Top Book Sales : Book Marketing and Self-Publishing Articles

The marketer’s conventional wisdom seems to suggest that you should redesign your site every 2 or 3 years to keep your business fresh. Unless your business is having challenges generating new business or supporting your current customers through your current site, you may consider holding off. Rather than focus on time between designs, it’s import to look at the contribution your website is or is not making to your business.

Here are 4 reasons why you need to start developing a new website.

1. Low Conversions

You likely see a lot of talk about the importance of converting business from your website. But the fact is most businesses don’t think about or care about conversions when it comes to their website. Most want their website to generate business but typically people are looking at levels of website traffic and search engine optimization indicators. And when they do care about conversions, most don’t have an accurate picture of what a conversion looks like or how it should be tracked so they have no data to use to support their decision making process. Typically there is just an intuition that the website isn’t producing business so they seek out someone to redesign the site.

The catch: Depending on who you select to redesign your website, your web designer may not focus on whether your website will support your business at all. A lot of website designers are graphic designers who know how to make a website look spectacular–but fail to ask you any questions about how your business works, your marketing activities, business process, or overall goals for the website. If you’re in the market for a new website design for your business, make sure your marketing agency or web designer is asking you real questions about your business and your processes for selling and serving your customers. In the end, you don’t need to win awards for design, you need your website to serve your business.

2. Little to Zero Business Functionality

Many local businesses need a website because it’s the first place people go when they are looking for local business information. The Pew Research Center reports that 62% of Internet users age 18 and older and 72% of adults in households earning more than $75,000 or more (mass affluent) are using the Internet as their main source for information about local businesses.*

In this scenario, how can your website help your business function more efficiently?

If you’re a local restaurant, just providing your menu as a PDF file isn’t enough. Mobile browsing is too popular for you to not be providing your menu directly on your website in text. Viewing PDF’s on a phone is still a clunky experience and having your content on your page can provide some additional optimization for your site.

If you’re in the medical profession, are there forms you need patients or customers to fill out that you could add to your website? You can also consider using an online appointment system–most of which easily integrate with any website.

If you’re a coach or counselor, you can use membership sites to lock down client-only content for use before or after your sessions. If you’re using a special access site, it’s good to highlight throughout the site to promote the benefit of getting access to restricted content.

3. Not Integrated with Other Marketing Activities

Integration with offline and online advertising is essential to a good website design. Too many business offering deals on sites like LivingSocial, AmazonLocal or Spreebird Deals don’t integrate their offers well with their website. A lot of people want to investigate the business behind the offer and will click on the website link provided on the offer page. Investing in these deals and then sending people to a generic website homepage (link from offer) will only make people work harder to find out what they are getting and who they are getting it from. Having the ability to add landing pages to your website in order to support your offers and other promotions can have a dramatic effect on your overall results with both offline and online advertising.

4. Design is No Longer Competitive (aka: Your site is ugly)

Most website redesigns are initiated because the site just doesn’t look good. You can tell if your website isn’t up to par and if you’re competitors have upgraded their look then it might be time to take action. There are a lot of businesses that are doing well with horrible looking websites so having an ugly website doesn’t necessarily mean you need to invest in a new one.

If you’re getting comments from customers about the look of your site or from your staff that the website design is hurting sales, then it’s an obvious decision. If your ugly website is a blow to your ego, then it’s more of a personal decision. Either way, if you think your website design is effecting your business then it’s a no-brainer.

Suggestion: If you take on the task of redesigning your site because it’s hard on the eyes, in addition to developing a visually pleasing site, make sure you still consider the other factors mentioned above.

Some questions your website designer (or marketing agency) should be asking.

• What does a conversion look like for your business? Does the transaction happen directly on the website or is your website a lead generation source for offline sales or in-store transactions?
• What process will you use to track your website conversions? (both offline and online if needed)
• How can the new site contribute to making your business more efficient?
• How will the site will integrate with your other marketing activities?

Are you considering redesigning your website? What questions do you have?

Have you recently completed a website redesign and have questions or tips to share?

Use the comments below to ask questions or share your experience.

———————-
* Local businesses not including restaurants or bars.

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Let’s face it. There’s a small part in all of us that find it difficult automating tasks once reserved for ourselves, or our employees. Why should we hand over communications so vital to our business to a computer system?

The challenge is that a lot of people never consider their process for executing simple business tasks. They take for granted the fact that if they were able to automate activities that are routine it would provide additional time for the important items on their to-do list.

Working Smarter

I had a client named Bob (named changed for privacy) who was using a spreadsheet to manage the times that he should be sending standardized emails in response to a customer signing up for a free trial. These were emails where the only information that changed was the first name and email address of the recipient.

After we mapped out his process, I suggested to Bob that he consider using an email automation system to deliver these messages. This would save him time for more important communications like selling the service to those who were using the system and customer questions and other types of support inquiries.

At first, Bob’s response was akin to if I suggested he get shot into space out of a cannon. It was like I was trampling on his contribution to the process and possibly jeopardizing his role in the organization. His perspective was that no person, or thing, could be trusted with getting these highly important communications delivered.

After we reviewed his process a second time, I pointed out that he had designed an elegant process for getting people interested in paying for the service but he was missing out on creating even better solutions for the conversion by spending his valuable time on something that is standardized and should be automated. I asked him to test out the system for 30 days and if he wasn’t benefiting from the system then he could always switch back.

Needless to say, he spent the 30 days a little nervous. Over the course of the month, Bob’s time was well spent as he had already brainstormed ideas for overcoming certain objections that his prospects had and even came up with solutions for how to automate some basic customer support questions. He was also a little shocked that people still replied to his emails even though he technically wasn’t sending them. After the 30 days, Bob was ready to consider automating anything.

I used this example because it illustrates an important point about using automation:

>> It is important to see results from a process before you make judgment.

So…Is it evil to automate? Add your thoughts in the comments below.

Stay tuned for more in this series. Next up: Automating Social Media.

Thinking about Marketing Automation? Check out NetOneClick online marketing services.

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• How Often Should You Redesign Your Website?

Facebook is great. Not because there are more than 840 million active users on the site or that 50% of those users logon every single day. These stats are difficult to ignore and easy to get excited about. But I’m talking about the fact that you can engage with your customer base through a Facebook Page at no cost and you can easily target potential new customers through Facebook advertising. There is no other platform where you can target your potential audience with such specificity.

Did you know there are 63,920 people;

• who live in the United States,
• who live within 50 miles of San Diego, CA,
• age 18 and older, and
• who are in the category Small Business Owners.

If you’re in the accounting industry you’re probably already targeting local businesses for tax season. Are you advertising on Facebook?

Certain types of attorney’s might be interested in knowing that there are 442,620 people;

• who live in the United States,
• who live within 50 miles of San Diego, CA,
• age 18 and older, and
• who are married?

These couples might be interested in living wills, trusts, or in the unfortunate need of a family attorney for issues around divorce.

On Facebook, these individuals have already defined their interests. If they match your criteria, then they are more likely to click your ads. I know businesses that have spent $25,000 a year on Yellow Page ads and were not afforded the luxury of knowing who was going to see their ad.

You can literally target anyone on Facebook.

Page Basics – Setup, Branding, and Content

This is essential-and free! Your Facebook Page can host a variety of content (video, download links, promotions coupons) and your customers can Like your page or “check-in” (if you have walk-in customers) to let all of their friends know they are at your place of business (great viral marketing).

__Yes __ No — Do you have a Facebook account? (No? Really? – get one here.)

__Yes __ No — Have you secured your Facebook Page yet? (click here to create a Facebook page)

__Yes __ No — Are your competitors on Facebook?

Suggestion: Make a list of your top 5 most successful competitors and map out their social profiles. Are they on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Google+? Are they engaging with their customers on a regular basis?)

__Yes __ No — Are you able to customize your Facebook content so it presents an accurate picture of your brand to your customers? (customize your logo, add photos, set up your content to auto post)

__Yes __ No — If NO to the above — do you have the resources to pay someone else to customize your Facebook Page?

__Yes __ No — Have you identified what challenges your customers are facing and how you can help them?

Suggestion: Create and send a survey to your customers to discover more detail about their situation, industry, and needs.

__Yes __ No Do you have a plan to create content or identify the types of content you’d like to share with your fans?

Suggestion: Your plan doesn’t have to be extensive, even some quick notes about websites that might have some great content or other items you want to share with your customers (quotes, pictures, new products/services..etc). You can’t always post “selling” type of links.

Goals – Why Are You Using Facebook?

__Yes __ No — Drive more traffic to your website

__Yes __ No — Build your email list

__Yes __ No — Sell more products/services

__Yes __ No — Announce special offers and promotions

__Yes __ No — Announce events

__Yes __ No — Share news

__Yes __ No — Provide value to your prospects and customers

__Yes __ No — Share photos and videos

__Yes __ No — Get feedback from clients and prospects

__Yes __ No — Improve your relationships with your prospects and customers

__Yes __ No — Improve Search Engine Optimization

It’s useful to have some clear expectations about your Facebook page and/or advertising. Because of the popularity of Facebook Advertising it’s difficult to produce results on $1 a day (we recommend at least $100/month for ultra-low budgets) and you can’t expect to get 5,000 fans if you’re operating in a small market. Set realistic expectations and understand the tool and how it will be used in your overall marketing.

The bottom line is that you need to be on Facebook.

Whether you post a few times a week or use their advertising platform you need to have a presence on Facebook and start thinking about how you’re going to utilize the social platform to start driving business and giving your customers something to “Like.”

We’re preparing a new NetOneClick special report on Facebook.

Please comment below and let us know…

What questions do you have about Facebook Pages and the opportunities available to you with the Facebook advertising platform?

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Successful online marketing relies on being able to navigate the landscape of all of the various tools available and focus on your specific customer’s interests and needs while generating the right type of leads for your business. As we’ve previously discussed, the best companies are using email marketing to build customer relationships and provide relevant product information.

Email marketing is the process of using email to distribute relevant messaging targeted at building a closer connection between your business and your leads/customers. Benefits include lowered costs and faster response rates. It costs almost nothing to send email and you can generate immediate results.

Are You Ready for Email Marketing?

Quick Email Marketing Assessment

__ Yes __ No – Are you collecting email addresses from your customers?

Email addresses should be including on any sign up form or customer order sheet. It is an essential piece of information you must be collecting from your customers.

__ Yes __ No – Do you have an email opt-in form on your website?

Adding an email opt-in form is very simple but can be frustrating for non-technical person.

__ Yes __ No – Do you have promotions or coupons that could be distributed via email?

Most businesses can create special promotions and offers and email is the most economical method for contacting your customers.

__ Yes __ No – Do you have the resources to generate content for a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly email newsletter?

Example content would be recent blogs posts, a message about industry trends, or internal company news. There is always something you can email your customers.

__ Yes __ No – If NO, do you have the resources to hire a professional to generate content for your email campaigns?

Content can be generated by anyone. Some companies have employees generate content or hire a freelance writer to develop specialized content. All content goes through a quality review so don’t worry about losing control over the message.

__ Yes __ No – Are you competitors using email?

Think about your competitors and whether or not they are using these activities and if they seem to be having success. According to research from MarketingSherpa’s 2012 Email Marketing Benchmark Report, it is highly likely that your competitors are using email. They found that over 67% of companies expect to increase their email budgets in 2012.

Any questions? Comment below.

If you’re using email for your business, comment below and let others know how you’re using it and how email marketing is contributing to your business.

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How do you view marketing? Do you see the opportunity it provides your business and the power it has to build your business over the long term?

If you see marketing an investment in your business then it should be treated as such. You should approach your marketing execution just as you would any other long-term investment—with adequate research using proven methods that rely on substantive evidence rather than following what the “crowd” is doing.

So, how are you approaching your marketing investment?

Long Term Security vs The Day-Trader Approach

I enjoy following the stock market. At one point, I was consumed with my portfolio, following the market everyday (all day), getting alerts sent to my phone so I could be able to make decisions at any minute. Reading the Wall Street Journal every morning so I could see opportunities in news, events, and any other trends that I thought might influence the conditions of the market that day. There was a rush to it all, being able to adapt and change everyday so I could benefit from small fluctuations in the stock price. For some, this approach works very well. For me, while I saw decent returns, I found that I was always stressed and on edge and everything else sort of faded into the background.

I’ve met a lot of marketers and business owners (often the same person) who approach marketing this way. They get on social media and check their follower counts 10 times a day. Or they use AdWords and check their account every morning to see how well their ads are performing. I call these people the Day-Marketers. It’s one thing to put effort into setting up your platform correctly and it’s another when you approach marketing as if you can set a course on Monday only to change it on Thursday. This may seem exciting but it most often results in a huge waste of time.

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
– Warren Buffet

This is one of my all-time favorite quotes because it illustrates the product of long-term thinking and focusing on building rather than always responding. You can’t wait until you’re going hungry to plant new seeds (leads) or wait to water your roots (current customers) until you see the branches drying up. In order to cultivate a thriving business, you must approach marketing with a long-term perspective.

If you approach your marketing execution as a Day-Marketer, you’ll wind up adding more risk to your investments than required because your decisions could be (will likely be) shortsighted and not made on sound, proven principles.

Seeing Your Marketing from Above

Taking the long-term approach to marketing allows you to see your business from a different perspective and have expectations that are more closely aligned with the resources you have to execute your plan.

The Day-Marketer approach wants to get a bargain on everything. They are looking to buy low and sell high. They often expect to build their 7-figure business on a 4-figure budget. For example, is $12,000 too much to spend on a website? It depends on whether you’re wanting to generate $5,000 or $50,000. If you’re launching a new product or service and expect to generate $100,000 in annual revenue can you expect to achieve your goal on a $10,000 annual marketing budget? Is that a realistic expectation?

When you’re budgeting for marketing, consider the overall business objectives related to your budget. You’re going to have different expectations if you’re setting a budget for a small event or a small niche-product compared to revamping your business brand and/or setting up an entire Internet-based marketing platform.

And what about the human factor?

According to Salary.com, the median expected salary for a typical Marketing Manager (someone who develops and implements your marketing plan) in the United States is $86,788. After you include taxes and health insurance, you’re looking at an annual minimum investment of over $100,000 (about $8,300 per month)—and that is just for 1 person (with a certain amount of experience and expertise to get the job done).

This is where most Day-Marketers get tripped up. They don’t think long term and end up allocating insufficient resources required to achieve their own expected outcome. Then, when things don’t turn out the way they wanted, they end up trashing the marketing activity they were using (email, social media, seo, ppc…you name it) and moving on to the next one–only to make the same mistake.

Bottom line: We all make mistakes. But when you take the time to take a long-term approach to marketing you get closer to meeting your own expectations and will prevent a lot of headaches down the road.

What type of marketer are you?

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How well is your business doing online? For example, is your website pulling in the amount of business it should be or could be? Or was it designed to represent your brand so perfectly that some of the more relevant business utilities were missed?

To keep with this example, many business owners–with the best of intentions- choose a website designer simply because they notice a few websites in their portfolio that happen to be in the same industry they are in or are pleasant to look at. This might seem to be a good way to choose a website designer. But as you may have come to realize, the way a website looks isn’t the only thing you should be worrying about. It’s nice to have a website that looks good, but if it doesn’t support your quest to get more business you’ll end up with a pretty site that does very little for you.

If you take just one thing away from this article, make it this – just because someone can build you a website, it doesn’t mean they should. If you want a smart, efficient and well thought out website, you have to have a smart, efficient and well thought out internet marketing plan to support building your business. Or at the very minimum, someone that knows how your website fits in to a larger internet marketing blueprint.

Don’t Tear the House Down

Let’s say you were going to build a house. What kind of contractor would you choose to get the job done? Would you choose a contractor who specializes in custom roofing for your neighborhood? Would you choose a contractor who can supply you with various types of energy saving measures for your new home? Or would you choose a contractor who has the experience and resources to build your entire home?

This example shows you just how important it is to look at the whole picture. When you want a home built properly, you need the contractor who has experience using the complete range of tools needed for the job at hand. You’ll also want to be sure they have seen and risen to pretty much all of the challenges you might face during the construction of your home.

“You can be an expert in using a drill, but there’s a big difference between knowing whether or not you’re tearing the house down or building it up.”
– Philipp Lomboy
(Author and Internet Marketing Expert)

Think about the above quote and how it applies to constructing a website. It’s great if you can find someone who can build a stunning website that takes your breath away. But does it really work? Will it generate the sales you want (need) it to? It’s perfectly possible for a website to look great and fall flat on its face when it comes to getting in the orders.

Seeing the Forest from the Trees – Creating a Blueprint for Success

Choosing a contractor that has industry expertise is great, if they know how to use all of the tools within a larger marketing strategy. Picking a website guy because you met him at a local networking meeting doesn’t constitute you having an internet marketing strategy.

Building a strategy that will work takes time and should focus on all aspects of your business. Business owners and marketing managers must be able to see the entire landscape so they can better understand how to utilize their available resources.

Whether the focus is on email marketing, pay-per-click advertising or social media campaigns it is critical to know how they fit into the larger puzzle of internet marketing. Take the time to find out what your strategy is and stick to it. It’s usually best not to expect a full blown strategy to appear during your coffee break either. You might need to get help.

Get Help Plugging Your Profit Leaks

An important part of building your marketing blueprint is to identify your current gaps and weaknesses. By learning how to plug them you’ll build a stronger, better business with the potential of larger profits.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when you’re considering what kinds of leaks you might have:

• Are you getting the quality and/or quantity of leads necessary to support your financial goals?
  Profit Leak Tip: Use your website as a lead generation source. Too many businesses forget just what a powerful tool their website is. If you’re using print advertising (yellow pages, industry magazines, etc) you can offer your readers something of value and send them to a specific web page that requires them to opt-in with their name and email. This will allow you to start automatic communication with them based on the specific message within your campaign AND you will know how effective your printed ad is in getting people to take action.

• Are you using the Internet to create more work for yourself or are you automating certain tasks that take away time from closing business?
  Profit Leak Tip: Too many businesses have ignored social media because of the perceived time it takes to monitor networks and respond to tweets and messages. Did you know you can automate posting to your social networks without anyone realizing that you’re not in front of your computer? There are lots of ways you can focus on automating certain parts of your business without any of your customers being the wiser. Not only will it prevent you from running around chasing your tail all day, you’ll actually be able to get more work done and have more time for building relationships with your current customers (likely the source of the majority of your business).

You can probably tell by now that your website forms an essential part of your internet marketing strategy. Your website can function as a hub and all traffic can be directed to your site. Your website can and should function as a valuable resource that customers will recommend to their network.

You can see why it is vital to not only build your website but construct a platform that supports your larger business ambitions. For this to happen, you need to understand the landscape and see your overall strategy within the internet marketing blueprint design.

Don’t Expect Wine from Water – Setting Expectations

One last thing is to remember is to have realistic expectations. The time it takes to develop and implement a plan plus the time it takes your market to respond to your actions depends on a many factors, such as how much time, money, and resources you have to invest in your marketing.

Do you have a marketing staff responsible for executing your plan and delivering results or are you working on your plan alone a few times a week–or perhaps only a few times a month?

Setting realistic expectations for yourself, your employees, and/or your contractor is important. Are you spending $5,000 a month on your marketing or $500? If you have ever purchased a home stereo system you know that you can do a lot more with a budget of $5,000 compared to $500. With the lower budget you tend to have a more narrow focus and have limited options available.

The same is true for marketing. Align your expectations with your available resources and ability to execute your strategy and you will be able to better judge the return your receiving from your overall marketing investment. If you have a smaller budget don’t be discouraged. There are many ways to get a good bang for your buck if you have balanced expectations, patience and a good plan.

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As I covered in my previous post Facebook Pages for Business: Quick Tips to Get Started, if you want to attract fans to your business via Facebook it is important to get a Facebook Page setup.

A great feature of your Facebook Page are custom Fan Pages. These are sub-pages within your Facebook Page that contain custom content specifically targeted for your fans. Since these pages are completely customizable you have complete control of what you present to your fans.

These custom Facebook Fan Pages should be thought of as a landing pages. When people check out your business on Facebook, you’ll want them to see a custom greeting, offer, video, promotion…etc to welcome them to your page.

Custom Facebook Fan Page Options

Here are some of the basic options you have to choose from (with some examples);

Like Me
This type of page presents some general information with the intention of thanking visitors and requesting that they Like your page. You don’t have to get fancy to present your brand to your fans. Always make sure you have a call to action. (See “Click on the Like button above” in image below).

Video
Videos are always are good idea. Whether you’re recording an introduction from yourself (or a rep from your company), presenting a testimonial from a satisfied client, or using a simple animation, video can always enhance the user experience and lead to an increase in Likes for your page.

Hidden Offer (Fan Gate)
Everyone loves an offer. So why not open your page with an irresistible one? Not only can it generate additional sales, it will also immediately position you as an expert in your space/industry/market. It will also give your visitors a reason to refer your page to their friends.

Step 1: Hidden Offer (Also know as the Fan Gate)

Step 2: Show Offer with Clear Call to Action

Opt-in / Newsletter
Many businesses use their fan page to help build their mailing list. If you are going to do this make sure you offer them something in return. Create a free report that can be instantly downloaded.

Free Offer
This is a good way to engage with potential new customers. When someone arrives on your page for the first time they’re probably looking for more information about your business. Why not show them what you’re made of by offering them something for free? This could be a freebie with an order, or simply a freebie on its own. But make it worthwhile if you can.

Step 1: Offer Customers Valuable Content

Step 2: Provide Content to New Fans

Coupons and Promotions
Regardless of whether you have an online or offline business, coupons are a good way to attract new customers. Present a coupon on your fan page that people can print out and use in your store. Alternatively give them a code they can type in when they order goods from your site and reach the checkout page.

Sweepstakes
What’s better than entering for a chance to win (fill in the blank)? This is a promotion that can bring you a lot of attention. The winner is picked at random, so everyone gets an equal chance of winning. With a prize at stake your fan page will certainly attract a lot of visitors and hopefully word will spread and your page will get a lot of new attention too.

Additional Custom Pages / Tabs
Facebook Tabs refer to the list of links below your Facebook Picture. You can create as many of these custom “Pages” as you would like. Any of the above types of Fan Pages can be additional Tab Links on the sidebar of your Fan Page. (see below).

Tools for Creating Your Custom Facebook Fan Page

There is a lot of technical jargon surrounding Facebook Fan Pages and the platform you have to work with when creating your page has changed over the years. The site introduced its own markup language – known as FBML, literally meaning FaceBook Markup Language – back in May 2007. But all that changed in the more recent February 2011 when Facebook announced it would be transitioning what is known as iFrames. This added a layer of complexity to creating a page by yourself but with the development platform Facebook has in place there are a number of apps that make life easier when you’re setting up your Custom Facebook Fan Page.

(Note: I recommend getting help if you’re not comfortable with the work involved getting your custom page designed. There are services to design your Fan Page ranging from $100-$500 depending on the work involved.)

I decided to test out the 4 tools below and provide some recommendations if you’re dedicated to doing it yourself.

Wildfire iFrame app – http://iframes.wildfireapp.com (RECOMMENDED)
This app from Wildfire allows you to use HTML-based content or an image to showcase your Fan Page. You don’t need much any technical knowledge beyond HTML / basic graphic design. (see tool below). After you’ve published they will add a small graphic that says Powered by Wildfire. This is very tasteful and won’t distract from your content.

Pagemodo – http://www.pagemodo.com
This is another excellent and free tool that makes it easy for anyone to get a professional looking fan page. The Like Gate (Fan Gate) feature is considered a Pro option which requires a monthly subscription so beware of the bells and whistles. The user interface is streamlined and pretty simple to use but you will still need to have your graphics and content prepared before your start the process.

Other Tools…
The following 2 tools were in my selection but nothing much came of the test. Their interfaces are also separate from Facebook but both are very clunky. If you’re running a business and spending your time learning how to build a Facebook page then you either have too much time on your hands or you’re looking for reasons to avoid work. Either way, unless you’re part of the marketing department or are running a Facebook Page service and need something fancy and more complex than a standard landing page type of presentation then I would recommend avoiding these tools.

ShortStack – http://www.shortstack.com

Tabsite – http://www.tabsite.com

Summary of Best Practices for Your Facebook Fan Pages

With so many different variables involved to creating a Facebook Fan Page it’s no wonder why I received so many email’s from people wondering how best to go about the process and whether or not we could help them get it done. Here is a summary of the best things to consider when preparing your custom Fan Page/Landing Page.

The best way to get started with your Fan Page is to think about your customer and what they want.

• What message/content will be relevant to them? Targeted and relevant content is always best. You want something that speaks directly to your ideal customer.
• What types of media are you currently using or have used that your customers prefer to engage with? (simple message, free report, newsletter opt-in, video, coupon, sweepstakes..etc)

Think about the process.

• Consider using your Fan Page as a gateway to take your customers to the next step in your buying process. You may offer a free report and take them to an “unannounced Thank You offer” inviting them to a complimentary webinar or offering an additional coupon if they fill out a customer survey. Whatever it is, map out your process beforehand to see if there are any opportunities to capitalize on.

Be prepared and deliver on what you promise.

• If you are going to offer a coupon, be prepared to ship immediately and track incoming leads so you don’t miss anyone. The worst thing you can do is promise to send someone a free (fill in the blank) and have them never receive it.

Keep your offer/message “above the fold.”

• Here’s one final point on the design of your Facebook Fan Page. Always remember that people will view the uppermost section of your page first. If they don’t scroll down they won’t see anything else – particularly that great offer you added to the end of the page for them. Always put your best offers and information at the top of the page. This is called “above the fold.” And of course, anything you put there should be eye catching and able to engage your visitors – just as you wanted it to in the first place.

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The bottom line is that you should not take your Facebook presence for granted. Putting a little effort and getting some professional help can add another great tool to your marketing toolbox.

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• Facebook Timeline for Business Pages: What You Need to Know
• Facebook Pages for Business: Quick Tips to Get Started
• Are You Making the Social Media Mistake?
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• Should You Be Using Google+ Yet?

Facebook has proven to be one of the most important social media tools available to get your message out to your prospects and customers. But there are still many businesses that have either ignored Facebook completely or signed up for a personal account and couldn’t figure out why they would send business communications to their in-laws and cousins.

If you have a business or anything that you’re promoting you should have a Facebook Page. It’s free and secures a spot for you on the busiest social network on the planet. So, if you’re a little lost and still trying to figure how to use Facebook for your business, here’s a quick guide to the basics of your Facebook Page.

What is a Facebook Page?

Initially, Facebook was created to be a place where people could network and communicate with each other on a personal level–chatting with friends and keeping in touch with family. Smart business owners started to use Facebook and other social media sites to communicate additionally with their customers and potential clients. As the business community started to see how successful Facebook had become and how businesses were starting to monetize their efforts, more and more business owners and marketers followed suit.

This lead Facebook to create an additional category of “Pages” specifically so your business create a profile within the community that uses tools and applications to help businesses communicate their products and services better to their “fans.” Your business Facebook Page allows you to have as many followers or “likes” as you want and you can send updates and make your links and posts business related and not about you as an individual.

All Facebook pages require that the owner/administer of the page has a personal Facebook account. So, to get started with your Facebook Page you need to make sure you’ve already setup your personal account. (if you haven’t signed up – visit http://www.facebook.com and sign up for your free account).

Privacy note: If you don’t want to use your Facebook personal profile to connect with family, friends and colleagues – don’t worry. You can always set your privacy settings so that people can’t find you on the site. See Facebook Privacy: 10 Settings Every User Needs to Know for more information)

Once you have your individual profile set up, you can create a Facebook Page for your business. Go here http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php to secure your business page.

Getting Started with Your Facebook Page

Facebook Page Picture
Your first step should be to add a Picture for your business.

Your page is pretty useless without your branding so make sure you take the time and do this first. Here are some examples;

Facebook Page Business Information
Next, you need to adequately fill out the information about your business. The information section allows you to add a wide range of information so your customers and potential customers can find out more about your business

Posting to Your Facebook Page
After you’ve filled out all the important basic information, you will want to immediately starting posting some content. I recommend posting some various links from your website first before you start inviting people so they don’t think they are showing up first to the party.

What do you post?

• Go to your website and post links to these pages

• Homepage
• About page
• Company leadership/staff (post links to each one)
• Services (post links to each one)
• Blog articles (post links to each post – save the latest for last)
• Pictures (something related to your business – staff, building photo, customer events..etc) Facebook will show your most recent photos in the featured photos directly above your content stream. If you don’t want a picture to show up you can simple click the “x” on the top right and remove it from the section.

• Industry/market specific articles (post a couple in between website and blog pages for variety).

Facebook Page Posting Strategy
Some people get the major work done up front to set up the page and get followers, but then ignore the maintenance required to create a successful user experience. Most businesses should try to post at least a couple times a week. Don’t bombard your clients with sales messages, or you will notice that you may lose followers.

Your continued posts should be informative and helpful to your clients. The posts should help your clients understand your business or your field; it can describe your company or be an information link to better understand what you do. If you have a business blog you will want to run your content through here so people can get back to your website. Include messages about things that will help their lives, things that will educate them, and things that will pique their interests, even if it’s not 100% related to your business.

People appreciate companies that have their best interests at heart and are not pushing products constantly. Depending what you offer, you want to understand how your clients use Facebook and target your posts towards that direction. This might include links, photos, or reference material. You want them to consider your page a useful resource that will create repeat visits and referrals to your page.

Getting People to Visit Your New Facebook Page

You’ve got the basics down, now it’s time to get people to show up. To start out, invite your personal network to visit and “Like” your new page. This can be done through your personal profile. Suggest your new business page to everyone you are connected with. It is smart to try to connect with everyone you have an existing relationship with so that you have more personal followers, which will help you to get business page followers. It is helpful to individually email friends and family members and request that they like your new business page, and you can let them know that this is important to you to help you grow your business.

How many followers is enough?

People treat the numbers like a popularity contest. The truth is it doesn’t matter how many people “like” your page. To start out, you want to get at least 25 followers. This will allow you to get a custom url that will point people directly back to your Facebook business profile.

Examples;

• http://www.facebook.com/kriskiler
• http://www.facebooks.com/strategicmarketingsystems

The bottom line for the numbers is that you work to get as many as you can. You should cross-link your Facebook page to every place that you can. On your website, through your blog, through your newsletter, on your other social media accounts, and elsewhere. Let everyone know that you are on Facebook, and your ‘likes’ will go up naturally without a ton of hard work or effort. Focus on the long term prospect of using Facebook as a tool to communicate with your customers.

Advanced Facebook Page Topics

Once you have polished up your Facebook Page there are numerous Facebook Applications you can use to enhance the user experience while browsing your Page.

Custom Pages
You can install an application to create a customized page so that your page looks different than all the others. This will also allow you to direct people to a different page, like a landing or product sales page when they click on it. This tool will be important to integrate your email opt-in (newsletter opt-in) form.

There are Facebook apps for everything;

• Event management
• Showcasing photos and videos
• Auto-posting to your wall directly from your RSS Feed
• Running social promotions (coupons, sweepstakes)
• Showcasing photos
• Integrating your social media (Twitter posts)

Overall, continue to explore how your customers are using Facebook and what they are looking for to make your Facebook page a success. If you are new to social media, use this post and other references online to gain clients and notoriety in your industry while educating and assisting your clients and potential customers.

Cheers to your success!

Related Posts:

• Creating A Custom Facebook Fan Page for Your Business
• Should You Be Using Google+ Yet?
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