We're the Facebook of (insert your industry here).

I can't recall the number of pitches I've seen lately where entrepreneurs have told me that they plan to become the "Facebook" of their industry. Sure, you can create a social network for just about any niche nowadays (check out Dogster, for instance), but be sure to do your homework before you stake your claim. Here's how:

1. Read the Facebook Blogs: FaceReviews, Inside Facebook & AllFacebook.



2. Do some research: The success of all social networking sites is a study of analytics, statistics and human social interaction (hey, that BA I got years ago is finally relevant - kind of). So, dig deep and understand some of this stuff. Here's a start: HP has some great papers here. One of their papers studies 362 million messages exchanged by 4.2 million users of Facebook! Also, check out the Pew Internet & American Life Project, where in the Online Activities & Pursuits section, they have studies on social networking, Wikipedia, and online video usage.



3. Do some more research. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone who is developing or has developed a Facebook App these days. So, ask around and get as much first-hand information as possible.



4. Do some number crunching. We're less than three months into the release of the Facebook Apps platform, and as of today, there are 3,131 apps available. The #1 application, Top Friends, has over 12,000,000 users. The last place app - well, it's hard to find. Click here to see the 1,350th app, then try and get to the 1,351st app. Let me know how that goes!

I'm doing this research to help the companies I'm advising become more successful in launching Facebook-like businesses, or applications within Facebook. If you have come across any other interesting sources, please share!