Facebook began in 2004 as a social networking site for Harvard college students. It has since expanded and is now available to anyone over 13 years old. Facebook is hugely popular now (and still growing) and you can even promote your business with Facebook. For free.

Facebook, like many social networking sites (MySpace for example) are online communities which combine many internet features in one spot and enable users to connect with friends as well as create and share their own content (videos, photos, articles, images, and so on). These Web 2.0 sites make it possible for anyone to “be online” without owning a website.

That is simply great news for the small and home-based business owner. We now have numerous online platforms to promote our businesses. The fact that most of these sites, including Facebook, are free to users (they are supported by ad revenues) is a big plus, too.

Here are four quick and easy ways you can promote your business with Facebook:

Status Updates If you already have a Facebook page, just start posting updates that mention what you are doing or what is going on in your business. If you also have a website or online store or blog where you conduct your business, you can even link to it in your updates. For instance, you could write a blog post about a summer clearance sale that links to your eBay store and then post a link to one or both on your Facebook page.

Photos Facebook’s Photo system is easy to use. You can upload and tag (caption or label) your photos in a matter of minutes. Plus, you can keep them organized by creating separate photo albums. You can even use your Facebook photo album as online graphics storage, which is an easy and free way to illustrate articles, forum posts and etc.

Events If you host or promote any sort of event (wine tastings, parties, open house, new product launch, product demonstrations, press conferences, meetings and so on), you can promote it on Facebook. Then, you can invite people! Plus, you can browse for business events you might be interested in attending, which is a great way to network.

Groups You can join groups on an infinite variety of subjects, and even start your own. Truly, you can start a group just for your employees, or for people who use your products, or for people who like the color magenta. You’ll also find groups on hundreds of charity groups, too, which lets you “give back” and support your community online. The “group” aspect of Facebook lets you expand your online circle of friends based on common interests.

New Facebook applications are being developed every day, and it can be easy to “get lost” on sites like this just wasting time. So, you do need to be disciplined about managing your time.

To create your own Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com

To learn more about using Facebook to promote your business, I recommend:



To explore additional marketing and promotional ideas, visit Marketing Ideas