light because he was bitter about being kicked out of the company, and AllFacebook.com says, “It’s pretty clear that the movie is an attack on Mark Zuckerberg’s character.”

In an interview called “Aaron Sorkin talks ‘The Social Network’“, however, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin asserts, “We were meticulous in The Social Network about sticking to facts,” and goes on to explain the type of online and first-person research they did.

Another point of interest is the fact that neither the screenwriter nor the director of this movie has a Facebook account, which makes you wonder what their perspective is towards Facebook.

But regardless of what people think of this movie or Facebook in general, this is a tool that has become firmly embedded in the fabric of our culture, and for that reason (as Virtual Assistants and business owners), we need to look at ALL the ways we can leverage this powerful tool for our business.  So whether the movie is true or not, Facebook Marketing is definitely a reality that has provided tangible results for businesses seeking to build their brand and customer base.

Now we’d like to hear your opinion! Do you plan on seeing the movie, and would a shady past change your opinion of Facebook and the role it plays in your business?

Facebook Payday – A Great Resource for Facebook Marketing Virtual Assistants

As many of you know, we did a teleseminar last week titled, “How Virtual Assistants Can Profit from the Social Media Explosion in 2008″. This teleseminar event was very well attended and we are still receiving great feedback and questions which is cool! You can access a recording of the event through our VAClassroom Membership Site.

One of the topics I discussed in this teleseminar was the rapidly growing opportunities for Web Savvy Virtual Assistants to position themselves as Facebook Marketing VAs. We discussed the different services you might offer clients seeking to leverage this channel such as:

• Setting up and managing Facebook profiles.
• Coordinating Facebook Events.
• Moderating and participating in targeted Facebook groups.
• Inviting and adding new business friends for your clients.
• Creating and managing Facebook business pages for your clients.

The list goes on…..

One of the advanced services we discussed involved implementing and managing Facebook Pay Per Click Ad campaigns which are becoming increasingly popular. A handful of Internet business owners are generating some excellent profits through this channel.

A Business Collegue of mine, Peter Koning, has just launched an ebook and membership site called Facebook Payday. I have had a chance to review some of this resource and it is very impressive. The ebook will provide you with some of the skills and knowledge required to set-up and manage successful PPC ad campaign through Facebook.

If you are seeking to grow a Facebook Marketing niche for your business then Facebook Payday is definitely worth checking out!