Facebook for Online Business:

The Ultimate

Guide

Facebook is in the news for all the right and wrong reasons.

On one hand they are being scrutinized for lack of user privacy.

On the other hand, people are flocking to invest in Facebook

because they just opened up their IPO with a bang.

Now, as a business owner, you needn’t be concerned about how

much they might make post IPO or how they treat their users (As a user you need to be extremely cautious

though).

Now, as a business owner, you needn’t be concerned about how

much they might make post IPO or how they treat their users (As a user you need to be extremely cautious

though).

So this guide is for everyone who wants to generate traffic and leads from Facebook for their business.

Now, as a business owner, you needn’t be concerned about how

much they might make post IPO or how they treat their users (As a user you need to be extremely cautious

though).

So this guide is for everyone who wants to generate traffic and leads from Facebook for their business.

Should I be Using Facebook For Online Business To Promote My Business?

Why not?OK, not all businesses are worth

mentioning online. But still, if you have a business which you are not ashamed to tell others about (you shouldn’t have

any other business in the first place), Facebook is a great medium.

That does not mean you go about and promote your business day in and day out on Facebook. There are certain strategies that work

with the social networking audience. Use them wisely and

you will see the benefits.

How to Promote my Online Business Using Facebook?

It’s simple. It really is. There is nothing much to say here other than a few guidelines on using Facebook for online business:

Facebook For Online Business Tip #1: Create A Page For your Business

You should be creating a page on FB rather than creating an account in your business name. Head over to this page and choose the best

one that suits your business.

It might seem a bit confusing at times. You may see the option “Local

Business” as well as “Brand or Product”. You might think that your

business is both. When in doubt, always follow your gut instincts. It’s

not like Facebook is going to de activate your account since you

chose one option over the other.

Facebook For Online Business Tip #2: Display the Facebook community page badge on your business

People who visit your business website will come to know that you are active on Facebook and will join

your Facebook page (ideally).

Now, this might not be a good strategy for everyone. However, you never know whether it will work for you or not. So give it a try and see how many people like your page from your website. If there isn’t

much buzz, then you needn’t waste your valuable website real estate for

a Facebook box.

Facebook For Online Business Tip #3: Ask people to “like” your Facebook page.

Yes, really ask them. There is no better way to get people to “like”

your page than asking them nicely.If you need to entice them, maybe

promise an exclusive gift, discount, or coupon for those who like your page

on Facebook.

Facebook For Online Business Tip #4: Engage With your Community on Facebook.

Post occasionally on your business page wall. Don’t post 50 times in a day. People will get irritated and unlike your page. Push marketing

won’t work. Pull your customers to your business.

There is no right frequency. Try various frequencies like posting one time a day, once in every three days,

or even once in a week.

The trick is to find the right frequency your specific audience is comfortable with. If you see people un-liking your page, then it means

you are crossing the border.

Facebook For Online Business Tip #5: Be Active

This is somewhat an extension to tip #4.

Share important announcements, special discounts, and your latest article links through your business

page. When you share on your page, people who liked your page,

automatically receives the update on your wall.

The added benefit is that, not only do they see it, but their friends see it too

when they like or re-share it. That’s really powerful.

Sadly, most people do not realize the wealth of personal information

they give to Facebook. The good thing is that, Facebook provides

this information to advertisers to target ads very precisely. So you can advertise your business page

on Facebook to the exact intended audience.

I’d go for impression based advertising if I want to build a brand and click

based advertising if I am looking to see some immediate and measurable

results.

Facebook For Online Business Tip #7: Get a custom fan page designed for your online business.

Admit it. The default Facebook business page is very boring. Best thing is that, for less than 100$, you can hire

people to create a killer fan page for your site.

If you are really short of cash, Fiverr is a great way to find some

cheap Facebook landing page designs.

Getting a custom Facebook fan page helps to build branding and credibility to some extent. People can see that

you invested your time and money into Facebook. So they know you are

serious about it.

Facebook For Online Business Tip #8: Don’t Over Indulge on Facebook

Finally, I’d like to say one last but important tip.

Your Facebook business page is just a business page. Not your business

website and not your business itself.

Don’t give too much importance to fan pages, dedicate time and money in

building a great fan page only to realize that you never got around

building a great business.

I see many people making this mistake. It’s not even necessary that

you are on FB. If you are on Facebook, great. If you are not, it’s good too since you can spend more time on

your business rather than focusing on something you have very little control

over.

The title says the “ultimate guide”. Do you want more? Before you begin

searching the internet for more Facebook for business tips, let me ask

you one simple question.

How much information do you need?

Not much if you ask me.

All the information you need is here. There might be few tips I missed out. I did not forget to

include those, but avoided including them.

Why?

I want you to take action and not go on and on searching for the perfect time to start a Facebook business

page.

•I don’t know about your personality. You do•I don’t know your audience. You do•I don’t know about your business. You do

If I don’t know a shit about you, or your customer, how can I give more

advice?

Get started with Facebook and see if it works for you or not. If it doesn’t work, let it go. If it works, great!!!

One more thing before you head off to start the ultimate business fan

page on Facebook. Don’t expect to convert social media visitors to buyers as you normally do with

website visitors. Social media traffic hardly converts. It’s not impossible to

convert them though.

It’s good for branding and getting your word out. If money is your sole aim,

focus on your business and forget Facebook.

Over to You.

Are there any Facebook marketing tips I missed out that I should have

covered? I’m all ears to your suggestions. Let me know in the

comment section.