Do you have a Facebook profile? For your business? For yourself?

I've blogged a lot here about social media, but when I added Facebook to my social media toolkit a while back, I was a little confused at first.

Did I need a profile page? Lots of my friends have them, but they seemed too "personal" — and I didn't want just anyone to be able to post stuff on my Wall. I finally decided on a Page, but it took a bit of trial and error to figure it all out.

I wish I'd had this article from Inc.'s blog to help me. It spells out exactly how to decide which type of Facebook presence best suits your business, including the features each type of presence (Profile, Page, and Group) has and which is best for doing what you need.

For most small businesses, a Page is the way to go. But what if you want to interact with your customers a little more than a Page allows you to? Then you'll want to consider a Group. Groups let you organize and interact with people in specific ways. You'll also have more control over who can join the Group (so, for example, you can block a competitor who you don't want participating in the conversation).

If you're not on Facebook already, you owe it to your business to at least check it out. Whether you market to consumers or businesses, you can benefit from a presence there. Setting up a Facebook presence is fast and easy, and a great way to alert your audience to what your business is up to on an ongoing basis.

Want to see my Page? Visit me here. And while you're at it, also check out the Office Live Page.

 

Rieva Lesonsky

Comments

Tom wrote re: Tips for using Facebook to benefit your business
on 07-02-2009 6:00 PM

This article reitterates what I was told at a recent E-Marketing seminar that I attended. I am now looking for information on how to use facebook to promote a business and found your link very informative.

Lew1801 wrote re: Tips for using Facebook to benefit your business
on 07-02-2009 7:10 PM

I hope that you will answer rhis question, because I'm sure it is a concern to all who would aspire to be web page "end sellers".The concern is that the "Tags" below, which are on each windows web site:

"Powered by

Microsoft Office Live|Create a free website|Free file sharing "

Has a counter-productive marketing flaw in it..Don't you think??

It is the reason why I don't use it.

Can we come to a better partnership?

I may have put this in the right place, but, hope you will answer me.

Best regards,

Louis

SandraLinville-Thomas wrote re: Tips for using Facebook to benefit your business
on 07-02-2009 9:11 PM

Thanks for the tips. I've now set up a Facebook business page. I hope you keep writing about your experiences at Facebook with more pointers in how to use it to promote businesses.

Theo Zen wrote re: Tips for using Facebook to benefit your business
on 07-02-2009 11:43 PM

Having a Page for your small business is one of the most basic things you need to do on Facebook. However, what will actually bring you the most benefit is by integrating Facebook WITH your Office Live website. That is how you can take advantage of Facebook's vast social networking ability and tap into other Facebook users; networks to promote your website. You can learn how to make your Office Live website social with Facebook Connect here:

theozen.com/facebook_connect.aspx

maisha wrote re: Tips for using Facebook to benefit your business
on 07-06-2009 1:51 AM

Hello Rieva - I was so happy to see a link to my Inc. article on your blog!  I really like your blog and hope that more of my articles will be helpful to your readers.  

I'm working on a whole series on Social Media Marketing which starts here: blog.inc.com/.../the_weakest_link_your_social_m.html

and recently finished a series on Search Engine Optimization which starts here: blog.inc.com/.../getting_good_rank_search_engin.html  

For those in New York I also teach live classes on these topics:  messagemedium.com/classes.htm

I'm happy to answer questions and let me know if there are particular topics/challenges you would like to see me write about.  I look forward to reading more of your helpful posts!

I'll be including you in my Twitter feed this week.  :o)

Maisha

peter1978 wrote re: Tips for using Facebook to benefit your business
on 07-07-2009 5:09 AM

Rieva,

can you point me in the right direction please?  I'm finding the ol site frustrating because of limitations.  for instance, the addthis button and rate buttons you have above... those don't work in office live now, at least from a hover standpoint.  i've had to contact addthis directly to try to resolve but there is not fix.  any suggestions?  also, is there just one area that spells out the step by step to set up the office live workspace?  currently it's very scattered and doesn't give a concise directy.  instead, it's 1 thing, then step back, then add another thing.  pls don't get me wrong, i'm a big fan of it all but finding the right information is very time consuming.  thoughts?

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