Becoming a member of any social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn will only help your business grow if you know how to use those assets properly. With approximately 526 million daily active users, Facebook is not only the most visited website in the world, but the most useful for personal connections, organizations, internet sharing, and business. Having the know-how to navigate Facebook accurately and tastefully will allow your business to become updated, broadened, and more relevant in today's online world. Although Facebook prides itself in being fast and easy, there are some tools that require a bit of experience. These simple steps will help you gain an all around good sense of the website and how you can use it to fully optimize your business. If you already have an account on Facebook, skip to step 2.

Step 1: Signing Up

Registering for Facebook is fast, free, and easy. Log onto www.facebook.com and begin by filling out the information that is required.

Once you sign up, you are presented with a page that allows you to find any of your friends that might already be on Facebook via e-mail. If you type in your e-mail, a program will go through your contacts and recognize any of your contacts’ e-mails that are registered on the site.

Once you fill out some information on where you went to school and where you are currently employed, you are asked to provide a profile picture. While you may think a picture of you in a speedo from your vacation album is nice, it’s critical that you use clear, flattering, appropriate picture of yourself to set the best impression on the people visiting your page.

Step 2a.) Creating Your Business Page

At the very bottom of every page on the site is a list of options in blue font. Its looks like this:

Click the Create a Page link here:

Step 2b.) General Information

You will be shown a number of options to choose from concerning the specifics of your business. Select the choice that most accurately defines your business.

Assuming that you are creating a page for a local business or place, let’s take a look at what that page format has to offer:

Step 2c.) Choosing Your Profile Picture

Next you will be asked to upload a profile picture for your business. Note: this is not the same as your personal profile picture. It is what all of your customers, fans, and members will see when they log onto your page. Choose a picture that appropriately mirrors the purpose and quality of your business. What picture you decide to use will change depending on what kind of business you have. Here are some simple and effective ideas for pictures that will serve your page well:

Using You and Employees: A nice picture of the people that work at your business is sure to provide a feeling of community and give off a more personal vibe to your page visitors.

Using Your Office Building: By showcasing a picture of your location, the viewers of your page will be given an idea of where your business is and what it looks like. This picture will also give a sense of community because it will show that your business is local and right in town.

Using Your Logo: The logo of your business is one of the most important parts of advertising. It represents you and your service and is seen uniquely to you. It sends a professional message to your viewers and is always sure to keep a page looking suave.

Allow yourself to get creative when choosing a picture for your business page. Make the picture memorable and pleasing to the eye, and it will ensure positive responses from your customers.

Lastly, providing a short paragraph of information about your business will allow any newcomers to your page get a better idea of how you can help them. Keep it short and sweet, and don’t digress. Here is an example of what your About box should look like:

Explain what your business offers and let the rest of your page do the work. Keep it exiting but also professional; no need for an abundance of exclamation points and capitalized letters. Also, offering the names of any of your other sites (Twitter, Google +, Your Home Site, etc.) will give your visitors instant access to any other information they need. 

This concludes part one. In part two we will discuss the addition of content such as text and photos, in addition to updating your page.