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Small business Facebook page

April 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you are small or medium size business owner you can follow the instructions below and create your first Facebook page.

1. Create your profile and build your page

If you already have a profile, go to www.facebook.com/pages to start creating your page. If you don’t have a profile click the Create a Page link to create your profile and page at the same time.

You will be given the choice of creating a Facebook Page for a local business, brand or public person. Once you select to create a local business page, a drop-down menu will give you the option to define your line of business. Choose from Health and Beauty, Café, Professional Services and many more.

2. Add content

Now that you have registered your page it is time to start adding content about your business. Begin by uploading an image. This should be your logo or an image representative of your business. The image will be displayed as a thumbnail, so make sure the size does not exceed 4MB.

Secondly describe you business for the info tab. Include contact information, hours and website if you have one. Keep it short and informational and try to include some of the keywords of your industry. A tightly keyword focused Fan Page will get you indexed by the search engines quickly.

All Facebook Pages have the tabs: Wall and Info. You can move tabs, remove them, add new ones, and select which tab you want visitors to see when they first visit your page. This is important.

As Facebook is a social medium, visitors expect content to be updated on a regular basis. Take a hint from some of the big brands and use interactivity like encouraging fans to post photos of themselves visiting your business or using your product and reward the best one.

3. Add Social Plugins

If your business has its own website there are many Facebook plugins available to promote your Facebook Page outside the Facebook network. The most useful of the Facebook standard plugins are the Like Box and Like Button. The code is generated with the click of a button and can easily be pasted into the code of your website.

The Like Button allows users share your content with friends on Facebook. When the user clicks the Like Button on your site, a story appears in the user’s friends’ News Feed with a link back to your website.

The Like Box is similar, but contains more information such as a snapshot of fans who like your Facebook Page and recent post from your status updates.

Both of these plugins may only be useful if you have a website which is regularly updated, such as a blog.

4. Invite fans

Your first fan has to come from somewhere, so start by liking your own page and invite your Facebook friends to do the same. You may have an existing list of contacts from your business that you will want to invite. You can upload this list and tell your customers about your fan page. To invite fans outside of Facebook, click the Import Contact button and use your username and password credentials to get contact from web based email clients such as Yahoo!, Gmail and Hotmail. It is also possible to import desktop email client contacts from programs such as Outlook, Entourage and Mac OS X Address Book.

5. Write on the Wall

The Wall is where your status updates are displayed. If you are just getting started marketing your local business through Facebook Pages this is a good choice for default landing page for visitors as the content is easily updated with blurbs, deals, specials and photos.

The posts on the Wall are in chronological order, with the newest displayed at the top and fans can comment on each update which is then displayed on their own profile pages.

6. Promote your Fan Page on your Website

If you have your own website created, you can use the “Promote this Page on Your Website” link to generate the code needed to add the “Like” box to your business website. The box will link them directly to your Facebook Fan Page.

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Facebook pages and how to get started

April 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I speak to business owners almost on a daily basis and most of them do not have any kind of presense on Facebook. One of the main reasons for that is lack of free time available or lack of knowledge and understanding of how Facebook works and how small and medium size business should be promoted on Facebook. This blog post can help you in creation of your business Facebook entry. Also you can download a free report here.

In order to create a Facebook page, you need to have an account on Facebook. Your Facebook page will be tied to your personal profile as the admin of your Facebook page, but only you and Facebook will know the connection exists. You can have an unlimited number of Facebook pages, with an unlimited number of fans.

Facebook Pages are public—anyone can find and view your page whether they are logged into Facebook or not. All content posted on your Facebook page gets indexed on Google and other search engines.

You can add applications to your page, including your own custom content—video, rich text, graphics, opt-in box and more. You can add additional admins (highly recommended). All admins have equal rights to administer your page, including adding and removing other admins so be careful who you choose.

Questions to Consider:
Before spending several hours a day on designing your small business Facebook Page consider the following and strategize accordingly:

What is your objective? Is it getting more customers in the door? Building awareness around your brand? Or creating a space to communicate and provide customer service? Think about these questions before you begin.

Make sure that the niche or business you choose is active and people are searching for your choice of business. You can search the hot trends in Click Bank, Amazon, and Yahoo. Use the main keyword in the title for your Fan Page and in your profile. Pick your Facebook Page name carefully as this cannot be changed at a later date. Use Google Keyword Tool to find additional keywords to use. The name you choose will be part of your unique URL.

Once you’re clear on the purpose of your Facebook page, the design needs to reflect that. For example, if your purpose is to build your email list, you’ll need to feature at least one opt-in box.

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Social media campaign evaluation

March 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

“Frustration” – a word very often used to portray companies new to social media and those who have been involved in social media but have yet to enjoy a return.

There are two problems here…First, it takes time to establish a social media presence for your business. You have to be regular and consistent in your involvement with the social media medium and take into account that returns will not be overnight. Second, you have to make sure that you are using social media in a way that makes sense for your business.

If you are not sure, just ask yourself these simple questions:

Are you using the right platform?
There are few social media platforms for you to consider – most notably Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Further, within these platforms, there exist variations on the theme. For example, in Facebook, you can have a “Page,” a “Group,” or a “Community.” Each variation has its own set of tools, purposes, and capabilities. In addition, you may decide to participate in several social media platforms at the same time. For example, if you have a fitness center, you may want to use your YouTube channel to publish videos on how to perform certain exercises or tapings of classes you offer there while using Facebook to build a sense of community through candid photos, listings of hours, available classes, and upcoming events.

Have you scrapped past attempts?
However, you also need to remember that whatever you take on has to be maintained and updated regularly. This can take up valuable time and people resources. While it can certainly be worth it in the long run, remember that consistency is key. If you do not think you will be able to maintain various platforms (or you have already started and stopped using a platform) be sure to erase or delete those accounts. Otherwise, you stand the risk of eroding your brand value when a customer (current or potential) stumbles across your forgotten social media account. Instead, make sure that what you have is the best it can be.

Are you providing the type of information and interaction that your audience wants?
 Ask yourself what it is that your audience would want to read, not what you want to tell them. Providing discounts or having giveaways can be useful, but you have to have more substance than that. Consider posting facts about your company, the brand, or its products. Think of the tidbits of information you encounter everyday that make you stop and say, “Really?” Examples include fun facts about how long you have been in business, what happens “behind the scenes”, why your business operates as it does (e.g. why Yoga class was cancelled on Tuesdays, why you do not serve poppyseed bagels, why you buy local, why legal documents are presented in blue card stock), etc.

Are you listening to your audience?
Likewise, are you listening to your audience? When they make a post, do you respond? Do you stay on top of when your company is mentioned on other sites, blogs, social media, etc., and make relevant comments to that affect (on that site and yours)? Remember that social media has developed because of the continued interaction it affords. Its purpose is not to simply broadcast, but rather give people a voice.

Do you allow them a voice?
Similarly, make sure that you give your audience a voice. Ask open-ended questions, run surveys and polls, include them in new product decisions, etc. – the more things like this you do, the more valued your audience will feel. Remember that interaction is a large part of a successful social media campaign. If miss out on this, you may already be out of the game.

Social Media can be a key part of growing your business and brand to attract local consumers.
Local Internet Marketing isn’t just about having a website, it includes being findable in multiple places when local consumers are looking for your product or service.

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