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7 Things Every Real Estate Agent Should Love about Facebook's Business Pages

About a week ago, I gave some background on what I've been up to and asked the AR community what type of topics they'd suggest I cover. The first topic of interest was SEO, so I decided to start with a post that gave the anatomy of blogging SEO. I'll come back with some more SEO stuff in the near future (including some background on generating quality inbound links), but first I thought I would dive into the 2nd area of interest: Facebook Pages. (By the way, there was also some interest in affiliate programs so I wrote a bit more on affiliate programs for real estate on 4realz.net)

Facebook Profile vs Facebook Page

Every one of the 200 Million people who have joined Facebook has (by definition) created a Facebook Profile. Your profile creates the "hub" with which you can engage with others (friends), groups, games (applications) and/or business pages.

A Facebook Page is a bit different than a profile and reserved for businesses, brands, and other professionals.

If you plan to use Facebook to generate business, then there are a ton of reasons to market yourself through a Page instead of your standard profile. Here are just a few:

One-way Connection. People connect to your Facebook Page by becoming a "fan" of you (or your business) instead of a "friend." This is a one-way connection much closer to Twitter in that people can follow your Facebook Page and you never have to "conect" with them as a friend.
Easy Updates. You can update your Facebook Page in much the same way that you can update your Facebook Profile... This means it's trivial to share status updates, photos, videos, and links with your the people who follow you.
Top-of-mind. The ability to easily update your users allows you to stay top-of-mind with the relevant target audience. I use my page to update professionals interested in social media and online marketing. If you become a "fan" of my page (and I recommend it!), then my updates will enter your "news" feed on the homepage of your Facebook account so you can be regularly updated with useful information.
Going Viral. When one of your friends comments on one of your status updates (could be text, links, video, etc.), then you're much more likely to get seen by their "friends". And, as your content becomes more popular, you're that much more likely to be featured in the "highlights" area of Facebook's homepage. For most agents, "friends of clients" are some of the best source of business and Facebook has made it possible to relatively easy get in front of these people!
Friends vs Fans. Facebook limits you to 5,000 friends, which almost definitely sounds like a lot (who has 5000 friends???). Except for the truely gifted networkers, most agents will never reach 5,000 friends. However, for an agent in a decent sized-community, it's entirely conceibable for 5,000 people of your area to follow you (or become fans) if you consistently provided information they found valuable... especially as it's so much easier to go viral with Facebook than any other tool.
Permission Farming. Savvy businesses and brands have learned that consumers, like myself, are more than happy to become a fan if they remain relevant and interesting. Do the same for your community and I'm convinced you could quickly hit the sweet spot of the terms Jim Marks coined: Permission Farming.
Timing. It's still early... some savvy agent in your community is likely to figure out how to successfully use Facebook to reach your market over the next year or two. The sooner you get in there, the quicker you'll be able to set yourself up as the dominant real estate voice on Facebook in your community.

Convinced you should set up a Facebook Page?

create a FB Page graphic It's really easy... From any existing Facebook Page (mine for example), click on the text "Create a Page" at the bottom of the left-panel to get started.

And when you're ready to get serious, become a fan of my page so you can follow my updates as I explore the many ways you can use Facebook to generate business!

Posted by Dustin Luther on 04/13/2009 10:52 AM

Comments (145)

Facebook Page in the Online Marketing Channel

facebook, pages, marketing, consumers, buyers

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145 Comments on 7 Things Every Real Estate Agent Should Love about Facebook's Business Pages

APR

And . . . how did you do the become a fan widget in the right hand column? I have not been able to figure that out yet.

Melissa: great question... I assume you mean the "become a fan" graphic you see on the sidepanel of this blog. For that, I simply used an image with a link to my page. As far as I know, Facebook doesn't allow you to create any code (or have a widget available) that would let others become a fan from another page, so this is the best I can think up.

Thanks for the tip, Dustin. I didn't know I could do this.

Thanks for this very timely post -- appreciated the information, and am off to get connected.

Linda and Li: So glad you appreciated the information. Just realized I should also add that I added some examples of REALTORS using Facebook to the left sidepanel of my Facebook Page... You can check those out to see some examples of how other REALTORS are using Pages to market themselves!

Dustin,

You re rock solid my friend! Post after post of the best information to help people succeed on the web!

Thank you for all of your hard work, and as always, I can't wait to see what you post next!!!

- Harrison

I've become a fan of yours! But I don't see the Create a Page option that you show above. what am I doing wrong?

Thanks Harrison! I've been out of the ActiveRain loop for too long, so it's fun to return and take part in this extremely active community!

Cori: It's a pretty small (text-only) option at the bottom of the left-panel. Maybe a larger screenshot from my page will help you find it easier.

screenshot of create a page

Do you see how the "create a Page" is hidden at the bottom of the left-hand panel?

Ohhh... and I just did a google search on "create a facebook page" and found a link that will take y ou directly there. If you're having any trouble finding the link from my page, then you can use this link: Create a Facebook Page

Hi Dustin,

Great post! Please post it on the FACEBOOK TIPS group page.

Thanks for the update on facebook. Now, all I have to do is find the time to implement these great suggestions. I have some time set aside later in the week, so I know I will have some homework. I think these pages are going to be key.

Dan: Thanks for the tip! I just joined the group and posted it!

Joan: I view Facebook groups as similar to most online marketing... It's not for everyone, but I'm convinced that a few real estate agents are going to "get" facebook pages and clean up over the long run by hosting valuable community conversations and/or information on their Page...

Is it possible to have your blog automatically linked to your business page? I will get my page taken care of today and thank you.

Joe: It sure is! There's a few different free applications you can use that will automatically import your blog posts as status update entries on your Facebook Page. However, I'd HIGHLY recommend not using one of the apps. My experience has found that with status updates, if you put just a few minutes into writing something interesting (as oppose to automating the process), you'll get a much larger click-through rate, not to mention many more fans/followers over the long run.

I mentioned this piece of advice to one (prominent) blogger recently and he tested it out using twitter. He found that by simply writing original tweets that link back to each of his post, he was getting 30% more click-throughs and many more comments. With Facebook and facebook status updates, you've only got so many characters to begin with, so make it original for success... and if it's not worth the effort to make it original, the the blog post your promoting probably isn't worth syndicating to begin with.

I have a page but need to promote more. Create a badge for it would work

Thanks, Dustin. I'd love to have an explanation of the various groups - when I get an invitation to join one, I haven't found an easy place to see what's involved - i.e., send this on to _x_ of your friends, etc.

Michael: Feel free to start here! I'd be interested to know what your Facebook Page looked like. In addition, as you say, creating a badge can only help.

Sharon: I thought about trying to explain the difference between a Facebook Group and a Facebook Page in this post, but it started to get a bit too complicated. Facebook groups are a different beast than Facebook pages and while I manage a few groups, they're made to be much more about empowering community members and don't necessarily make as effective or targetted way to market. In terms of explaning the various Groups, I'm not sure where you're going with that thought. There are hundreds of thousands of groups on Facebook and it's pretty trivial to create your own. If a group's mission/goal is unclear, that's often by design. Many of the groups are created as inside jokes among friends, so there's not a ton of value out of getting involved. If you can find/create one from your local community, then depending on the conversation that *might* be a great place to engage with locals from your community if you find the conversation relevant.

Dustin, thank you for this. I'm getting going in Facebook and didn't make the distinction between my Facebook account and a Facebook page. True, pretty basic, but really allows me to better market and brand a business. I'm going to check out your page and take a look at what you're doing. Thanks again.

Daren: You're definitely not the only one to not know about the distinction as I get that feedback every time I try to explain the benefits of Facebook Pages to people (including to seasoned marketing professionals!). The good news about the general lack of knowledge is that it really is a great marketing opportunity for those people who jump in and figure out how to use it as a marketing tool while there's still time to be an early adopter!

Very helpful, I am working on it now with Facebook, Twitter and AR it is pretty overwhelming but people like you sure make it clear!

Great Advice Dustin! Thanks so much!

Thanks Dustin! We definately need to take advantage of the online opportunities.....can be very overwhelming for someone that is not tech savvy.....however, with simple advice as such we'll get there!

Dustin, I've heard about Facebooks business pages but wasn't sure how to go about setting one up. This is definitely a post to be bookmarked!!

Krisy: There's always that danger of getting overwhelmed, which can never be good! ;) I highly recommend trying out some tools and services to see what's going to work best for you and then hitting that service up as hard as possible. I tend to recommend finding something to be your hub and then using the other tools to build up traffic in interest where appropriate.

Laura: Always enjoy being appreciated! ;)

Alicia: One of the reasons I like Facebook so much is that it really is designed for people who aren't all that tech-savvy. Unlike Twitter which requires that you know some "inside" code like "@", "d" and "#" to get meaning out of the tool, Facebook's interface is much more straightforward...

Kate: So glad you liked it. If you're having any issues, I'd love to know because those can offer me some great insights for follow up posts!

Hi Dustin~ I just became your "fan." I hope I can figure some of this stuff out, LOL!

Great stuff Dustin -- and welcome to AR and I can't wait to see what unfolds, hopefully soon!

Thanks Dustin! You ROCK! I managed to get the page created using the secondary link provided! Thanks a bunch! Look forward to more great advice and assistance!

Dustin- I've checked my Home Page, my Wall etc and I can't find the text link that says "Create a Page" what am I missing. All I see is "Create a Badge." Thanks....

Update- I reread your response to Cori above and clicked on the link you provided. That seemed to work. Any reason why I don't get that text link to begin with though?

Great information again Dustin! Thanks so much and congratulations to you on joining AR! Can't wait to find out what the secret project is. Only the shadow knows . . . right? Have a great one!

Mary

Hi Dustin, thanks for all the depth on Facebook. Somehow with 200 million people you do feel a little lost in the sea of humanity.

I have been trying to figure out how to seprate my Facebook page between "friends" and business. This helps alot, Thanks for the work and I look forward to future posts!

Thanks for the info - very timely as I was planning on getting started with Facebook this week!

Ive tried to create a "fan page" and it only allows me to create a FB page instead...

Vickie: You can definitely figure this stuff out. As best as I can tell, you're way ahead of the game! ;)

Chris: Thanks!

Cori: So glad it worked!

Matt: Glad you found a way to make it work. But I try my best not to second-guess FB's design decisions! ;)

Mary: Spent a decent amount of time last week with some members of the AR team and really am excited! Thank you much!

Gary: The best part of the 200M FB members is that FB gives you some tools to connect with them! Interestingly, earlier today, CNN Homepage led with a story that the fastest growing segment of FB is women over 55!

Darwin: You hit on a great advantage of creating a FB Page. As mean as it might sound at first, I've actual deleted a bunch of FB "friends" who I didn't know so that I can use my FB profile for more personal updates... and save my FB Page for biz updates!

David: As you play with Facebook, let us know how it goes!

Stephen: I'm not sure of the difference. I use "FB Fan Page" and "FB Page" interchangeably.

Dustin,

If I missed it in the comments somewhere please excuse me I'm going to have to read the post again as I work to create a page. I was wondering what you suggest about what to use as the name of your business? I can't use Keller Williams because I don't own that business.

I'm guessing for Branding I could use my name as I do in my AR blog and website.

Any suggestions?

Thanks i will be setting up my page tonight!

Brian: great question! Although I'm not sure I have the "right" answer. I'm sitting next to the REALTOR Scotty Brown right now, and he decided to create two pages:

The first one he did as a "personality" as oppose to a "real estate agent" and he's found some great success (he's up to over 400 "fans" in a few weeks, although it REALLY helps that he was on a reality show so the celebrity angle works well for him). The 2nd one he built around his community, but he hasn't done any marketing around it (and it shows in that it only has 2 fans). More typically, realtors build a profile around their business, a la Stacie Wells:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Augusta-GA/Stacie-Wells-The-Wells-Team-Augusta-GA-Realtor/60357330847

I'm honestly not sure the best way to go, but hopefully this gives you some insight into how some others are approaching building their real estate pages.

Hi Dustin - I became a Fan and am working on two pages for two subdivisions in my area where I will post relevant information about them. Thanks for the great post!

I've been given the honor of setting up my boards page. So I need to get going, but not enough time in the day and I still have two weeks. More and more agents in Ann Arbor are joining, so we do need one. Welcome to the staff.

Christianne: Great idea... I'd love to hear about your experience after you play for a while. I'd really be interested to hear what type of things you're doing to get local residents involved!

Missy: You might just surprise yourself with how easy it is to set up a FB Page. It literally takes around 2 minutes. Much trickier is getting people to become fans, although if you've got a board behind the project, then you definitely have an advantage going into the project! ;) In terms of AR staff, we're not there... at least not yet. We're at the "collaborating on a ridiculously cool project" stage, which I'm pretty darn sure is going to work out really well for everyone involved! But thank you nonetheless! ;)

thanks for the tips. I don't use my facebook as much as I should, but i will keep these tips in mind when i start to actively include facebook as one of my social networking tools

I started working on mine a while back but have not finished it yet. Thanks for the reminder.

I have been using facebook for a while now and I have met alot of old friends . Great nertworking site. http://www.mnlakeplace.com

Alright, heading to Facebook right now to see what the buzz is all about. Is there enough hours in the day to facebook, AR, and sell, manage and do real estate????

this is good info, thank you for sharing. I recently created a Facebook page for my business and with your tips I am sure I will see some good success with it quickly. You can see it here:

http://www.facebook.com/ads/manage/#/pages/Web-Real-Estate-Tools/162645455152

Drew Burks - Broker

http://www.DreamDesignRealty.com

Great tips! I'm on FB all the time with friends and family. I should get a business page because I am currently using 1 page for everything. It makes sense to separate the pages. I'm sure there's a law against co-mingling of FB Pages, LOL!

Thanks for the post!

Dustin: Great information.. I need to go back and check this out and become a fan

Joshua: Thx for stopping by... When ChaseNation.com was being built, I got to see an early version and the folks out of Reno were making a pretty big deal out of the ning network. How is that social network going over in terms of generating biz? My initial recommendation was to take the "chase" out of the name because I couldn't see home owners taking an active part in a community with the name of a brokerage, but I also said I'd love to be proven wrong. Your take?

Shane: Always glad to help in ways I never intended. ;)

Steve: Agreed! Although I'd take it even father and say that Facebook is a ridiculously cool networking tool!

Sharon: Always time for a bit more networking/marketing... especially one with as much potential as facebook. :)

Drew: Nice! I just became a fan...

Tanisha: That's exactly what I did... separating the two is so darn nice so I don't have to bother my family with biz stuff. Last thing I want is my little sisters to decide I post too much business stuff so they block or unfriend me!

I'm loving the page option. Pair that with a few well placed ads inside Facebook, and you've got yourself a winner! My only regret is that I started a group before the new page option became available. I still haven't got everyone that was a member of the group to migrate over to the company page.

Thanks for the tip. I set up a business page, but need to tend to it more often.

I certainly need to leverage FaceBook... There are some real possibilities there.

Dustin,

You have provided me with so much wonderful information. It has made a big difference to my business.

ARGHHH_- wow -- all this great information - brain exploding with "gotta do's"

Apparently I really need to start hanging around on Facebook more often. I get how valuable it can be, I simply have not committed any resources to it. Thanks!

Dustin,

Well you definitely will pick up a few more fans. I am working on my page tonight. I need at least one FAN tomorrow....

Dustin, how did you include the "welcome" tab on your page, and do you know if we can set up an RSS from our blog to autopost to pages in addition to our profiles? Thanks!

Bud: Great point about the ads... I haven't even tried them on my personal biz page yet, although I did play around with cost-per-click ads to a Page I created for another business. Interestingly, the click-rate was sooo low, that the cost was almost negligible despite the fact it put me in front of thousands of people.

Benjamin: As with most online marketing, building the page/post is just the first piece. The promotion of the page/post really determines how effective it is! ;)

Lane: I'm loving it! And it's worth repeating that a few savvy marketing real estate professionals are going to clean up with FB Pages

Christine: I always, always, always appreciate when you stop by! ;)

Susan: No need to do everything in one day! Take some time to try out some different marketing tools and see what fits! I'm of the opinion that there's a perfect social network for just about ever personality, but every personality is not perfect for every social network!

Mark: It's really only with the latest update that the Facebook team has really empowered Facebook Profiles as a marketing tool. Now that status updates, photos, videos, etc. get included in with the user's standard news feed, it's a really great way to reach out to your community.

Ted: You rock! I'd be your fan any day!

Jeff: There's a Facebook App called Static FBML that lets you add a tab to your Facebook Page and include standard HTML. It tried a bunch of apps before I found this App and none of them worked right. Static FBML is the answer: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878. There are apps that let you auto-post to your FB Page, but I don't recommend using them. If someone doesn't take the time to craft an interesting update, I (like many other users) am quite likely to "unfan" or block the Page. It doesn't have to be much (you're limited to how much you can write in a status update to begin with!), but if you take the time to craft something unique, I think you'll find it a lot easier to get traction on your page!

Dustin,

Great tutorial about Facebook and what we in the real estate and mortgage businesses can do there. I'm just getting more into Facebook and this helps a lot.

APR

I just did a page. It was easy. Now I just need to find some fans.

Dustin,Helpful and timely Blog. I have been trying to establish my link and it fades away after a short time and reverts to the facebook sign in page. What am I missing?

I have been trying to email the link back to my business page. Any ideas?

I have become a fan of your page and it filled up my public profiles with useful info!! This is why AR is great.

I have never even heard of this. You are Bookmarked not just for this post but to follow your links.

I've been meaning to sign up for Facebook, and you gave me the "kick" I needed. Thanks!

Ok, I don't want to be the bad seed here, but I don't think I am alone... I am fairly new to AR and really enjoy the information that I receive, I also use FB strictly for personal contact, not business. So can someone please explain to me two things; #1 - Do you really receive more business because of AR & FB and #2 - How do you find so much time to set up all of these pages? I am definitely not negative, just a little baffled.

Awesome! Thanks for the advice. I've been using my personal profile for business and this may help to separate the two.

I think this is great, and will help me utilize facebook in a way that I can separate my personal and business pages as well...

Esko: So glad you found it helpful!

Chuck: As you suggest... creating the page is the easiest part!

Lynda: Facebook could do a much better job making it obvious where to find your own Biz Page. In the meantime, here's a quick link that should list your page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/

Gene: thanks! Look forward to seeing you around these parts again!

Don: Facebook is a really powerful tool. Once you get comfortable with your profile (i.e. make some friends, load some apps, play some games, etc.) then you'll likely be ready to create your own Biz Page!

Melinda: You're definitely *not* the only one... and your issues are pretty darn common from what I've experienced. In the past, I was mixing my Facebook profile with both business updates and personal updates and I really didn't like the results. There are some things that are extremely appropriate for family conversations that I just don't want to share with my biz contacts. With that in mind, I've been going through my Facebook "friends" and (sadly) deleting some that were purely there for biz reasons and asking them to join my Facebook Page where social media marketing and blogging conversations are all the rage! ;) In terms of time, i think you'll find setting up a Page is really trivial (it takes under 2 minutes). It's the marketing of the Page that will set you back in terms of time!

Tom: So glad to hear!

Amy: I think Facebook was thinking way outside the box in a great way be merging the functionality of biz pages and personal profiles for just that reason!

Thanks Dustin for not making me feel like I'm not alone.

Don't forget you can post virtual tours of homes to your facebook page!

Dustin - great post! I do love having the page versus a simple profile. There are some definite advantages to this! Great information to share with everyone!

Melinda: You're definitely not alone! And you're wise to remain a bit skeptical. A lot of folks get lost chasing the next shiney object!

Jessica: So glad you like this post! And if you do set up a page, let me know about it. I really am curious to see how realtors are going to use the service and I'm definitely on the lookout for some examples of realtors doing it "right!"

Thanks for the tip and encourgament to use Facebook more. I have found it hard just to keep updated on it - but perhaps if I approach this from a business perspective more than a social water cooler - I'll get more done!

Dude I'm going to do it, thanks for leading the way.

I have heard about setting up a FB business page but have never understood what the added value was before. Thanks for the tutorial. I have also been thinking about setting one up for a cause that I am involved in. Local kennel club has challenged the community to match their grant to come up with the money to buy a police dog, and pay for training the k-9 and officer to help out the local pd. Not sure if a page, cause or group on FB would be better.

Richard: I would think that if you start getting some pickup from your community, and especially when you start getting some referrals through your community's network, then it will be that much easier to keep the information on the Page timely and relevant! ;)

Georgina: Luv the enthusiasm!

Pam: I'm thinking that starting with a community issue will be a great way to get your feet wet creating a FB Page. Issues like the one you describe are pretty hard to resist for people in the community because how can you not be a fan of helping out the local kennel club???

Great information Dustin, I am going to try and create the page and use it like part of my business tool instead of using just as a social media.

Now I'm not sure how to switch back and forth from one to the other! What's the secret?

Thanks so much for the great post and information!

Tom Larsen

www.nypropertyinsurance.com

Thank you so much for clarifying the facebook page idea for me. I've seen the pages and have become a fan of a few, but never knew how to get one. Now that you've explained everything for me, I will probably create a couple. One will be just for my business, and one about my towns different condo complexes (we have quite a few). Maybe I'll even create just a local town page as well.

Thanks SO much for the info.

OK - never been on Facebook before, but I've given it a shot. Would love to hear some feedback! Hopefully I did this right...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holly-Springs-NC/Stanton-Homes-Inc/87426195659?ref=ts

great post, i am sending i am re-blogging it for my agents to read!!! :)))

excellent info Dustin! thanks for sharing!

Thanks Dustin for the great tips.

I will start building my business page more seriously now!

Dustin,

I've been using Facebook for about a month now and I'd like to share a couple of things Ive tried out. If you load the app Marketplace, you can post your new listings and then give status updates on them. The notes section is a great place to post your blog on sale statistics within your farming area. If you use postlets.com you can export your listing information directly to facebook. All are great tools for the emerging web 2.0 marketing. I told my broker/owner about it and he set one up for the office and we now post all of our new listings (via postlets) and relevant articles pertaining to the industry and we are trying to get past clients and investors to bookmark us so they can get a snapshot of what we're doing. You can see it at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1679256378

We've only had it online for just over a week but time will tell.

Thanks.

I agree with your comments and I am going to try to use my facebook better! Thanks

Super info Dustin, I need more hours in the day to get all these tips utilized! Thanks again for your helpful info.

Dustin,

I have a pretty active FB profile which covers both personal and business. Would you recommend I start a seperate page on fB?

Thanks

Justin, Great to see you back on AR. I have followed your work a bit for quite a while and am looking forward to learning from an expert. I have been dragging my feet regarding a business page on Facebook but your push was just what I needed!

Great suggestion, and I have now set up a page. When I first was doing the page, I saw an option to invite friends to the page (sorry, didn't note the exact wording). I decided to do some set-up first, and now can't seem to find that option again. Any idea of what I'm talking about, and of how to find it?

Thanks again for the idea. This feels good. (Oh, if you'd like to look at the page, still a work in process, http://tinyurl.com/RussFacebookPage.)

As always, another great tip!!! I was wondering how to create this last weekend.

Thanks for the post! I am trying to create a page, but the option does not appear on my page. Can you help?

Melinda,

Type pages into the search bar. Click on pages and you will be taken to a page describing it. Then click on "Create a Page"

Yet another interesting tip on AR....wherelse!

Patricia/Portsmouth NH Real Estate

Hi Dustin - I have had a business page on Facebook for some time, in addition to my social page. My blog posts appear there and I have put a few listings on it, but I haven't determined yet how to get more fans or visitors. I did put some of the search games in boxes so that people do stop by to look for game items. I appreciate hints on how to improve its effectiveness. My page is called: Susan Neal Fine Properties.

Thank you Dustin... I am definitely a fan! I did not have the "create page" link either, but used the link you showed Cori above. This page is in my favorites for future reference!

I'm a fan now, too. Like many others, I hope I can learn without getting too overwhelmed. Thanks for the good info, looking foward to learning

Great post. I have been on Facebook for three years now! Back then you had to be a college student and register with Facebook through your university email account. Wow how things have changed! I created a page for my real estate business, Andrew Cepeda - Realtor® and EcoBroker®, and I think that by having this page it gives me a more comfortable avenue to touch my clients. One thing is that you've got to make it a habit of updating, messaging, blogging, posting information, etc. We will see how effective it really is in bringing qualified clients.

Dustin,

Over two years ago, I attended your seminar on using the Internet for real estate. You introduced the audience (and me) to Active Rain, Linkedin and several other social networking sites, as well as ways to use the Internet for real estate. After I got home, I created accounts on Linkedin and Active Rain. My first Active Rain blog was March 30, 2007. Your seminar was an eye opening, mind-blowing event that completely changed the way I look at the Internet. Thank you!

Now I need to work on updating my Facebook page.

Dustin ... your explanation of become a Fan page at FB is incomplete. Looks like in order to do that FB requires you to sign up for paid Ads. Is that correct?

Perhaps another post on clarifying how would be helpful.

Thanks, Justin, for a great post. I have been wanting to set up a business page on Facebook but didnt know how. So thank you. Roberta Kayne, Re/Max Affiliates.

Thanks so much. I'm looking forward to your posts. I just started a page. I'm not sure of myself...but I'm diving in. I just started blogging yesterday. I decided to learn as I go instead of trying to figure it all out before I get started. Thanks for your help and making it easy to understand.

Anna

Dustin - Thanks for the info, never knew I could do this... I'm sure there are a lot of things that these sites can do that I don't know. I just kinda Have a fb profile, never downloaded my address books and invited a bunch of people...

Guess I better get on this idea in my area before someone else takes it over :)

Justin this information is just what I need to stay ahead of the curve in my area! I love Facebook just for the exposure to my sphere, but this networking information and everyone's input is invaluable!

THanks so much for sharing Dustin. I recently came across someone who is staring up a new equestrian website and he said he is getting most of his business from Face Book. He is advertising so just signed up for advertising a few of my listings to see how it goes.

A question: when you create a Facebook page can anyone access your site without you approving them as friend like the regular profile or do you still have the option of not inviting certain Facebook users?

THanks again for this very informative post!

Congrats on getting featured Dustin. I haven't set up a page (just a profile) on Facebook yet, but I do see your argument. Looks like I will have to put one together this afternoon.

Congrats on your newsletter feature. I guess I'll get started, I've been meaning to.

I was trying to keep up with everyone, but you'all didn't fall asleep when I did! ;)

Aurthur: Great idea!

Georgina: Did you find the secret yet? Easiest way is probably just to bookmark the link to your page. You can find it here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/

Kara: Love the enthusiasm... My recommendation is to start one at a time, spend some time marketing it effectively and you'll probably really enjoy the community you can build around the site. Then you can take the lessons you learn from the first to improve the next pages!

Stanton: Great start! I look forward to seeing how you update and market it!

Nicole: Thanks!

Donata: Return and let us know how the marketing of your page(s) goes!

Monika: That's soo your call. That's how I'm approaching Facebook now.. and I think it will improve FB for me on a number of fronts, but it really depends on how you use Facebook to begin with.

Diane: Feel free to share your page with us!

Russ: Thanks for sharing! I just became a fan!

Perri: Thanks! Always enjoy it when you stop by! ;)

Melinda: This link should work: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Don: Looks like you were ahead of me! (Melinda: his solution works just as well as mine!)

Patricia: Thanks! I love getting all the feedback of the AR community!

Susan: It's pretty clear you hit on a topic that I need to cover in the near future! Getting motivated and setting up your page are only the first step... marketing the page is the real fun. I posted just a bit of background on this message board, but more to come in a future blog post! ;)

Jodie: Thank you so much! I'm a sucker for compliments.

Jeff: Thank you!

Andrew: Would love to learn more about how you're taking on the ecobroker angle with your page. Bet you could use that to generate some interesting conversations!

Bob: Wow! Thanks so much for the compliment. I always, always enjoy giving presentations. It's something I tend to stress a bit beforehand, but really enjoy when (if?) I'm able to connect with folks. Thanks again!

Harrison: There's no need to buy ads for your page. I wouldn't be surprised if Facebook prompts you at some point to recommend to buy ads, but you definitely don't need to.

Roberta: You're on! Let us know how it goes!

Anna: let us know how it goes! And if you log-in before leaving comments, then you'll not only get credit for them (points!), but you'll also have your photo show up next to your comments! ;)

Jason: it's definitely still early enough where there is a land-grab going on regarding the FB Pages! I think you'll find it pretty compelling once you get started!

Teresa: Agreed completely! I really love how Facebook Pages allows us to increase the exposure to our sphere and add one more efficient way to network!

Hello Dustin! I did not know there was even a separate page to create...I was so proud of everything I have on my profile...so now, do I take everything from my profile and put it on my new Page? What? Do I keep my profile page updated too? I have everything going to my profile...I am confused. What do you sugggest I do now?

Cindy: That's really intresting to hear about folks getting lots of business out of Facebook... In terms of public information, unlike your FB profile, your Facebook Page is "public" and open to the search engines. You have the ability to "block" folks, but as best as I can tell, you only get that option after they become a fan of your page.

Ryan: Let us know how it goes!

Lyn: Thanks for stopping by! ;)

Moriah: Great question! and one I've been struggling with! I decided to completely make the switch and only use my FB profile for personal stuff (i.e. family, games, and other fun stuff)... and migrate all my biz/marketing/social media conversations over to my Facebook Page. Knowing myself, I do keep those parts of my life pretty separate, so it should work great for me... but in many ways, it depends on how you want to engage with Facebook.

Bless your heart for taking the time to answer each and every one of us who had made comments :)

Okay Dustin here is the Link to my Facbook Business (Fan) Page http://budurl.com/wjw5

Thank you for becoming a fan! I have 19 so far...

Ahh Cindy: I enjoy it! I remember back when I had my first blog comment on Rain City Guide some 4 years ago and I was soooo excited that I responded right away. Then I followed the link and came to the (very hard) realization that it was just a spam comment because the link went back to a drug site. So rough.

Ted: As I told you on twitter, I'd be your fan no matter what social network you were playing with! ;)

Carrie and Kathy Sampron Dustin: Wow, talk about good timing - I just joined Facebook today. Thanks!

The Create A Page instructions aren't working for me. I don't see where it says that. I hate it when people make things seem so simple and I can't figure them out! Duh! Thanks for the interesting article. I book marked it to look at when I have more time to figure out what you're saying.

Carrie and Kathy: good timing works for me! ;)

Susan: Based on feedback in the comments, I think I've improved the instructions since I wrote the post... Try this link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php and if you're still having issues, let me know where you get stuck!

You know, this seem to happen to me everytime I try to implement something I have read from a pro on Activerain. I went to my facebook to make a facebook page and I do not have text in the bottom of the left panel that says "create a page" I checked out everything I could think of to check but could not fine anything other than being able to create a badge. What am I doing wrong?

Great Post, Dustin,

As someone said earlier,it is overwheming but with folks like you sharing the wealth of info, it's getting easier! i'm off to become a fan of your page. Thanks

Sandy: Hopefully we got your questions answered already over on the FB page, but if not, the issue is that it sounds like you were looking on your personal page for the "create a page" link, but it's not there. You've got to be looking on an existing "Page" and not a "Profile", which is why I was suggesting looking at my Page. Anyway, I've definitely come to realize that the best thing I can do is suggest that folks head to this link since it works just as well! http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php Best!

William: Always glad to help! So glad you appreciate it! ;)

Awesome post. Facebook is very powerful media!

You either change with the times or the times change you as far as marketing.

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Great tip. I LOVE facebook. Great tool to connect with old friends and to keep up with friends. I am going to try to creat a 'fan' page.

This is a great post...I use my Facebook profile page for business regularly. I will think about adding a page too!

Greg and Sonya: If you decide to create a page, let me know so we can become fans!

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I don't see any connectivity between my FB page and FB profile. Maybe that's a good thing to keep them separate, but it's odd that while creating my page it asked for my FB profile log-in. 'Probably a squeeze play so you sign up for FB.

I can't tell if the concept of a "page" is something new or old, or whether it preceded "profiles". It possibly doesn't matter, but I overlooked it early on if it was there. It strikes me that it's older and that the FB bureaucrats are trying to make using and updating it similar to profile, but at the same time have two FB's running, one page oriented, one profile based.

With the use of "fans", "pages" are very close to simulating RSS feeds and subscribers.

Unfortunately I didn't discover or focus on "pages" until Dustin's enlightening postings here. I stumbled into the "profile side" a while back and thought that was going to be a business arena, sort of like LinkedIn.

With hindsight, the "profile side" has become more social, to the point it's awkward and almost out of place trying to inject a business comment in the middle of all the kids soccer and hockey game recaps <grin>.

Bottomline : other than their existence and probable important role in business networking, I've learned these important two things about "Pages" :

You have to be on a page, even someone else's to create your own page. There's no link from your FB profile side.

Second, to find your newly published page (be sure to hit that "publish" button), again you won't find a link from your profile side. I had to go to this URL to find my new page : http://www.facebook.com/pages/?browse but again another squeeze play, requiring you have a FB log-in to make the search.

Thanks for your insights here Dustin.

Off on a tangent, is it just me or my computer, coming into this blog and submitting my comment, each time took over 30 seconds to load the page.

In the lower left progress bar, it was counting down over 100 items before it was done.

Seems we're getting choked up here with too many images, widgets, or whatever.

I use WinXP, FireFox or IE 8, and ComCast broadband. I don't know of many blogs including FB that take that long to load.

Anyone else having that experience ? Thanks.

Wolf: You hit on some great points... Facebook Pages have been around for a while, but it's only in the past month or so that they added a bunch more features to Pages that can help them go viral much easier.

And you're definitely right that you need a facebook profile in order to create a Page. Your profile account acts as the "admin" for the Page, and interestingly, each Page *can* have multiple Admins.

In terms of blog comments hanging, I haven't experienced it, but I'll pay attention to what's happening when I submit this comment! Thanks for stopping by!

Here is my FB page about retiring and buying property in Mexico....

http://tinyurl.com/cw9yno

I need a LOT more content. Hope some of you will become fans. Dustin, thanks for signing on!

Ok Dustin, I made my FB business page. Thanks again for the post. Now the challenge is to keep relevant info flowing. I can be found under Tanisha Allen, INTouch Properties.

I became one of your fans too!

Hi Dustin,

Thanks for the post. I already have a FB page for my Real Estate company. However, I do not have a FB page for my Realtor side of the business. I didn't want to have too many pages and was wondering if you suggest just co-marketing using one.

I also wanted to take a look at other Realtors pages for ideas of how to enhance mine. However, I never saw the links to other Realtors pages that you liked on the left panel. Has it been removed?

Thanks,

Tyra

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Thomas: Thanks for the link! I became a fan to check out what you're up to!

Tanisha: Found your page and became a fan as well! :)

Tyra: So sorry about the confusion regarding the pages... There's a funny bug with the app that displays those pages and every time I add a new Page to the list, it removes it from the sidepanel. It's easy enough to add back, but I keep forgetting! ;) It's up again right now, and if it's not there in the future, try looking under the "boxes" tab. In terms of the idea of only creating one page... I definitely like the idea. Trying to get traction on multiple pages at the same time can be really tough (dito for multiple blogs!). Put some time and love into one thing at a time and you're much more likely to nail it!

Thanks for the information. I am struggling with using my facebook page for business. I like to use it for personal - keeping in touch with friends from "back home". I am still debating the pros and cons of making more business orientated.

Great article Dustin, I've used facebook for personal contacts, but now see the value in using it for business. My page is: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Sneads-Ferry-NC/JM-Mortgage-Team/52370012741 Admittedly needs some work. Does it make sense to post my blogs there as well as my main blogging site?

Hi Mike: I think the beauty of the FB "Page" is that it allows you to keep your "profile" personal... If you like keeping your profile personal, then I totally recommend setting up a FB Page as I describe for your biz activities!

Joe: Personally, I wouldn't "auto" post your blog posts there, but linking out to thinks with a personal touch can go a long way. In other words, take just a few moments to write something interesting about why people should read the post and I'll bet you'll get a lot higher click-throughs as well as more interest in your FB Page!

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Dustin- Thanks for sharing this info on pages vs. profiles. I just set up my FB page but now I'm not sure how to populate it. Can I move things over from my profile page or do I have to start from scratch?

Marilyn: You're pretty much gonna need to start from scratch! :( In terms of getting a fan-base, you can always message your existing contacts to let them know about your page, so you can use your existing efforts to build up your page, but you're starting from scratch when you begin.

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Dustin, I became a fan on your FB page. Would you recommend having a collection of "interesting" connections/information, etc. in order to start your page with befor you launch a business page? I'm already on FB, linkedin, plaxo, twitter and active rain. I've established a connection between updates so when I updated AR it automatically feeds to FB, Linkedin, Plaxo and twitter. I also have my AR blog linked to my web site.

Sometimes it seems like the social media networking is taking up too much of my time --- do you have other tools you would recommend to hook everthing together? What are your thoughts about auto-feeding your facebook page from your FB profile? Should it be completely separate?

Dustin,

So nice to see you again here on ActiveRain. You are a wealth of fantastic information and I hope you keep coming back!

Tina in Virginia

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Great points. I like the "permission farming". I originally did not think of facebook as a place to farm.

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Hi Dustin,

It's a great post and I'm trying to followup on Facebook. I see the "Create a Page" link on your page but it is not present on mine. I'd appreciate a tip on how to get this to display.

Vickie: Sorry I haven't followed up here to your automated feed question, because it's a great one! I'm not a huge fan of automating anything. For me, the point of syndicating to these other sites is that I often want to generate interest in my post and I find that if I give each social network just a bit of personalized attention with the update, I get much better results!

Tina: Thanks for the compliment. I always enjoy seeing you around as well! ;)

Tina: I agree that permission farming is a great concept. Credit for the term definitely belongs to Jim Marks

Richard: use the link from my page! My guess is that you mean you're not seeing a link to "create a page" from your profile... and that's because there's not one there!

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Thanks for this post, Dustin. I created a page a long time ago and completely forgot about it (ignored it). I need to revisit it and spend some time updating it.

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Not sure how many of the people who've commented are interested in getting more information on FB Pages, but in one hour I'm going to be hosting a Roundtable conversation with some real estate marketing experts on how to use Facebook to market your business. Learn more about how to join the conversation on the facebook event page!

MAY

Great information Dustin, I have just created my Facebook Business Page.

MAY

FB pages are a great way to keep your business and personal life separate and it is highly recommended that you separate the two on Facebook.

JUL

HI Dustin,

Here is mine and then a question for you: http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#/pages/Delray-Beach-FL/LEAL-USA-REALTY/45207348973

Yes or NO?
Posting a link on the main page of my website to facebook, linked in, active rain profiles????

Karina,

It's hard to say.. It would really depend on your conversion process and what you're trying to accomplish with your website.

NOV

Nice blog I was searching this topic and this came up.

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