Businesses with a presence in the Facebook community have advantages that others lack. Facebook describes itself as "a social utility that connects you with the people around you," and many companies take advantage of those connections to build their businesses.

More than 1 million people and businesses belong to the Facebook community. By posting information about your business on the Facebook community site you can get free advertising to an audience that seeks out businesses like yours within the Facebook community. Start building your corporate presence in the Facebook community with these three easy steps:

1. Join the Facebook community

2. Make your corporate website part of the Facebook community

3. Know where to find Facebook community help and advice

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Join the Facebook community

Before you can take advantage of the Facebook community you must build a business page on Facebook. You can then send messages and post information in the Facebook community.

I recommend: Advice on building your Facebook community abounds, so you can easily find information on building a Facebook page for your business. Check the options in business solutions on Facebook that guide your business when creating its community. Listen to the Small Business Trends audio file on how to use Facebook in business, including setting up your profile page and why it's a positive step to join Facebook groups. Answer the questions posed by Jason Preston on his forum. The answers that you provide will direct you in how to set up your business in the Facebook community. Then, follow along on Facebook Developer with screen shots of steps to take when you create your business's Facebook community pages. Finally, take that Facebook community information, and go to the Facebook site to a create business page.

Make your corporate website part of the Facebook community

When you create a Facebook page for your business, members of the Facebook community can become your 'friends.' Once customers or other businesses sign up as your friends they can see your business profile, which should include a link to your website. Create a Facebook community page on your business website so customers who sign up as your friends on Facebook have a reason to check out your company.

I recommend: Build a Facebook community page on your corporate website that sends customers to your Facebook community page, and make certain your Facebook page has a link to your corporate site. If you have computer-savvy employees, have them build a Facebook application that your Facebook friends can use. Makebeta has a Facebook application tutorial. Microsoft also has a Facebook developer toolkit.

Know where to find Facebook community help and advice

Since you're marketing your business you may need Facebook community advice from time to time. Facebook offers some help but for more detailed, business-oriented Facebook community advice you may need to look to other websites for tips and tutorials on how to manage your Facebook page, as well as additional Facebook community information.

I recommend: Register for an online course from Mari Smith. Her course, Facebook for Professionals, teaches you how to use the Facebook community to grow your business. Take an online tutorial from PCMagCast to learn about the basics of using a Facebook community to promote and build your business. The tutorial offers three lessons. In addition to tutorials, sign up for the Boxcar Marketing Facebook newsletter geared toward businesses.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Don't use hard-sell tactics on your Facebook community page. Take advantage of the Facebook community to network and inform instead. Since Facebook is a social utility many visitors could resent feeling sales pressure, and your Facebook page could actually work against you.

Last year social networking site Facebook saw an 89% increase in unique visitors to the site, and has seen a demographic shift away from college students and towards post grads. Warrillow touts Facebook as a platform on which small business owners are promoting their businesses and learning about their customers. Facebook now allows you to create a fan page for yourself, your entity, or your business which lets you:

1) Communicate with your customers and let them show support by becoming fans
2) Get insights into what your customers want
3) Allow your customers to spread your message throughout their social graph

Here's how to create your own Facebook fan page:

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

First check out other fan pages to get a feel for them

Make sure you've become a member of Facebook. Then try a search for a fan page. For example, do a search on 'apple' and click on 'Pages' when you get the search results. Click on 'Apple Inc.' to view the Apple fan page. Examine how the page is structured. Repeat for businesses of your choice to see if they have a fan page on Facebook.

I recommend: Some popular or notable fan pages are Apple, The New Yorker, Marmite, Blue Olive Photography, Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea Company, and Absolut Vodka. Check out Facebook's gallery of pages which exemplify best practices for their business category.

Create a Facebook fan page for your own business

Facebook pages allow your customers to become deeply connected with your business or brand. Customers can express their support by adding themselves as a fan, writing on your Wall, uploading photos, and joining discussions with other fans.

I recommend: Before starting, read how to create a business presence through a Facebook page and Facebook's guide to creating a page. Then create your own fan page, When you create a new Facebook fan page for a business, you select either the "Local Business" or "Brand or Product" option (unless you are an artist, band, or public figure). If you select "Local Business", choose your business type - cafe, store, bank, etc. Then click "Create Page".

Add company information to your page

To start, add basic information such as website, company overview, mission and products. Add your logo or another picture that represents your business. After adding info, make sure you publish your page.

I recommend: For advanced customization, you need to add special Facebook applications to your page. First go to the Facebook Pages fan page. To add modules with custom HTML and certain Facebook buttons such as "Share", click on the Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) application. Click on the "Add to Page" button to add this as a module to your page. Once the FBML module is on your page, click to edit. If you know some HTML and bone up on FBML, you will have fun here!

You can add other page applications such as Flash Player, Music Player, Simply RSS, and Reviews, which allows your fans to leave honest opinions about your business.

Welcome and please your fans and they'll tell their friends

Now that you have your fan page up, how do you actually get fans? Ah, now this is a delicate art of not annoying your potential fans and providing value. First see if some of your existing customers are on Facebook, and become Facebook friends with them if you haven't already. Then you can invite them to become fans. Also let all of your customers know about your fan page through existing media campaigns, and encourage them to show their support by joining Facebook and becoming fans. Once you have some fans, it's easier to get more as news of your page spreads virally.

I recommend: Keep your fans happy by offering them useful and relevant info, a place where they can connect with other fans, applications they can use, and special updates just for them. Facebook recommends messaging fans no more than twice per month. Remember, the more users interact with your page, the more News Feed stories for users' friends are created, magnifying awareness of your page.

Facebook also offers sponsored Social Ads which show up in News Feeds, but be careful about using them - in the social media world, instead of tooting your own horn, it's usually better if your fans promote you.

Promote Your Page Off Facebook

Promoting your page externally helps spread the word to new customers and fans.

I recommend: Facebook provides guidelines on promoting your page outside of Facebook. They also provide a Facebook Page Badge graphic that you can download for use on your own site that says "Find Us on Facebook." Hyperlink your badge to your own page's URL.

Track and analyze your page activity

Once you've created a page, a 'Page Manager' link appears in your left navigation. Click on that for access to the admin and stats areas of your page. You can see recent page activity, how many fans you have, and more.

I recommend: Visit the Work.com fan page as an example - and let us know your thoughts on it in the comments below, or directly on the fan page! Thank you!

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Facebook is not the right place for all businesses. Spend some time on Facebook first determining the potential for your customer base before you choose to expand your presence there.