Facebook Pages are the most straightforward way for businesses to have a presence on the Facebook social networking website.

A Page is similar in its appearance to a standard Facebook profile (which are used by individuals who join Facebook), except that it’s designed to be the Facebook profile of a business.

People are becoming comfortable with conducting an increasing amount of their online activities exclusively on Facebook.  Rather than using a search engine to find a product or service they need, some people are simply asking their Facebook friends for recommendations, or doing a search on Facebook itself.

If you don’t have a Page set up for your business, you’ll be limited in how many of these potential customers can find you.

Begin the sign-up process by visiting the Pages area of Facebook

When you create a new account, try to choose a Page name that is as close to your real business name as possible.  This makes it easier for people who you already do business with to find you on Facebook.

Once you’ve set up your Page, you can begin to build a following for your business

It’s important to keep in mind, however, that social networking tools such as Facebook are generally not very effective sales tools – in the traditional sense of the term “sales.”

Facebook users that receive sales pitches on their Facebook walls tend to view the companies making them in a negative way.   In fact, companies that try to use Facebook as a direct sales tool are quite often viewed– rightly or wrongly –as “spammers.”

You are better served by viewing your Facebook Page as an opportunity to build a following or community around your business.

FoPagesr example, whenever someone follows or becomes a “fan” of your company’s Facebook Page, each time you post a status update or link  to your Page, your followers will get a notification in their main news feed.

You can use your Page to announce new product offerings, sales, or special offers that you are conducting, or other interesting news about your business.

Resist the temptation to sell to these people by posting multiple status updates or notes every day

If your followers feel overwhelmed by the volume of updates from you (especially if it seems to them like some updates are “forced”, or not noteworthy information), there’s a good chance that they’ll simply un-follow you, and you’ll lose Facebook as a means of connecting with that customer.

Another thing to consider is how your business’ Facebook Page provides a new way to engage with your customers and potential customers.

Ask customers what kind of new products and services they’d like to see from you, or how they might want you to refine your existing offerings. Once the conversation is underway, you may find that a greater number of people participate.

Sometimes the “business intelligence” you’ll gain from your Facebook Page is something you’d never be able to get any other way.

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Facebook has become a very popular way for people to interact with each another online.

In fact, Facebook has in many ways replaced some of the traditional means of Internet communication.   For example, many people now use Facebook’s messaging system much more often than they use their traditional email accounts.

Lots of people log into Facebook every single day, so if their friends are already Facebook members, it’s easier to send messages from within Facebook than to go to another web service like Yahoo mail or Google mail just to send a quick message.

Most people also like to maintain a single contact list or address book, and since Facebook does this for them automatically, it becomes quite easy to send messages directly from Facebook.

You can use Facebook messages to strengthen the relationships you have with your customers

For example, by offering your customers the option of contacting you on Facebook for customer service issues or questions they may have, you provide an environment that they are already comfortable in, and spend lots of time using – Facebook.

Many people feel like their traditional email in-boxes have simply become a source of spam and unwanted email, and that attitude often affects how they view the people who are sending them email.

The most convenient aspect of using Facebook messaging is that each time  you become a friend of a business contact (or potential business contact), or they link themselves to your business Page, you immediately have a way of contacting them directly. There’s no need to take the extra step of asking for an email address.

To create a message, click the “Messages” Link that’s near the upper left hand corner of your main Facebook page,  then click the “New Message” button that’s in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

You’ll then be asked to enter the recipient’s name (or list of recipients), and your message.  You can also attach a photo, video clip, or link that’s related to your message.

Using lists can be a convenient way to manage different Facebook messaging campaigns

For example, you can have lists of “current customers,” “new prospects,” “potential business partners,” and send differently targeted messages to each.  Since an individual contact can be a member of multiple lists, there’s no need to struggle with trying to fit each person into a distinct category.

Be sure that you are not overwhelming your customers and prospects

It is very easy for someone to disable all the messages you send (effectively blacklisting you), which could make it very difficult to get into contact with them when you have information that impacts them directly (perhaps a product warranty or recall notice, or information that they have specifically requested from you).

If you strive to balance your desire to expand your business with your customers’ desire to not feel like they’re being “spammed”, then Facebook Messages is an effective tool to use for your business’ promotional strategy.

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Facebook is a great way for you to expand your professional network, provided you take care to also manage your online persona.  But there are other, less obvious, ways to use Facebook to boost your business and your career.

For example, Facebook has a feature called “Groups.”

A Group is a community of Facebook users who share a common interest or hobby. The official categories of Group types are:

• Business
• Common Interest
• Entertainment & Arts
• Geography
• Internet & Technology
• Just For Fun
• Music
• Organizations
• Sports & Recreation, and
• Student Groups

The key to successfully using the Groups feature is thinking broadly

You probably don’t want to create a Group for your business itself – you’d want a Facebook Page for that. Instead, you want to your new Group to be an online space in which potential customers can interact with one another about things that interest them.

Think about whom your business serves, how those people’s interests relate to the business, and create a Group that covers some element of those interests.

If you own a small online craft shop, perhaps you could start a Group about a particular type of craft or crafting technique.

People who don’t have a place to go in order to talk with other people about the things that interest them will likely join your Group if you just provide them a venue.

Remember: You shouldn’t look to tie the Group directly to your business

You want to become a spokesperson or representative for a part of your industry. The most important part of the [Content protected for Silver members only]

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Let’s assume you’ve already set up your own Facebook profile and a separate Facebook Page for your business. Maybe you’ve also created a Facebook Group that relates to a type of product or service that your business provides.

What are some ways that you can promote the special events your business sponsors?

One way is by creating a Facebook Event. A Facebook Event is simply another type of Facebook page that describes an occurrence that will occur at a specific type and in a specific location. The “location” can be a real physical location or an internet web page.

You can use an Event page to promote a sale or limited time promotion that your business is conducting, or some other special event. This can be an effective way to publicize your business activities from time-to-time, because you can target people who are already connected to you or your business on Facebook. Since they’ve connected with you on Facebook, you already know that they’re interested in the kinds of products and services you provide.

Creating a new Event is easy. First log in to your business’ Facebook Page if you want the event to be sponsored by the business (or log in to your personal profile if you want to be the sponsor personally).  Click the “Events” link near the top of the left navigation bar, and then click the “Create an Event” button at the top right of the main column of your events page.

You’ll then be asked to provide the name of the event, along with the time and place, a description of the event, and upload a photograph that relates to the event. You don’t need to include a finishing time if it’s an open-ended event. Finally, you need to decide which Facebook users to invite. You can either select individual guests from your friends list, or you can make the event completely public so that anyone on Facebook can see the Event and sign up to attend.

As with any successful business promotion on Facebook, the key is to not overdo it.

For example, it’s appropriate to create an event publicize seasonal sales or other special promotions you are conducting. On the other hand, you’ll probably alienate some of your followers if you create a new event every single day to publicize special prices on individual products.

It’s human nature to like being invited to things. Invitations to join make people feel special, and makes them feel like they’re a part of something. After receiving an invitation, the act of clicking the “I’m attending” button to accept the invitation is an affirmation of that person’s connection with the business that set up the event. By accepting the invitation they’re indicating their desire to align themselves with the event you’re conducting.

Of course, it’s not always easy to turn your Events and the accepted invitations directly into sales. But you can always evaluate your data to see which kinds of Events are most popular, and whether your Events are becoming more or less popular over time.

Done correctly, using Facebook Events can be a great supplement to your other promotional activities.

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