FaceBook: A Great Custom Look For Business Women

by Felice Gerwitz

Connecting and building relationships is what networking is all about. It is not surprising that companies large and small have joined the online networking revolution. "To have friends you must be a friend first," was the advice of my mother years ago, and still rings true today. Give value and you will have many friends flocking to your sites everyday. Using FaceBook to get them there works.

Letting customers know about specials, events or promotions via FaceBook, is an effective way to drive traffic to your site. Yet it is hard to stand out from the crowd when we all look the same. Facebook does not allow for many kinds of customization features...or does it? Women especially, and Business Women networkers in particular, are interested in using Facebook applications.

As with any type of information, make sure that you advertise to the masses. You can use Twitter to post information about your updates on FaceBook. Make sure the topic or title is intriguing. And, make your Facebook site look special with a little known Facebook application, Facebook Markup Language or FBML app. In this application you can customize your Facebook page.

One of the best uses for this application is the ability to paste HTML code from another application, such as a opt-in box for your newsletter or email group. In this way your custom box will show up in your sidebar on Facebook or in a tab at the top. I increased my Newsletter opt-in's by the hundreds with this one little feature.

Even though I am not an expert in web based language, I was able to add this application easily with the directions found on Facebook. For a more detailed tutorial, look at the help tab on the FB website, or hire a web master. If you want a super quick tutorial, (or Information in a Nutshell!)...

• In the search box at the top corner of your FB, page type in FBML. It will take you to another page that has an icon for the FBML...http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=FBML&init=quick
• Once you are on the page (it is a fan page) you will see the icon and under it click, "Add to My Page" You will then see a pop up window with all the fan pages that you Administer and you can select the page to add your FBML.
• Go back to your Fan Page and click the edit page and viola! There is the device ready to be edited. It will show up as a blank box and there is where you add the code.

That is where you can place the HTML code generated from your newsletter provider, in my case I use Aweber as well as Vertical Response. Each of these sites gives the user HTML code to paste on a website and now you know how to add it to your FaceBook page. FaceBook will soon unveil another updated look. Some users already have the new home page. There is always something new to learn, so stay tuned!