Don't let anyone intimidate you into thinking that being technically savvy is hard. Almost everything you need to know is readily available to you. If you want to learn, you will be enlightened. Sharron Denice

Eeeeeverybody is doing it! Everybody is making their mark on Facebook and I am also in that group. I had no idea how advantageous having a Facebook account would be. I thought it was just another means for people to be all up in your personal life or showering you with pick-up lines like on MySpace. But I have to admit, FaceBook is to Business as Spoons are to Soup....ya got to have it.

You have to know how to market your business on Facebook as well as how to setup your website so it is properly integrated into Facebook. There are 5 things that you need to do in order to promote your business on Facebook (we'll cover the greatness of Twitter later, I don't want to overwhelm you with information).

• Create a FaceBook Page
• Design Your FaceBook Page
• Integrate FaceBook into Your Website
• Promote Your FaceBook Page
• Start Facebooking!

Create a FaceBook Page

The hardest thing to do in the creation process, is to find the link to create the page. Its in the fine print!

1. Scroll down to the very bottom of any FaceBook page and you will see a link that says "Create a Page". This page they are referring to is the FaceBook Page for your business.
2. On the next page you will need to choose the type of page that you want to have for your business. If you are unsure, choose "Company, Organization or Institution".
3. Next choose the category that your page fits into, enter your company (be careful if you get over 100 fans you will not be able to edit the name anymore and you may have to call FaceBook), READ (lol) and agree to the terms of service and click "Get Started".
4. Your page is now created...BUT...first lets add your company logo (don't have one? Create one with GIMP or Get a professional custom Logo, business cards & stationery for $150.00), although you can, I suggest you skip adding fans for now we want your page all nice and pretty before they come, add some basic information about your business and click continue.

Thats it! You now officially created your your own FaceBook page! "Like" your own page and continue to the next step.

Design Your FaceBook Page

I really think that people think that creating anything on FaceBook is hard. So they find the most difficult method to creating a page to prove to them that it is hard. And I am always amazed at the lengths folks go through to create a page. From now on, for anything you want to do...say "Oh that's easy". And you will always find an easier way to do things instead of the hard road. Designing your Facebook Page is even easier than creating the page itself.

Now if you just stop at creating your page you will still be apart of the majority of the business owners on FaceBook. Most business owners only create the page and don't design or add asplash/intro page so you will be one of the ones that actually have one. Yup! I Love ya that much!

1. The first step to designing your page is to install an app. Ya'll do it all the time when you play the games that have taken over the net...Mafia Wars, Mob Wars, now even Word with Friends. Now you just have to install an app that's for business.
• Visit Static FBML business page (FBML stands for FaceBook Markup Language another language like HTML thats used for FaceBook.)
• On the bottom, left side of their FaceBook Page you will see the link "Add to My Page". Click on it. You will then be given a list of your FaceBook pages, choose the page you wish to design and click "Add to Page."
• You have now installed their application for your business page.
2. Now navigate back to your business page list by clicking on this link: Pages I Admin and click on the page you just added the app to.
3. When the page opens, click on "Edit Page" on the top right hand corner of the page.
4. Click on the "Apps" link on the left side, Find the FBML app and click on "Edit Settings" and make sure the tab is "Added" (don't click remove) and click "Okay".
5. Click on "Go to App". Now this is where you add your HTML code. If you haven't checked out my article, I <3 Open Source, please do so. You have to add your HTML code in the big box and enter the name of your splash/intro page. Choosing the title "Welcome" is short, simple and sweet. But you are welcome to be as creative as you want to be. Click Save.
6. Open up a new tab in your browser and revisit your business page. Click on the "Welcome" (or whatever name you picked as the title) link on the side of your business page. You will now see the HTML that you added. Whenever you make changes to your FBML app code make sure to refresh your browser page to view the results.
7. Once you have a beautiful splash page (if you use these instructions, please post your business page at the bottom, I'd love to see what you all have done.) click on "Edit Page" from your business page.
8. Find the "Manage Permissions" link on the left side of the page. Change "Default Landing Page" to "Welcome" (or whatever name you picked as the title) and click "Save Changes". Now for people that have not liked your business, the first page they see will be the custom page you've created for them. You can always remove this tab by clicking on "Apps" and clicking "X" next to the FBML app in your settings.

Now if you have a website it is time to integrate facebook into your website.

Integrate FaceBook into Your Website

Now that you have designed and created your page there are a few things you should know.

• Secure Your FaceBook Business Username - You want users to be able to have a short link to visit your page. When you get 25 "likes" on your page, secure your FaceBook by visiting the FaceBook Username page. Select your page from the drop down list and enter a name for the page. Be creative!
• Find a Facebook Icon to Add to Your Website -There are many places to get free icons but my favorite is IconSpedia. Search for "FaceBook" and find an icon that best fits your site. And place this code on your website
  
  

  <a href="http://www.facebook.com/MY_FACEBOOK_PAGE_URL" target="_blank" alt="Join COMPANY NAME on FaceBook">
  <img title="Join COMPANY NAME on FaceBook" src="http://www.YOURWEBSITE.com" border="0">
  </a>

  
  
• Add FaceBook Like/Share Icons to Your Website - There are a few companies that offer free social sharing code and my favorite is AddThis. ShareThis always takes so long to load. Sign up for an account and they will provide instructions to add your favorite social "chicklets" to your website.
  
  

Promote Your FaceBook Page

Now you have successfully created a FaceBook page, you've designed it, you've integrated it into your website now its time to let everyone know about your new page.

• Generate FaceBook Ads - Another quick and easy way to get more users to your site is to create FaceBook advertisements for your page. Visit the FaceBook Business Ads page and create an ad in less than 5 minutes. They are very inexpensive to generate and you control how much money each click on your ad is worth or how much each impression (showing your ad on a page) is worth.
• Share your FaceBook Page - Let your customers, co-workers, friends & family know about your business by clicking on the "Invite Friends" icon on the right side of the page under the Admin section. Make sure you describe what your business is and how important their support of your new venture is. Remember once you get 25 "likes" you can secure a "username" for your business.
• Promote, Promote, Promote - Don't rely on just the people you know, share your page, your business, everywhere. Include your website and facebook information on your website, email, forum signatures, etc. You have to market your business. A great resource is StartUpNation. There you can actually ask other business owners the best methods to market your business. If you are an inventor you can present your project on KickStarter and actually get funding for your project...no credit checks, no banks. You will have to provide some sort of compensation to your investors. Visit the site for more information.

Start FaceBooking!

You have everything in place all you have to do is remember the following:

• Post USEFUL articles on your page.
• Share your posts but don't spam. No one wants to be bombarded with your business information if its not advantegous to them.
• Your business is an extension of you so make sure that a little bit of your personality shines through in your posts.

I hope you all found this article useful. Enjoy and happy FaceBooking! We'll talk about Twitter next time.