If you’ve recently graduated from college, it’s hard to imagine your college life apart from
Facebook.
Catching the latest gossip, becoming friends with that college
superstar who has never heard of you and staying up-to-date on the
latest happenings. And of course, everyone knows it’s not official
until it’s on Facebook! However, Facebook is no longer just for
college students. Many people reading this may have parents and even
grandparents with an account now. Time Magazine even went as far as to
publish an article recently called “
Why Facebook is for Old Fogies“.
Facebook has not only become a place for young people to connect and
network, but it has also become another avenue for businesses and
organizations to connect, network and promote their organization.
The
main way to network on Facebook is of course by creating a profile or
even a group, which can be a little more professional then just a
profile. However, if you really want to network and promote yourself,
business or organization, then creating a Facebook Fan Page is the best
way to do this.
To create a Facebook page navigate to this page and click the big green button.
It can be a little difficult finding on Facebook where to begin a
fan page, so you’ll have to go to the main page for creating a
fan page.
When beginning a fan page, you’re given the basics, which make it look
like a glorified profile page. A raw fan page includes a wall, feed,
photos, videos and list of fans. Although this can suffice, if you
really want to attract fans who don’t justconsist of your circle of
friends, you’ll want to make some upgrades to your page.
Making your fan page interactive and graphically appealing are two
of the most important ways to attract new fans. Making it interactive
can easily be done with
Facebook’s Application Directory
that has a wide-range of applications that can be added to your page
with a couple clicks. If you have the resources (web
developer/designer), or have some experience there yourself, it’s not
too hard to develop a Facebook application. The advantage of this is
that you can put your brand on the application and personalize it the
way you want. I’ve seen people develop a facebook application in as
quick as a few days. Putting interactive applications on your page
gives users a reason to not just become fans, but to continually visit
and interact on your page.
Along with making your fan page interactive, it’s important to give
it some personality by making it look attractive. Facebook allows you
to upload a logo or photo for your fan page, but that just isn’t
enough. Give your page some flare. Put a sharp graphic linking to your
website or a flashy banner along the side bar that promotes a contest.
Doing something like this offers fans and potential fans a reason to
not only visit your fan page often, but to also visit your company’s
website or blog. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve visited a
website, just to immediately leave because there was little effort put
into the design of the site.
Take a stab at creating a Facebook fan page; it doesn’t cost
anything and you can reap the benefits for yourself or business. Build
off your page, keeping it fresh and new, so that your fans have a
reason to come back to it.
Do you have a Facebook page? What apps are using to make it better?
Will try it with closed browsers. I was with Apple today, and they found nothing wrong with my computer
Tried with only one browser--still chopping off what I'm writing. Very frustrating
Tried firefox and chrome--both do the same thing. First line is fine, second line sometimes will work, but usually about half way through the line it quits and goes back to the beginning losing everything I wrote. I wish I could get facebook to answer me
×