How to...create a Facebook page for your Company

Number 2 in our How To guide is about promoting your company on Facebook. I have set up Picseli on Facebook and can now message users about promotions, new websites, events and general information.

Why Use Facebook?
I access Facebook every day to find out what my friends are up to and to catch up. If they have had a good or bad experience they tend to mention it, and word of mouth from someone you trust is worth an awful lot. For example, if I am looking for a particular product or service - a web designer perhaps - and a friend tells me she has just had a website designed, the service was great, the people were easy to get on with and the website is fab, I am much more likely to make contact with them than have to search through countless other web companies.

Facebook allows potential customers access to your company via someone they trust - their friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances. You can also upload images, marketing leaflets, and videos to help promote your service, and add a 'Find me on Facebook' button to your website.

Step 1 - Get a Facebook Account
First of all you need to have a Facebook account, or find a colleague with one!

Step 2 - Create a Page
The easiest way I have found is to get to the Picseli Page (a bit of a plug I know, and if you fancy becoming a fan, please do!) and scroll right down to the bottom of the page. Here you will find a link 'Create a Page for My Business', click this!

Step 3 - Enter your Details
Enter your details on the first page - choose between Area of Business, Brand or Product and Artist, Band or Public Figure. Selecting the option thatbest describes your business. Enter your name and click 'Create Page'

Step 4 - Add some Information
From here, there is plenty you can do to make your page useful. Enter your opening hours, upload your logo or photograph, include contact details, upload photos, write reviews - anything you want. The more information you add, the better!

(The on-screen instructions are pretty good, so I won't go into details, but let me know if you want a more detailed tutorial and I'll put something together.)

Step 5 - Tell people about it!
Once your page is ready, please don't forget to Publish your page, or it won't be seen by anyone. Once you have added some information you will see a message at the top of the screen telling you that 'This page has not been published' with a link to Publish your page.

The next step is to become a fan youself (simply click the 'Become a Fan' link on the right hand side) as this will appear on your profile, letting all your friends know.

Then you will find a link that says '+ Share' - click this and it will let you post a link to your profile with more details or send a message to everyone you know.

And there you have it.

What next?
The worst thing you can do now is to not update the page regularly. Use it to keep your fans informed of news, let them use it to get in touch, upload photos, start discussion, give them handy hints. Anything to keep it interesting!

If you do set up a page following this post, please post your link here and I promise I'll become a fan!