TechBook

Link: http://www.facebook.com

So you've decided to take the plunge and promote your business via social sites. Congrats on making the decision to commit the time and effort required. But now that it comes time to do it, just how is it done? There are dozens of different sites out there, but today I'm going to talk about creating a Facebook page.

First, its important to realise that you are NOT creating a new Facebook account (unless you don't have one yet). You are making a "page" - which is like a full account, with a few small differences. The persona of the business doesn't go much beyond the page. So the business can't leave messages on other people's walls. However it does get its own profile page and discussions can be held on its wall, or you can add a discussion board and talk with your customers there. It also has its own separate photo albums. You do not log in as your business, you log in as yourself, and administer your business page.

Still interested? Good. To create your page, go to http://www.facebook.com and click the link in the lower right corner.

Since you're setting this up for your business, select "Brand or Product" then "Online Store". Enter the name of your business, and authorize Facebook to create your page by signing (typing your name) in the box.

Now login with your Facebook account to see your new page! OK - so far its a little bland and uninteresting. Besides which it isn't public yet. What you need to do is click on the link on the side that says "Edit Page".

You should now take some time to fill in all the blanks. Put in some information like your website, your email, and what you sell. Put up some pictures of your products. You can add applications too if you want. I use the My Etsy application to display the latest products from my shop. When you're ready to make it public, either click on the "Publish this page" link, or click on Settings and change its status to Published.

Congratulations! You now have your very own Facebook page for your business. Keep posting pictures and updates and you'll look like all the other pages in no time flat. All you need is a bit of promotion and the fans will start flooding in. Please - if this helped you, leave me a note and let me know. I'll drop by and take a look at your page. If you want to take a look at or become of mine - here it is. Good luck!