Trying to figure out the purpose/advantage to having a Facebook business page is

[Taogem]

I created a Facebook business page, but not sure what the advantages or purpose for having one is..

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated !

[stonesthatrock]

i'm not sure how good/ bad it is to have that.  I also have one but haven't posted in there yet.  I only have facebook to see pics of my grandkids   

mary ann

[Bluesssman]

I wonder the same thing. I realize being an old guy Facebook and such are strange things to me. I hope someone here can help educate me!


Gary

[Enchantra]

Frankly I haven't seen the need for a Facebook page.  I don't even have a Facebook account.  I don't text, I don't twitter, I don't dig...Yadda yadda. 

I've been told if you have a business and you are on Facebook it gains you exposure and a network of potential customers, however I know of a few businesses locally that haven't seen any difference in their sales after joining Facebook. 

Blogs are hot, and if you have a blog, and a place for customers to respond that tends to help a website, but beyond that the advantages of belonging to social networking sites seem to be limited.

[pebblepup]

I have had a Facebook business page for a while.  It has brought me a few hits but as far as I know there has been no buying customers because of it.  When ever I do a post on my blog it automatically gets updated to Facebook so there is not much work involved anymore.  I have to manually update it with anything I add to the sales side of my website.  More people are fans of the business page that my personal page.  My overall opinion of the business page is neutral; it may be little advertising but it is free.

[bigdogpc]

I had wondered about Facebook myself.  I just never got that far along.  You CAN teach old dogs new tricks, IF they want to learn them. 

[ScarlettoSara]

LOL BigDog...ARF:)

[Taogem]

One thing I have noticed in the short time I have had the page.

Over twice as many Facebook people "like" my page as do I have "friends" who follow it.

Pretty sure the reason is that they are finding my business page via Facebook key word seaches. When I first created the page was pretty sure that was going to be a big deal. People searching Facebook using key search words like, jewelry, gemstones, cabochon, and such.

So I made the title to the page "Gemstone Cabochons and Silver Solder Jewelry Design" in hopes that any number of people would find it.

I can contribute several sales and other mutually benicifial opportunities as a result of having this page.

It seems to be worth it now that it has been up for a short time.

[stoneviews]

I have both and I am having alot of luck with it.
One is under Clint Gardner and the other is under stoneviews

[Taogem]

Clint..

Do you find that you have to post identical posts to each in order for everyone to see your posts.

My fans page has a certain number of people who are following it, and then another number are friends to the profile page.

I notice that if I just post to the fans page a whole different group of people will leave comments as compared to the same post on my profile page where yet different people will comment. It seems like it is necessary to post to both even though I don't like the duplicate postings to Facebook.

I guess that is how we are suppose to do it though.. ?

Actually been thinking about dumping the fans page lately. Starting to second guess the benefits of it..

With the exception of the title of the page being more descriptive than just my profile being my name. So when people do searches for things like "jewlery design, cabochons, etc, Facebook will at least return the fans page where as the same search will not return my profile/name page.

[stoneviews]

Thanks George,  I find people look for new items or picture you add, I have even had friends on Facebook ask where am I going next, they can't wait to see the pictures, I try to  tie it all into my business page. I don't have to post twice, timing is everything, find what time of day gets you the most responces, also coment on your post, not right away, wait about 12 hours.  Also coment on all, even your competitors.
Reach out and find your nook or what works best for you.




 

[Alvin]

I find that there are many options available for internet business but if you spread yourself too much there will not be enough time left to make a product. I stayed with a website that I made from yahoo web builder. Check if your state or area has a promotional venue for websites.
Our state promotes Maine made products which gives me a free promotion. Check with your state.Our local development board also promotes local sites for free. Do you have a development board in your area? The chamber of commerce also provides promotion to members. It is not free, but many people check Chambers before traveling.
I also have freinds that put out some items on ebay to attract them to their web site. (not sure how they do that but they make over $50,000 per your using ebay to get the buyer to thier site)
good luck everyone

[Taogem]

Check with your state.Our local development board also promotes local sites for free. Do you have a development board in your area?

I did recently create a site for local artists of all different kinds. Including lapidary of course !

Just moved it from Ning to Spruz networking community, so membership is pretty new. Ning is opting out of offering free sites.

[earthegy]

This is an old thread, but I thought I'd put my thoughts in...
I started a facebook business page, uploaded all my pics of stuff I've done, sold and still for sale, with links to my etsy shop and blog site.  Then I did a little research on the etsy forums about facebook advertising to try to figure it out.

Turns out, I was able to find a coupon for $50 worth of free facebook advertising, so I set up an ad to run.  I've got the ad being shown specifically to women, ages 25-55, who are into gemstones, spiritual and metaphysical healing, and...here's the best part, fans of Energy Muse, which I consider my hugest competition!  They're pushing the whole gemstone energy/metaphysical thing with their jewelry, but they charging $150 for a bracelet...and I'm not.  So facebook throws my ad at those people, and it comes up saying something like gemstone jewelry at affordable  prices...just some short blurbage I came up with to try to get their attention.  My ad's been running since December 21st or 22nd, not even two weeks, and I've gotten around 60 new people liking my page...which sends them to my etsy shop if they're interested in shopping.  For those 60 new people liking my facebook page and now getting feeds from it, I've only used up $28 of the free $50 coupon I had...I have it set up so I don't get "charged" unless they actually hit "like" on my page..

I can also throw quick announcements like sneak previews up there to keep people interested, which is nice.  I don't think I've gotten sales from it yet, but heck, it's free advertising that's specifically being directed to the target market I want to hit...and I've got no complaints about that!

Chrisy

facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Earthegy/126531744073510

[Taogem]

I have heard about the 50.00 coupons.. Been some positive responses from everyone I have talked too.

I am no longer on Facebook. Just too many virus problems. Actually miss it a lot. Met a lot of like minded folks and sold quite a bit there.

Great job and thanks for sharing that Chrisy !