A little while back, I got to posting about how to market on Facebook. My main impetus was to address all those who doubt Facebook's marketing potential, or have been (2) disappointment with the performance of the ads they've place on the social networking sites.

I argued that marketing via Facebook (or any other social network) is a question of branding and/or reputation management -- and has nothing to do with conversions. Basically, it offers companies the opportunity to create communities for themselves. This is what's known as building a trust economy. The idea is that users/consumers tend to have an earnest desire to belong somewhere. Whenever they do belong to a community, they tend to trust other community members more easily than would complete stranger that they have nothing in common with. By building communities around their brand names, then, marketers can establish a bond of trust between themselves and the consumer/user. And that converts better than any single click ever will.

Well, to just such an end, Chris Winfield over at 10e20 is offering 12 Ways to Use Facebook Professionally. Summarized, they are as follows:

1. Think of it like personalizing your desk.
2. Look for old co-workers and current connections.
3. Add friends selectively.
4. Add apps selectively.
5. Edit your news feed preferences.
6. Edit your profile and security settings.
7. Incorporate the tools you’re already using into your profile.
8. Join Groups related to your business interests.
9. Limit time wasted on Facebook.
10. Be philanthropic.
11. Ask Questions.
12. Look for events.

Of course, Chris goes into a bit more detail, so you should really check out the original post. And if you do, you'll notice how the rationale behind quite a few of these tips has to do with building meaningful relationships with those you network with -- and not just spamming to build as large as a contact list as possible.