The Small Business Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed in Your Small Business, 3rd Edition

Chapter 45

Facebook for Business

A million dollars isn't cool. Know what's cool? A billion dollars.

—Justin Timberlake as Facebook's first president, Sean Parker, in The Social Network

To call Facebook a phenomenon is an understatement. Consider how long it took each of these different things to get to the 50 million user mark:

• Radio—38 years
• Television—13 years
• The iPod—3 years
• Facebook—less than 1 year

Today, Facebook is verging on 1 billion users. About one-seventh of the planet. Know what's cool? A billion users.

Something that gets that much bandwidth, that much attention, and that is that big and growing that fast deserves our attention. Your business has to remain in front of people; it needs to be where the eyeballs are, and if that is Facebook, then so be it.

That certainly is what Dan Kim, CEO of Red Mango Frozen Yogurt concluded. Opening its first store in 2007, Red Mango quickly caught Facebook fever. Not only does Kim advertise on Facebook, but it is what he does after that that is interesting and valuable. Red Mango's Facebook ads drive people to the Red Mango Facebook page, a page that is fun, interactive, and full of good content and that offers specials and coupons. It is no wonder that the page went from 4,000 fans near the beginning to the more than 300,000 people who “like” it now as of this writing. (Like it yourself and get a $2 off coupon.)

Tip:

In 2010, Facebook replaced its “Become a Fan” button with the “Like” button. Even so, business pages are still ...