Can you advise me regarding Facebook issues?

[Newbie]

I never had any interest or time for social networking sites until I found out that I can use them to market my small business. A friend set up a Facebook page under my name (not my business name) a couple of years ago, but I never used it. In the last week I set up a Twitter account in my business name (I don't want to give out my personal or business name here - these are general questions so it's not necessary to check them out to answer) and started posting classified ads on Oodle which I then published to Facebook and Twitter. I was happy with the results until . . .

I started getting requests from friends and acquaintances to be my "friends on Facebook. I knew that the more "friends" you have, the more the word gets about your business and the more validation and importance you have on Facebook. I accepted most of the friend requests and sent out several of my own to family members and friends.

Unfortunately, I "friended" a long-time friend who is retired, has a large bank account, and has a lot of time to post multiple long entries, photographs and videos on his Facebook page regarding his travels, political interests, and miscellaneous random thoughts. My Facebook page is now overrun with his entries and my ads are getting lost among them. Also, most of the family members I friended are in their 20's to mid-30's and are writing cute entries on their pages with the latest slang expressions describing music fests, job searches, wishes and hopes, etc. Needless to say, my page doesn't look very professional now. I had no idea that entries my "friends" made on their own pages would show up on my page. "Defriending" these people is not an option.

I think I have figured out a fix. I can set up another page under my Facebook account in my business name; I want to do this correctly, so here are my questions:

1. A competitor has a facebook page under his own name and it has just his personal interests, activities, education, etc., -- he doesn't make any entries. He has 13 friends and no posts are showing up from their Facebook pages. I'm thinking the reason for this is that he specified that his Facebook page is a business page. I know a different set of rules applies to business pages. Or maybe other people's Facebook entries don't show up until you start making your own entries. What I want is a page that showcases my business and my classified ads and allows me to have "friends," but does not show posts that "friends" write on their Facebook pages. It may not be possible, but I would also like to deactivate the "Comments" feature that is under each ad to prevent my site from being "vandalized" by jerks or unhappy clients (unfortunately, sometimes I do business with someone who has unreasonable expectations -- most of my clients are very happy and become repeat customers) posting negative comments about the products I sell. Is it possible to set up a Facebook page like this?

2. Do I need to go through any specific Facebook procedure to make sure that people can find my business Facebook page by typing my business name in their search engine without them having to go through my personal Facebook page? I think I will keep the personal Facebook page and just make a comment here and there every so often to keep in touch with family and friends (I accessed the Facebook page of a relative by marriage and discovered that it was her birthday, so I wished her a happy birthday and realized that this might be a good way to stay in the loop with family members and friends).

3. Do you have any tips or advice about business pages on Facebook? If so, please include them.

Thank in advance. I'm sorry this turned out to be so long.

[Justyna]

For small business marketing purposes you need to set up a Facebook Fan Page. That is where you have control over what is posted and who posts. A personal Facebook page is just for social networking with friends, perhaps close clients to create stronger personal as well as business relationships.

If you don't like the little applications, like the gifts and games, on your personal Facebook page you can always block those application. Just click on the application that's on your profile and there should be a "block application" tab. you can block what ever applications you don't want to show up on your profile. When it comes to the news feeds for your Facebook page, well that's there so you can connect with your friends.

But for marketing and promoting your business you should start a fan page. You can start one by going to the menu on the left hand side on your "Home" page. There should be a tab called "Ads and Pages" click that.

You will be taken to a page where you can create a ppc ad for Facebook. There should be a little icon that looks like an orange flag called "Pages" (on the left hand side menu bar) click that and then choose what type of page you want to create. Small business, consulting, pets or whatever your business may be.

Facebook fan pages are for promoting your business, you can post any articles or blog posts you created, you can let customers leave reviews, link your twitter, YouTube accounts and your business blog to post to your fan pages as well as put out promotions for your product or service.

Be sure to customize your fan page with your business logo and brand it for your business that's what its for. You can then invite your friends on Facebook to become fans of your business page as well as promote it on your website and through Facebook ppc to further grow your brand and business.

I hope this helps you with marketing your business on Facebook.