This post corresponds to podcast Episode 12: Facebook for Business with Susan Payton of Egg Marketing & PR which is included in our Core Program, accompanied by workbook and video tutorials that show you how to do this on your own.



Here we are, reading our way through the social media section of Free Marketing Made Easy. Our last post considered why you would want to blog. Now we’ll turn our attention to that good friend of ours, Facebook.

Consider these statistics about Facebook (from their Press page):

• More than 300 million active users
• 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older
• Average user has 130 friends on the site

So why would you want to get your company on Facebook? To connect with your fair share of those 300 million users, of course. When you set up a Page and someone becomes a ‘fan’ of it, your new follower’s personal wall will display the fact that they are a fan of your company. This means that every follower you get exposes your business to 130 new prospects. 10 fans = 1,300 new prospects.  100 fans = 13,000 prospects. And it’s FREE!

Your Facebook Page can become a one-stop resource for anyone who wants to get information about your products, services, prices, hours of operation…you name it. Best of all, you get to interact with customers and prospects in a way that’s not as easy through your website.

Remember, anyone who becomes your ‘fan’ does so by choice…they are opting in because they like you. The potential for referrals here is sky high. Plus, Google pulls Facebook information into search results so setting your company up with a Page helps with your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy.

Setting up and maintaining a Facebook page is easy. If you need help putting your Page together or maintaining it you can refer to the Free Marketing Made Easy kit or contact our contributor, Susan Payton of Egg Marketing & PR.

Maybe you are now beginning to realize of the potential of social media, but you are still thinking “I don’t have time for all of this stuff.” Fear not. In our next post about using Twitter for Business we’ll address automation so you can consolidate your online activities and move on with the actual running of your business.