5 Tips to help your company set-up a presence on Facebook

Imagine a website that has tens of millions of users that you can access for free. This is the idea behind the social networking site Facebook. The site isn't just for giddy teens and college students looking for a good time either. Facebook is also a great way for small businesses to reach out to their customers and potential customers.

Chris Anderson says in his new book Free: The future of a radical price (page 163) says:

Most of the value of Facebook is in the fact that it has created perhaps the world's largest clost market of reputational currency, which is the foundation of its estimated multibillion-dollar valuation.

Chris is talking about how Facebook has managed to become a business worth billions of dollars despite a very low stream of income. Why? Because the "reputational currency" that Facebook offers, the idea that Facebook allows one to build a reputation among a large group of followers, is very lucrative. Add the millions of users to Facebook's closed market system and you have a virtual community worth billions.

Online reputation is everything. If you have no reputation, or worse, a bad reputation, no one will take you seriously and you probably won't be getting many customers in the online world. If you have a stellar reputation, you have a lot of 'virtual currency' you can use to your advantage in terms of marketing, advertising and bringing in more business.

How do you use Facebook to your company's advantage? Here are a few tips:

• Set up a Facebook account devoted to your business only. DO NOT use your personal account. You want your Facebook presence to be professional and business-oriented.
• Promote your Facebook profile on your company website and urge visitors to follow you on Facebook. Also urge existing customers to follow you so they can receive updates and exclusive information about your business.
• Offer something of value. Facebook lets you make postings, much like a blog, so use those postings to educate people about your business without overtly advertising your company.
• Engage with people who follow you. This is how you build a community and build trust. Trust will increase your reputation and will likely lead to more business.
• Follow other like-minded people/companies on Facebook. This is an excellent way to network and build relationships that can be very valuable to you.

Keep in mind that building any type of community online takes time and patience. For example, I've been building my personal blog for almost 3 years now and I'm just starting to see the fruits of my labor in the form of advertising revenue. Don't get frustrated if you have a hard time getting followers right away. But as long as you're consistent in your efforts and work to keep a positive reputation, your Facebook community will grow and your company will reap the benefits.