As Facebook approaches its public offering, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg is making one thing very clear.

“The world’s information infrastructure should resemble the social graph.”

In other words, your business needs to be social by design. Virtually every business in every industry needs to redefine itself around social to be relevant with the changing behaviors of consumers.

Define the Purpose of Your Company

Every business has a purpose – what some refer to as a higher purpose. It is your mission. It’s something that transcends profits – while also contributing to them.

It’s what you and your small business team believe in – and what is vitally important to your success.

My purpose is helping mainstream small businesses take advantage of this marketing opportunity of a lifetime – social media.

Social media can humanize your business to reveal what is real, authentic, and honest about it. And that is the magic that yields relationships, alliances, and everything else that differentiates your business in the marketplace.

Understand How Social Graphs Work

Mark Zuckerberg states in his message to potential Facebook investors that Facebook thinks the world’s information and infrastructure should resemble the social graph – yours and that of your small business.

Social graphs tell a story. They illuminate everything about us – what is good and what can be improved.

When a business is willing to be authentic and transparent, it communicates to its consituents that it is open, able, and willing to make improvements.

Does that describe your business?

Solve Important Problems

Businesses exist for the exclusive purpose of solving problems, what traditional marketers have referred to as serving needs and wants.

Determining the needs and wants of the communities you serve is like chasing your shadow. Yet, solving problems is something that most business leaders can easily wrap their arms around.

You understand the problems of your customers, especially if you are willing to test the boundaries that others have established.

When you have the mindset of solving problems, you are no longer challenged with what to share on the social networks.

The essence of content marketing is teaching – helping your prospects to become better buyers of not products and service – but solutions that will solve their most important problems.

Facebook has become hugely successful by solving an inherent problem – enabling people across the globe to connect and share.

Forget about profits and consider the important problems that your business can solve for your communities.

The social design of your business will lead you right to them.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.

And please share this with your community and encourage them to join the conversation.

Until next time, Jeff