So you’ve got a brand new Facebook business page.  You’ve showed your friends, gained a few likes, and played around a little.  So what’s next?  How do you get the most from your Facebook business page?  Whether you are new to Facebook or an avid social user, there are ways to approach managing your page that can really improve your return on your time and in some cases your money. 

Let’s start with the basics. Sometime the simplest things can really go along way.  Step 1, did you fill everything out when creating your new Facebook business page?  Before spending time spreading the world about your company or service make sure that when you do succeed in driving traffic your visitors are well informed and find what they are searching for.  Often page creators will fly through and skip fields here and there.  Don’t do it.  Spend a few minutes and make sure everything it thought out and taken care of.

Next your will want to get social.  Let your friends know that you have a new Facebook business page.  Don’t tell them once.  Announce it, and then follow up every week after for the first month.  For the first reminder, say just in case you missed it before, go like my page!  (Or something along these lines.)  For the next reminder, talk about how fast your number of followers are growing, and thank everyone for helping you build your following.  Spend a little grassroots time can easy help the true social sharing experience begin.

Next, throw some gas on the fire! You may have caught the Facebook IPO in the news.  Many were wondering what the big deal was.  Well, I will tell you.  The reason Facebook exists at all is not to share cute pictures of kittens or talk to friends you barely know, it’s to drive revenue!  That’s right, this business wants to make money.  Facebook makes its money from advertisers.  The online world of advertising is fast moving and very competitive.  What makes Facebook so unique?  You can narrow down you target audience to exactly who you want to reach. There is no other form of advertising that can get you in front of the exact type of people (customers) that you are looking for.  You can stumble through Facebook ads and do well enough to grow your following at a slow pace, or you can partner with Creative Click Solutions and really make an impact.

Now that you have your page moving along and you are building a fan base, it’s time to keep your followers engaged.  Let’s start with the basics.  We recommend posting on your Business page at least twice a week.  You want to make sure your brand is constantly in front of your followers.  That way when they are seeking what you are offering, they think of you first.  You can post more, but anything less than twice a week and you may get overlooked.

So what do you talk about on your Facebook Business page?  Well, talk about what you do!  Mention news in your industry, upcoming events, and share relevant articles.  Strive to become an expert your field.  If you have certain products to offer, take an individual look at each product.  Maybe create a review?  You just want to connect with your customers on a regular basis with relevant information.

We know the above is pretty general.  So we want to give you a specific strategy that we know works.  In addition to reaching customers via Facebook, this strategy also helps with your SEO efforts.  We recommend you create a blog on your website.  Talk about the same details as mentioned above, but instead of posting it all on Facebook, just share the link and drive the traffic to your site.  This will put your product or service right in front of them.  If you share something they are interested in, they may not even know how they ended up making a purchase.  Want to know how to do this the right way?  Take a look at our article: 5 Blogging Tips for Small Businesses.

Well this should help you get the most from your Facebook Business page.  In the near future we will follow this article with another that can help you take your page to the next level.

Does your small business, brand, or website have a logo?  More importantly, does your logo represent your brand the way you intended it to?  Your company logo is the anchor of your brand and is something many small businesses tend to overlook. Don't believe me?  Drive past any strip mall in America. How many signs just say mattress or nail salon?  Sure when you get close on the door you see the name of the business but many times you are never presented with a logo.  After visiting the proprietor you may find a little clip art image on their business card if you are lucky.  Same with a web based business.  Is the name of the website presented in basic font? This scenario is all too common.

The old maxim, "you only have one chance to make a first impression" is very true.  As a business owner it's critical to create a strong and lasting first impression.  Every piece of your business needs to be examined through the customers eyes.  This holds true for a physical business as well as your small business website.  Although an acute attention to detail can get you started there is not a better way to connect with your customer than through a well crafted logo.  Your brand welcomes your customers and prepares them for what to expect.  More or less, your logo is the face of your company. 

How does your face look?  Does your logo truly represent your brand?  Chances are it doesn't.  Many small business owners believe a logo is not in the budget.  That may be true if you want to contract the Arnell Group, they designed Pepsi's new logo and made a cool million on the deal.  If a million is not in your advertising budget you should not get a logo, stay with the clip art, and have the text on your website simply read store.  No!  You do have options for affordable logo designs.  Creative Click Solutions has logo packages that start at just $35 and if you are a big spender you can get a 5 logo mock up for only $100.  Now what is your excuse?  With graphic designer fees typically at $100 an hour or more, how can CCS offer you such a low price?  Well we don't want to give our business model away, but think globally and your money can stretch a lot further.

We'd love to talk about your brand and help you get a whole new logo or tweak what you have now.  Contact us now for more details or visit our affordable logo design page. 

A majority of small businesses (and some big businesses) are completely missing a free opportunity to engage and reach their customers online.  Did you catch that?  Yes we said a free way to reach your customers online!  Facebook does not charge you a dime to set up your business page and chances are if you created your own profile you’ll be able to get your business page up in minutes.  In addition to the direct benifit with your customers the SEO value with Google and other search engines are an added bonus!

This is something we hear often at Creative Click Solutions.  Many small business owners, even if they have a personal profile, still think their customers are not utilizing social networking.  Guess what?  These business owners are completely wrong.  Currently 65% of Facebook users are 25 and older.  Still too young for your target demographic?  Over 40% of Facebook users are 35 and older.  Maybe your business is targeted towards baby boomers.  Seniors are the fastest growing demographic in Facebookland!

Again something that we hear from small business owners that is completely wrong.  Making updates to your Facebook business page is just as easy as updating your own profile.  You can even do it from your mobile phone.  Not sure what to post?  We will visit that in future articles here on our Internet Marketing blog.  Until then follow some of your favorite brands for inspiration.  Maybe even the companies we just mentioned.

Did you miss the paragraph above?  Managing your own Facebook business page is quick and easy.  That being said, as a full service internet marketing firm our company can take care of the whole process for a very low cost.  We just told you it was easy, so how can we charge a bunch?  For those needing help or just to want to deal with contact us now.  For those wanting to do it on their own, stay tuned for future blog articles that will help you take your online marketing to the next level.

Blogging is a great way to stay connected with your customers as well as a fun interactive way to drive
business to your website. Blogging is also a very valuable tool for improving SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rankings. Most bloggers that operate a business do not have a well thought out strategy or goal to approaching their article development.  Creative Click Solutions currently oversees content development on several well executed blogs in a variety of industries.  We also offer a built-in blog package included in our website development or can help create stand alone blog sites on a variety of platforms. 

With free blog integration in your custom built website from our Destin based company we thought we’d
provide 5 tips for blogging on your own.  These suggestions will help beginner bloggers get started and provide a valuable review for experienced bloggers.  Feel free to review our 5 tips for blogging and contact us if you want to get a blog of your own or would like one of our experienced bloggers to act as a ghostwriter and help drive more traffic to your company, brand, or products.

1. Blog Regularly & Often

Blogging is a lot like jogging, the more you do it the greater effects and benefits you will receive.   Search engines (and your customers) love fresh content, if you provide what they are looking for more often than not at a regular pace then they will index your site more, eventually resulting in search engine placement improvements.

2. Blog About What Matters

There are commons misconceptions with blogs and one of the most common is that you just have to write about something on a regular basis.  Sure writing about anything often will have some SEO residual effects but creating relevant and compelling content will super-charge your search benefits.  Think about what makes your product or service unique, and then create original articles that you imagine they’d want to read.  It sounds so simple, but there really isn’t a better tip than blogging about relevant topics.  Also it’s a
good idea to try and finish with a call to action.  If they get to the end they are more likely to convert than a typical site visitor.

3. Be Conscious of your Writing

Not everyone who runs a blog is an English major; in fact I would say most bloggers are not experts in grammar, vocabulary, or punctuation.  That is OK, but spend time proof reading your articles, either by rereading them yourself or having a friend or family member look over your posts.  Be sure to avoid excessive punctuation and slang and use capitalization only when needed.  With a blog there is no need to complicate things, write in direct simple English and try to incorporate the key terms that your customers will be searching for.  There is no need to keyword stuff articles, but do make sure you are at least including what you are hoping to show up for at least a few times.
  
4. Get Social & Share your Articles

Creative Click Solutions automatically includes social share icons on all our custom blogs making it extra easy for you and your readers to share your content, but that is just the start.  You want to get your information and business in front of as many different people as you can.  If you head to Facebook or Twitter and just start telling people that they should check out your business, they will get bored and eventually stop paying attention to you and even worse defriending or unfollowing you.  Blog articles give you a chance to provide something to potential customers for free.  If you give someone a gift, they are less likely to disengage.  They will also enjoy relative content.  Google and other major search engines have been placing serious weight on social shares so the more play your articles get the better results you will receive. 
 
5. Be Passionate about your Product

Blogs provide a window into your businesses and can help convert potential sales.  It also gives you a chance to establish yourself as an authority in your industry.  If you are just going through the motions it’ll show and your content may go unnoticed.  If you are blogging solely for SEO advantages than that may be OK, but if you are going to dedicate the time to creating content be sure it’s something you are proud of.  If you connect with your customers on an emotional level they are more likely to purchase, and more likely to return and visit your business or use your service or product often.
 
We hope these 5 blogging tips will get you started in the right direction.  Keep in mind if you get overwhelmed or need assistance at any time our professional bloggers are here to help with a variety of paid service options.  Feel free to contact us now for pricing and service options!