Facebook 101: Don’t be afraid by Patti Neumann, CEO of Citypeek.com, can be reached at patti@citypeek.com or CITYPEEK Patti on Facebook and Twitter.After review of recent questions, it appears many of you want to start slowly, back up and go through the steps of each social networking tool and how it can best be used to build your business.
I have also been asked, mostly through my Facebook fan page Citypeek Patti, to start with Facebook.
Step one. Don’t be afraid. You cannot break anything. OK, go to www.facebook.com, top right sign-in or just under it, fill out the form that starts “Sign Up-It’s free” with your name, password, sex and birthday. Do your correct birth year, you will need it should you ever verify later on. This is information that you do NOT need to share with others, so never fear.
Now do you want to make a Facebook page for a business or personal? This is important. If you are indeed a business, it is best to follow the rules and create a business or fan page when prompted for the choice. Personal “friend” accounts tap out once you get 5,000 friends. After realizing this and earning 3,800 plus friends on my personal page, Patti Peek Neumann, I created a fan page “CITYPEEK Patti which now has over 8200 fans to date.”
I try to have a distinctive voice on each, more colloquial and less formal on the “friend” and more official or broad stroke on the fan page.
Next, await a quick confirmation e-mail, click link and start building your profile. Make sure you add a photo, (This picture can be of you or of the theme of your business or a logo.) Remember, you are the master of your brand and/or a spokesperson for your company. You are responsible to your team to be professional, honest and current.
Fill out the info box, write in your website and even if you are the head honcho, add your current employer. This links you with others who you work or went to school with.
Do what is best for your account. If you are a retail business, put in your hours, menu of offerings and share with co-workers to “like” the business page. A “like” is simply clicking the thumbs-up sign to the right of the business name on the page. A business “like” on that page equals a “friend” on a personal friend page.
Now, go try to get 50 friends or likes by next week.
The only constant is change. You might be frustrated, but remember, Facebook is a free service for the average user. Over one BILLION of us! Connect with me www.facebook.com/CITYPEEKpatti
Connect With CITYPEEK Patti:
CITYPEEK Social Media Solutions
providing Social Media Marketing for Today's Hospitality & Retail Businesses.
Find CEO Patti Neumann's Social Strategies Columns
in : Baltimore Business Journal
and
in the Click: Baltimore Jewish Times
Contact: ceo@citypeek.com