To get the latest news - follow my website: mlzdesigns.com

You look at the page and rub your eyes in disbelief. Did he really just write: "'DON'T', as in: DO NOT; Follow Me on Facebook?" You're thinking to yourself that it must be a misprint. It must be some kind of bad Internet joke. How can anyone do business on the Internet unless they have thousands of followers on Facebook?

No, you are not seeing things and no, it is not a misprint.

"If you have arrived here; on my business website; then you have arrived. This is where I want you to be. You have found me. You have found my business. You have reached the front door, opened it and walked in. And now, you are free to browse the merchandise without interference from a sales person; and, when you are ready you can purchase with our convenient online shopping experience. Or you can call us to get immediate assistence. But this is it! Welcome to my business."

"I don't want you to leave and go down the street to the local social coffee klatsch (Facebook), and look for updates about my business, products and services." says Mathew Zupan, owner and creator of MLZDesigns; a professional web designer and Internet Marketing specialist since 1998.

"If you want to know what is going on and you want to get the latest and best information about my business - come to my business. I'm a business owner just like you. I don't have all day to hang out at the local coffee shop next door, or the local social club function, or even the monthly business networking meet-n-greet. Yeah, their fun, and I like my coffee as much as the next person; but I hand out business cards, not to get you to go to CoffeeThatIsPricedTooHighForWhatItIsWorthBucks.com, but to share with you my business, not my social country club.

That doesn't mean you won't meet me there once in a while. We may meet, we may chat, we may drink some LifeStyleCoffee and I might even give you my business card. But it is not the primary place to find out about my business. And it is not the primary place for a customer to find out about your business.

If you have arrived on my business website, this is where I want you to be.

If you are a business owner and you have a 'business website' telling people to 'follow you on Facebook' is like telling them to leave your store; where you have the latest and greatest brochures, a sales representative or a customer service person waiting to answer questions, take their order and close the sale; and go down the street to the local coffee shop to buy a newspaper where you recently placed an ad to attract more customers.

FACEBOOK is Not Your Business!

Your business is your business!

Stop sending people away once they walk through the door. Tell them to sign up for your business newsletter or blog or whatever information you can get them to sign up for to follow you while they are on your website but don't send them away from your website. Your website is the second to last stop on their search for you. Your website is the front door to your business, or possibly the showroom in some cases. However, it still is not their destination. Their destination is to call you, or contact you, or get directions and come down to your physical store. Whatever your actual business is.

If you have to have a FACEBOOK page then use it in the manner it was designed:

Send people FROM Facebook!

Facebook was designed as a personal portal to get in touch with or keep in touch with people from your past, or to personally touch base with people you don't normally keep in contact with. It was never, and is still not designed to be a business portal. To further my point, have you ever noticed that you can not utilize most of the functions of their so-called "business pages" unless you have a personal site established.  This should be a red flag for anyone using the website. It was designed for personal use, just like the fad - MySpace; which by the way has all but passed into oblivion.

Should you as a business owner entertain the thought of using Facebook to help build your business?

That is a good question.

But that's also like asking a business owner if he should have business cards. If your local coffee shop lets you put business cards on the counter - do it! Or perhaps they have a place where you can put in a few brochures - do it! But remember, your advertising (which is what you are using Facebook for at this point and all that it is good for) should never lead people to your advertising, it must lead them back to you, your business, your products and services.

If on the other hand, you have time for socializing and making new friends, meeting people, connecting with people and building personal relationships online, then Facebook may not be a bad choice to add as a marketing tool. But keep in mind, that is what it is.  Facebook is like a social club and you want to work it like a social club.

So remember, as a business owner; unless you are a traveling musician, once you have made it to my website - don't follow me anywhere else. I'm not there - I'm here, where I do what I do best