For many years, I’ve pushed the Internet as a way for a solo or small firm to market their business and secure new clients with a solid web presence.

And much of the focus has been on Google. And for good reason – because I’ve had clients zoom from low-six figures to seven figures in less than 14 months. Google is a gold mine if done right – and the most cost-effective marketing there is.

On the other hand, I’ve advised my clients to avoid Facebook like the plague, simply because most will not generate a single call from a Facebook page.

I didn’t advise against setting up a personal profile, then a business page. I just advised not spend a lot of time on it. Add some content, maybe syndicate your blog posts there….but that’s about it.

Because Facebook has NOT been a productive way to get new clients. Could you build a network where you could perhaps get a referral? Yes.

But spending hours-on-end playing around on Facebook was an absolute waste of time.

In fact, even those clients that have a solid presence on Facebook have not been able to attribute a single, non-referral client from Facebook.

But in recent months, Facebook is making moves to become a solid business tool, and I am now advising clients to keep a close eye on it. Because Facebook is growing up.

They are beginning to realize what they have – and the value it really holds.

Facebook now has more visitors worldwide than Google. And they want to monetize that in a serious way.

And they will do that by keeping Facebook users – on Facebook – for any information they would typically head to Google for.

For instance, Facebook signed a deal with Bing to provide search results. So if you’re signed in to Facebook, you can do a search right there – no need to jump to Google. Search results from Bing are just a few keystrokes away.

And they are working on a Places/Local/Maps product similar to Google’s which could be huge for law firms. If you’ve followed any of my blog posts over the years, you’ve probably noticed that I really like that type of product because it gets the phone to ring.

And what if they roll out Facebook e-mail (an open system) to compete with Gmail? How many millions will flock to that product?

Facebook is indeed growing up. And now is the time to start paying attention to them.

I’ll keep an eye out for further developments and pass them along. In the meantime, if you don’t have a Facebook page, now’s the time to build one.

And I’m considering writing a brief guide to setting up a Facebook page for law firms…if I can find the time.