How to...merge your Facebook Page with your Places Page

Not a catchy title I know, but, you know, does what it says in the title (I hope!)

Back in December I blogged about How to Claim your business on Facebook Places and way (way) back in November 2008 I wrote a post explaining How to create a Facebook page for your Company. I have noticed that you now have the option to merge the two pages so you don't need to try to get 2 lots of fans ('likers') or update different statuses.

It is fairly straightforward, but as it is only the first week back in work....

So, first of all head to your Facebook Places page. This is how the current Picseli Places page looks:

Picseli's Page on Facebook Places

You'll notice that in the left hand column, just about the 'Share' button is a link that says 'Merge with existing page - click it and you will get a pop up box asking you which page you want to merge it with.

Merge pages pop-up box

Select the page you want to merge & click the 'Merge' button. You'll then be asked to confirm your choice.

Confirm request pop-up

And there you have it, your pages will be merged and any 'check ins' will now be visible on your main Facebook page, plus you'll see a 'Friend Activity' link (see box in left hand column below).

Merged Facebook pages

And there you have it. Simples!

I have been asked to update some previous posts as Facebook has changed the way they do things a bit, so if there are any How To guides you like to (they don't all have to be Facebook related) please let me know by commenting or send me a tweet.

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UPDATE: I have recieved an email from Facebook to say:

"We have scheduled the Page migration from Page "Picseli" (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Picseli/173696612657206) to Page "Picseli" (http://www.facebook.com/picseli) . It might take up to a week to complete the process. Thank you for your patience."

So whether there will be more changes, I don't know! Will keep you posted.

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How to... Claim your business on Facebook Places (Step 2)

Following on from last week's post that showed you how to check in & set up your business on Facebook, today I'll show you how to claim your business as your own.

1. Find your business
First of all you need to find your business, the quickest way to do this is to Check In, as I showed you last week. If you have already followed last week's instructions your business should now display on the Nearby Places screen, as Business Systems Services (UK) Ltd does in the screenshot below (again, taken from the Facebook for iPhone App).

Screenshot : Nearby Places

Once you have checked in, visit your profile page on the main Facebook.com website and you should see a post similar to below:

Click on your company name and you will see your business page.

Screen Shot of Facebook.com

2. Claim your business
On the left hand side, below the check in history and above the Share button, you'll see a link that says  'Is this your business?' Click this and you'll get a pop up box askign you to verify that you are an official representative of the business.Check the tick box and click Proceed to continue.

3. Fill in your details
On the next screen you will need to fill in your company details.

4. Verify your ownership
There are two ways to verify your ownership, as described in the form above. You can add an email address to your personal account or upload a document that proves your address.

I think Facebook have adequate help available on this, so I won't go into detail. If you do want more information then leave a comment below.

When you've filled in your details and chosen your verification process, click submit and you should get a message saying:

as well as an email from the Facebook team telling you that they have recieved your inquiry.

If you have added a second email address, you will need to verify it, so do this now.

5. Wait!
You now need to wait until Facebook get back to you to let you know it has all been approved.

Good luck! Let me know how you get on.

How to... Claim your business on Facebook Places (Step 1)

Hello & welcome to the return of 'How to Fridays'.

Today I will run through how to claim your business 'place' on Facebook Places. In brief, Facebook places allows people to 'check in' to a place to let everyonw know where they are. It is not being used (in the UK) to it's full advantage at the moment, so it's an ideal time for you to get to grips with it and set up your business while it's still relatively new. I won't go into the details of what it is, as the link above will give you a fairly good idea.


Why should you set up your business?
At the moment if your business isn't listed, people can check in and add any description they want, so the sooner you put your details in the easier it is for people plus you have some control over the place name. Everytime someone checks in it displays this on their Facebook profile, getting more visibility for your business. Plus if you are able to offer a special offer (10% off your order on first check-in, or free coffee for 3 check-ins in a week, for example) this can help spread the word and generate more business.


So how do you do it? 

I'll post steps over a few weeks otherwise this will be a loooong post! So Part 1 is 'Checking In'.

Step 1 : Check in to your own business
You cannot do this via the main Facebook.com website, so you need to have either the Facebook for iPhone App or visit touch.facebook.com site on a mobile device.

For this post I'll be using the Facebook for iPhone App, but the instructions are similar for the mobile site, the main difference is that you'll need to click the Places link or the little 'Check In' button to the right of the status update text box to get started. See screen shot below.

touch.facebook.com Screen Shot

Check In on Facebook Places using the iPhone App
Open up the app and you'll see your Facebook news feed similar to below:

Facebook for iPhone : News Feed

Click on 'Check In'and you'll be presented with a list of Nearby Places:

Facebook for iPhone : Nearby Places

If your business isn't displayed start typing in the 'Find or Add a Place' text box. If it still doesn't come up you'll see a link similar to Add "Your Business Name" as in the screen shot below. Here we are adding our parent company - Business Systems Services (UK) Ltd.

Facebook for iPhone : Add your Business

Click the link and you'll be presented with a map, your business name & place to enter a description. Check that the map is correct, your business name is as you want it and enter a description, then click Add.

Facebook for iPhone : Add a Place

You'll then get a message to say it's been added and reminding you to 'Check In'.

Facebook for iPhone : Place Added

Close this message and you can then enter a status, such as 'In work', you can tag any friends that are with you (Just click on the link and it will display a list of your friends for you to select) and then Check In.

Facebook for iPhone : Check In

Click Done and your Check In will display in the news feed of all your friends.

Facebook for iPhone :

Come back next week to find out how to claim your business.