Over 500 Million people are aware that Facebook offers a place where we can connect with old friends, keep up with family, blah blah blah, you know THAT part already. What far less people know, including many small business owners, is that Facebook also allows you have a page for your business!

It started out as “Facebook Business Pages” then evolved into “Facebook Fan Pages”, and is currently called, “Facebook Like Pages” or more commonly recognized when you press the button to “LIKE” a business. It’s a place on Facebook that allows you to ENGAGE the community for your business.

You can advertise services, post specials, promote awareness, have contests, give back to the community, or rally your “fans” around a cause. The Facebook Fan Page (what I still prefer to call it) is a MUST component of your total online marketing program. Best of all, with a few clicks, you can set the whole thing up yourself for FREE!

The PROBLEM is that your default Fan Page won’t do much to promote your brand. More specifically, this means that people will be taken to your fan page “Wall” when they type in the URL to get to your business page because the Wall is the default setting.

Getting to your “Wall” is nice, but it doesn’t do much to promote your BRAND. The GOOD news is that through a programming language called FBML, it is possible to create a custom “Welcome” page that can have the same look and feel as your website, blog, and other social network profiles. The Welcome page can be set as the default for when people type in your fan page URL.

Here is an example of what you would get when you go to www.facebook.com/amazingvideotours if we did not have a custom Facebook Fan Page:

Here is the same Facebook Fan Page with a Custom Welcome Tab:

As you can see the difference is night and day. The before shot (which takes you to our “Wall”) does nothing for our brand. The “after” photo has the same look and feel as our company website, blog, Twitter profile, and YouTube profile. Your page can include embedded video, photographs, and most importantly – links to your website, blog, and other social media profiles. This makes it easy for your audience to connect with you across the social media space.

You never know which social network a potential client may find your business on the Internet, so it is very important for your business brand to be in front of anyone who sees your content online.

If you don’t have a custom Facebook fan page, you may very likely be passing up 1000’s of opportunities to put your Brand in front of the eyes of potential clients.