They say that it's a bad idea to talk about your business. I find it the opposite. Some people put too much emphasis on the idea and not on its execution. Some people believe that their idea is so original that it must be protected at all cost. But when the "build it and they will come" method doesn't work, they're puzzled. Why is this?

Prior to the internet, this worked. Nowadays, you have people online providing feedback in seconds as opposed to days. If you are planning on releasing the next Google or Facebook, think about how they got out there. They just built it and created a good enough framework to build off. These companies had a vision and learned to see how the public reacts to their products and adjust from there. 

It's similar to a football team that overprepares for the game. They do all the planning but they forget about the details - tackling the competition. One missed tackle and boom, game over.

Now that's not to say that you just start putting things together and see if your project sticks, there has to be a balance. You have to have a roadmap when building things. What must you have for this product release? What could you live without or do later that will not impact the company in a major way in the future? 

Any thoughts are welcome.

We've all seen Texas Hold'Em, Street Racing, The "Farm" game, and a whole slew of other gaming goodness in Facebook. But what if you want to actually make use of your social network? This is in order of usefulness. 

10. Marketplace by Oodle

The Oodle Marketplace is a great alternative to going to Craigslist and Ebay in terms of selling items privately. But with the power of Facebook, your friends now get in the mix and you will be able to share pictures and other items on the Oodle Marketplace. It's biggest drawback is of course the size of the community.  

9. Flixster

Looking to see which movies are good to watch. Do you value your friend's opinions than the critics? Flixster is a great application that extends the website's functions to Facebook and uses it with good reason. Friends of friends who install the application can also put in rating and comments on recent theatrical releases or old-school movies.

8. eBay Auctions

Ever tried posting some things you have in your garage that you thought some of your friends my be interested in? If you answered "yes", it's probably fair to say that you've probably posted a bunch of links on your wall, profile, etc. But why do that when you can install a facebook app that does it for you and shares with the rest of your friends? It's a great app that also displays the current bidding price on all your items. Great time saver. Wish there was an app for Craigslist.

7. Simply RSS

Stream almost any website that has a "XML" or "RSS" button labeled on it. You should be able to stream your blog too? Why waste the time cutting and pasting or hitting the "share" link? Get this application and get it over with. 

6. SocialCalendar

SocialCalendar has changed lately since the developers of the facebook application are beginning to charge for certain things but to be able to share a calendar with your friends and do RSVP, guest management, and invites within your Facebook world, this works best. You can keep your brithdays or coordinate plans/events with your facebuddies and never miss anything important again.
 

5. Yelp 

Interface everything about Yelp into Facebook. Favorite restaurants, places, and a bunch of activities you can share with friends. It's a good app that provides a stream of updates that can alert the rest of your friends and puts a little nice looking gadget on your profile.

4. Picasa (developer Alan) or Flickr

Is one of my favorite Facebook apps. If you're the type of person who is tired of having to re-post whole albums after taking up a whole lifetime to post an album in Friendster or MySpace, this is the answer for you. The application install a tab on your profile and retrieves the comments. Pretty cool stuff.

3. My Restaurants

Why read a bunch of food reviews from strangers when you can read them from your very own friends! The best restaurant suggestions we get are from friends anyway. What really surprised me was seeing a large selection of restaurants from the get-go. Then again, I maybe lucky. So far, I have added many restaurants from their database and not one restaurant I actually visited was missing. Don't be surprised if you happen to find your most obscure restaurant here. 

2. Cities I've Visited (developed by TripAdvisor.Com)

Probably one of the most popular and useful apps on Facebook. Where have you traveled? Create an interactive travel map to share with your friends and help them plan their trips. When it's installed, people can see all of the cities you've visited worldwide and see certain stats of places you've visited. You can provide ratings to nearby restaurants or gauge your knowledge of that place through a simple rating system. It's even tagged as a Facebook verified app - something that works well for Facebook users.

1. Selective Twitter Status 

Some Facebook Twitter apps love to be annoying. Maybe you don't want to send every single update of how much you love hot dogs or whether you're having your haircut today. If you're the type of person that would rather annoy your friends less and send only the updates you want in Twitter, install this app. It's a great help and is considered really useful when you want to start doing some marketing.