If you own a small business it is possible that you haven’t invested in a website due to the cost associated with development and maintenance. A quick and easy alternative is to create a business page on Facebook. Here is why:
1. A business page on Facebook is free – there is no yearly hosting fee, and no fees to create or maintain a page.
2. You can create a username for your page (i.e. mypage) and now your business has a web address which is http://www.facebook.com/mypage.
3. You can easily update the page yourself, you don’t have to hire someone to code or update your page.
4. Facebook provides Insights, their statistics on user interactions with your page, again free which includes extensive documentation in PDF format. Statistical data can also be exported.
5. Facebook has great support for its pages, starting out with its help pages at www.facebook.com/help/pages. To help you even more, Facebook has a video tutorial, at www.learnfacebookpages.com.
6. As you accumulate fans (people who Like your page), your page automatically provides word of mouth advertising for you.
7. What can you post? Information about your products or services, discounts or other specials, new items that you may be promoting, links to topics of interest, polls asking customer opinions¸ and whatever else you may want your customers or prospective customers to know.
Note that more than half of the US population is on Facebook, but keep in mind that one does not need an account on Facebook to access a business page. You can access a business page by using the page’s web address or use a search engine such as Google or Bing and type in the company name followed by “Facebook”.
If you have any questions about Facebook business pages please leave a comment or email me at ju.coaching@gmail.com. You can visit my Facebook business page at www.facebook.com/compcoach.
Jeri Usbay 
Apr 30, 2012 @ 19:45:25
This may sound odd but I often notice that people “like” a business and I wonder why have they checked it. For some reason I am reluctant to do so – though I don’t mind if someone wants to “borrow” my face. I actually got a message from a business asking me to “Like” them so I did. If I had a business I would certainly want to have a Facebook page. It’s very practical.
May 01, 2012 @ 08:03:21
Yes, Jenny you are correct that some people are a bit reluctant to click Like on a business page as it is an endorsement, it also helps to promote the product or service. That is a good reason to click Like, to show your support of a business. Some small business owners prefer to stick to a personal profile, as it often easier to accumulate friends than fans!