What Facebook Places means for your business

Social media is where a lot of the businesses are looking to move these days, it is absolutely de rigueur to have a social presence where you tweet, poke and do all sorts of things you stopped doing when you were eight or so. Facebook Places however does look like an interesting tool for businesses to put to use. In a nutshell, Places is a tool that lets people know your current location or allows them to “check you in” to places. There will be uproar as far as privacy goes, but those that do want to block the tool will do so. They are of no concern to you as a business, the only thing that should matter to you is this; how can you use Places to take your business to the next level?

On Facebook Places, setting up a page will allow users and customers to see your business (the Place) on their mobile device as well as a list of their friends who are at this location. This also includes a live stream of friends who have checked in to your business at some time or the other. This page will also have information about your business and you can upload information to the page allowing for breaking information to be shared. Most businesses, growing or otherwise, need a certain amount of attention drawn to it to keep on flourishing and this is where Facebook Places could be a very handy tool in your quiver of social networking tools. It takes a few steps of verification and what not to get your location up and running but it seems that first-mover advantage could be everything for your business. You know what they say about real-estate; it’s all about location, location, location.

Don’t get around to doing it sometime, get on it now. Think of it like the Gold Rush of the Old West; those that got there first reaped the most benefits. In kiddie speak, finders keepers, losers weepers. By standing up and being counted right now, you can control the physical address of your location and all information related to it and information, as they say, is power. Admittedly, it is way too early to understand exactly of how much value Facebook Places will be in the long run but as long as the price tag is right, why not hitch yourself to the band wagon? Local businesses arguably stand to gain most but there’s probably something in there for everyone and it is question of you understanding how best to leverage its advantages, both offline and online. After all, any publicity is good publicity.