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Using Facebook for BusinessFacebook recently started allowing business pages. This is a great way to get more exposure for your business and tap into the more than 60 million people who use Facebook, most of whom spend at least 20 minutes on the site per day. To create your own business page, find the Advertising page for Facebook, you can click on the "Pages" tab at the top and then click the "Create a Page" button. Once there you will need to decide the category for your business. Spend a little time thinking about this, as it is not easy to change later. After your page is created, you add details such as address, a photo or logo, a description and the hours of operation. When you have everything the way you want it, click on your business name to publish it. Begin promoting your new Facebook page by becoming a fan. That's right, become a fan of your own business! Here is why this is important: as soon as you become a fan of your business a message shows up on the home page of all your friends. Hopefully they will become a fan of your business too, and then their friends will see a message on their home page, etc. etc. Next, you want to add a button to the web site for your business that allows anyone to become a fan. This will catch any customers (or prospective customers) with whom you are not already friends on Facebook. Facebook makes this easy. Just press the "Add Fan Box to your site" link you will see in the left column of your business Facebook page and follow the instructions. You can also promote your business page by blogging. Whenever you blog, make sure you put a link to both your web site and your Facebook business page at the bottom. If you link to other sites in your blog, ask those sites to link back to you. In a short time you will be getting hundreds of visitors to your site, and hopefully a lot of new business! Do you have a Twitter account? Don't forget to tweet your new Facebook business page so your followers can visit it. Finally, consider placing an ad on Facebook. Once again, Facebook makes this easy with a left-column link. Facebook ads can be targeted at specific groups and allow you to set the amount you want to spend each day. Your ad copy can be up to 135 characters. The ad can also have a photo. Get creative! Don't just put your logo in the ad, try your logo with a small headline. Think of something simple and catchy like "Got Milk?" Ads can be purchased for as little as $1 per day, and you can always increase or decrease the amount you want to spend later, depending on its success. Creating a presence for your business on Facebook is easy, fun, and it may get you new business from sources you would never be able to reach without it. Get this Facebook Guide to learn how to monetize your Facebook account. |
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