What is the difference between a FanPage and a Personal Account in Facebook?

I get this question on a daily basis.  Business owners are very confused about using Facebook for Business.

Facebook For Business

Here are 3 huge reasons why a business would want to use a FanPage instead of a Personal Profile for business marketing on Facebook.

• Facebook Fan Pages are public – they get indexed in the search engines ~ Personal Profiles do not.
• Facebook Fan Pages can have an unlimited amount of “Likers” ~ Personal Profiles are limited to 5000.
• Facebook Fan Pages can have numerous Admins that contribute to the page ~ Personal Profiles just have you.

Marketing On Facebook

The second question I get daily is how can I market my business on Facebook?  Facebook is one of the most used social networking sites on the Internet today.  Currently there are over 500 million active users.  I personally only need a very small percentage of those people to get a positive ROI for using Facebook as a marketing tool.  Here are a few ideas for marketing your business on Facebook.

• Educate potential customers on the benefits of your product or service
• Provide specials or coupons for your business through Facebook
• Create contests on your Fan Page to get people interacting and returning to your FanPage
• Promote your clients on your Fan page
• Promote other local businesses on your FanPage
• Use your page for Videos and Photos
• Use your Review Tab
• Use the Discussions Tab
• Create a custom Welcome Tab
• Use Facebook Events

Benefits of a FaceBook Fan Page

What has Facebook done for my business?

I have gained clients for my workshops through the Facebook Events feature.  When people commit to coming to an event then my event gets put into their news stream.  I have gained attendees that I did not actually know by using the Events tab on Facebook.  Often times when a business owner attends one of my classes they will attend more, and some have also become website clients.

I get referrals to friends of fans because I use my page for education.  This keeps me top of mind and when someone needs a website or help on their website ~ I am the person they think about speaking to for their project.

I also give referrals to my circle of trusted business owners through Facebook.  Others know I am a great resourse ~ which always comes back around to benefit me sometime in the future.  Pay it forward!