Facebook for Small Business Owners
How to Use this Online Media for Networking and Advertising
Jan 17, 2009
With over 150 million active users, small business owners can benefit from using Facebook to network, promote and stay in touch. The key to using Facebook wisely is to keep content current and to act in a professional manner in keeping with the business.
How to Add a Business to Facebook
Facebook has a specific area for businesses to add a page that doesn’t require membership to the website. Categories for these business pages include, but are not limited to:
- Non-profits
- Organizations
- Restaurants
- Stores
- Services
- Products
- Places
- Celebrities/Public Figures
Once the appropriate category has been chosen the business owner will be prompted to enter contact details: the physical location, phone numbers, email address, hours of operation, and so forth. The business page will allow for custom content and entries such as:
- A profile picture – usually the business logo or a picture of the product
- Events – special sale day coming up? Put it here
- Video – upload videos to the page from a computer
- Photos – add pictures of the office, store or a company outing; include pictures of products or action shots for a service-based business
- Age Restrictions – under the settings function the page owner can restrict what age a searcher must be to access the page, very useful for liquor store owners and adult novelty retailers
Keeping Track of Fan Traffic on Facebook
After a page has been added you can return to the main page and click on “View Insights” located in the upper right corner. When a business page has 10 fans or more specific demographic data is available to the owner. See how many visits the page is receiving and what kind of audience it is drawing.
Inviting “Friends” to Fan Your Business
As a fan of your own business you cannot invite people directly but you can promote your page on Facebook in several ways:
- Your Wall – click on the “Share” icon and post the business to your wall
- Your Friends – click on the “Share” icon and send a message to Facebook friends individually
- Advertise – promoting the business page with ads can be a great way to get the word out to specific demographics, click on “Promote Page with an Ad” from the business page
The Small Business Owner’s Facebook Profile
In a basic Facebook profile the small business owner can stay in touch and network with clients, colleagues, fans and so forth. The important thing to consider is the level of professionalism in a profile as it relates to the business. Anything on the main profile should be in keeping with the image the business owner wishes to project. Some areas to consider:
- Personal photos – bikini-clad images from the last Hawaiian vacation may not be appropriate to share with business colleagues and clients
- Groups – joining groups on Facebook can be a great way to network, consider seeking out groups specific to the industry or profession
A good rule to consider is that anything posted to Facebook should be something the owner would be comfortable adding to the store bulletin board or be printed in the newspaper. All other personal details may be both revealing and inappropriate, which can be a big turnoff to customers and colleagues in your friends list.
Facebook Profile Privacy Settings
In the top navigation bar select “Settings” then “Privacy Settings” to adjust who can see specific parts of your profile content. Basic Profile settings can be changed to allow or deny levels of friends and networks access to your profile, contact information, photos and your friends list. A small business owner might be comfortable sharing the profile with Networks and Friends while allowing Only Friends to have access to education or personal information.
Exploring Facebook
There are endless possibilities for the entrepreneur or self-employed person to harness Facebook for business usage. Research what other businesses are doing on Facebook, can it be applicable to your model? Should you add an application or create a group? Don’t just stop at posting your website address and contact details!
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