Sneak peek: Facebook column for Birmingham Business Journal
March 24, 2010
To follow up my January column in the Birmingham Business Journal, I’ve written a how-to on making your company Facebook fan page more effective. Here’s a sneak peek:
THE IDEA CORNER
What Facebook can mean for your company
Facebook is no longer that social networking site for kids. It passed Google in March for front page visits. It has more than 400 million active users, making it the third largest “country” in the world.
And yet, your company has no presence on it. Or worse, it started a fan page months ago, only to let it die a slow public death.
What went wrong?
- Facebook is a gigantic community, and you became lost in it. No one knew you had a fan page, and even your own fans forgot that they had joined it some time ago.
You forgot that you’re a tiny pebble in an ever-growing ocean. That’s not a problem; that’s an opportunity, but only if you make it happen. - Your fan page was the goal, not the medium. Putting up a fan page on Facebook is like installing a phone line. Congratulations: You now have the most basic component of communication on your desk that will do absolutely nothing by itself.
The phone is for you to call prospective customers, order supplies, schedule meetings, buy advertising, answer questions and connect with the world at large. What can you do with your fan page? - Your fan page is all about you, not your fans. Sure, fan page implies it’s about the company that set it up: your brand, your new products, your crazy giveaways. But in the world of social media, it’s really about them, the loyal Facebook users who might stop by your page if you’re lucky.
We’ll alert you when the column appears so you can pick up a copy at the newsstand!
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Birmingham Blogging Academy 
Absolutely! Great post Wade. I remember last year when I mentioned to someone that I was thinking of starting a fan page for dogingham. All I heard was “Why? You already have a blog. I think you would be wasting your time.” This person is well-versed in social media btw. I didn’t listen and started a page anyway. I have since discovered the fb fans reply with a quick comment on facebook more readily than they would leave a comment on my blog or send a tweet. There’s some sense of easy-breezy on fb that doesn’t exist any where else (in my experiences). AND many folks I talked to in person at the Paws in the Gardens event said they “heard about dogingham through facebook.”
Looking forward to the upcoming biz jour article!
People should take a look at the DOGingham Facebook page.
It’s great because Jessica has fun fresh content, listens to fans, talks with fans and uses Facebook properly.
I suggest:
1. Claim your short link: facebook.com/dogingham.
2. Add a Facebook widget to your blog sidebar.
Thanks for your comment!