FaceBook - It’s Not Personal, its Business.

I already have a personal FaceBook page; it’s been fun reconnecting with friends from college, high school and beyond. But that’s the thing, it’s just been fun. I really don’t want to mix business with pleasure, but recently I’ve been trying to figure out how and why I should use FaceBook for my business.

I’ve done some investigating on how to get started and was a little confused at first between pages, groups and fans. What I’ve discovered is my first step should be to create a new page for my business. Once my business page is up and running, instead of “friend requests” like I have on my personal page, my customers and other people who like my business will connect to my business page by becoming a Fan.  Do I have this right? Has anyone else set up a page on FaceBook for their business? Have any recommendations for what to do once it’s up?

I haven't tried it yet, but I'd also be curious to know how folks have used it. I know our shelter has considered creating pages for our adoptable animals. Several animal rescue organizations have done this to try to create personas for a pet they are trying to place. I don't know how effective those efforts have been, but anything to "personalize" the animal generally helps with adoptions.

Large companies develop Facebook applications to improve brand loyalty. For example, Visa created a “Visa Business Network” application which allows small business owners to network with other small business owners. Similarly, small businesses can work with Facebook application developers to create applications which would benefit their businesses.

Hi Bonnie, Here's an example of Duct Tape Marketing's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kansas-City-MO/Duct-Tape-Marketing/20533054080 

They do a lot of things on their page - hints about how to use Facebook, videos, marketing tips, sell their e-books etc. Thought it might give you some ideas for things to put on your page.

Here's a great article, listing some apps you can use to maximize your use of Facebook: http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2008/08/27/top-10-business-applications-for-facebook/

Great articles, here's another question.  I have a blog on my company's Website and I'd like to be able to have the updates I make on my blog appear on my FaceBook page. I think there is a way to create this feed. Has anyone out there done this? I need some step by step help. Thanks!

Hi Bonnie,

Creating the feed is fairly easy. Start at your Home page, then mouse-over ‘Settings’ at the top right, and click 'Application Settings'. Then click 'Notes' on the left when the list comes up. The next thing you need to do is to click on ‘My Notes’ at the top. Click on ‘Import a Blog’ link under ‘Notes Settings’ when the new page opens. Just enter your blog URL and you are all set. Facebook will show you a preview of the import with a note and ask you to confirm it.

Yeah! It worked - thanks for the help. Any other ideas on how to leverage FaceBook for Business? I still have a concern though, I want traffic to come to my business website, not facebook. Is there a risk with focusing too much on my Buisness FaceBook page?

Hi Bonnie - I don't think you have to worry about cannibalization between your website and Facebook. If the Facebook users are interested in learning more about your business, they'll most likely click on your website link to check out your offers!

Personally, I would not spend too much time and effort on Facebook advertising. It is nice to have a Facebook business profile and use it to drive additional traffic to your site but Facebook users have different motives in mind such as reconnecting with friends or simply killing time. Instead, I would focus on other channels such as LinkedIn, Xing or other business networking sites to give you more leverage because those sites will possibly bring more qualified traffic to your site.