Setting up a profile on a social networking site then never enhancing or maintaining it may be worse than not having a profile at all. And it’s such a loss, too. Many of these platforms can be valuable for bringing you business, and they are usually free to join.

Manage your time

Maintaining profiles on several sites can be time consuming. To maximize your involvement and return on your time, choose one or two social networking sites that fit your own personality and the target audience of your business and focus on them. Facebook is becoming increasingly popular, and will likely be high on your list of sites to investigate. All Facebook profiles ask the same questions. Rather than getting to a question you don’t know the answer to and skipping it for a “later time” that may never come, gather all of your information before you start.

Sit down at the computer and have with you:

General Information: Your Name, Business Name, Email Addresses, URLs, Instant Messaging screen names

Company description: This goes on the main page of your profile and should be around 100 words.

Personal information: A short personal biography (50-100 words), and your education, past job experience, volunteer work, etc.

Key Terms: Make a list of your top key search phrases that someone might use if they were searching for your business or products in a search engine. Your bio and company description should use them terms. No keyword stuffed, but sprinkle them throughout the bios as you would in natural speech.

Photos: Gather photos you want to post, including one you will use as your member photo. This might be your company logo, appropriately sized. If that is not feasible, a photo of your product might be a good choice.

Open your account

Armed with that information, you’re ready to open your account and get it completely set up in one swoop. For a Facebook account, all you need is an email address. The profile will assume that you are an individual person, and will ask for things like “relationships” and “birthday.” Under the relationships tab, choose "networking." The birthday can be the start date of your business, or your own. You can also leave some fields blank if you choose not to fill them out.

Create a Page

Facebook Pages are profiles specifically for a business or a product. They behave in the same way as member profiles and it’s easy to share your content. Facebook users can search pages and become “Fans” of the Pages in the same way they search for people on the site.

Now here’s where your list of key search terms comes in. Use those key terms in the name of your Facebook Page. The Page Name is the only searchable text on a Facebook page, so use your best key terms in your page name.

Add applications

Facebook by itself only works so well as a marketing tool. But fortunately there are these accessories so to speak, known as applications, that give Facebook its real power for businesses. Some applications are just needless distractions, but there are some that are essential for communicating. To find applications for your page, click on "Applications" in the upper left corner of your page, or search for them at http://www.facebook.com/apps/.

Here are my top business-related Facebook Applications:

Slideshare - Upload your own PowerPoint, OpenOffice, Keynote, or PDF files and view presentations shared by others.

Facebook Video - A robust video platform for people and pages on Facebook. Upload video files, send video from your mobile phone, and record video messages to your friends. Powerful networking tool.

Upcoming - Add all of your events to upcoming.org, then display them on your Facebook page.

My Flickr - Integrate photos from your Flickr account.

YouTube Box - Visitors can play your YouTube videos without leaving your Facebook page.

Simply RSS - Display up to eight RSS feeds on your Facebook page, from your business's site or other news feeds.

Tag Biz - Promote your services and products to your Facebook network on your profile box, list yourself in a business directory, and recommend your colleagues.

There are hundreds of applications, and many of them do the same job that others are intended to do. So if one isn’t working well or seems needlessly complicated, chances are another one will do a similar thing.

Advertise

In addition to the apps which help you share content, Facebook offers many marketing opportunities for businesses. You can find these by following this link: http://www.facebook.com/business/. Some advertising options are free. You can limit your region geographically, and use Facebook data to target age and gender. Similar to other online ad options, you can manage and track your ads and pay by impression or click. Facebook has other opportunities for promotion, too. There are many groups based on personal and marketing interests you can join.

Now that you have a great Facebook profile, useful apps, and a couple of targeted ads, keep on adding content, seeking out friends, and keeping up with your old friends. Online users quickly get bored with content that doesn’t change regularly.

Limelight Department is a full service advertising agency that specializes in internet marketing for businesses across the US and Canada. Our experts utilize proven strategies of website development, media design, search engine optimization, pay-per-click, copy writing, content distribution and many other services to send targeted, ready-to-buy traffic to your site. Visit LimelightDepartment.com for more information.