This would apply to makers of other instruments as well, but as I am primarily a whistle maker I raise this topic here:
Are there any merits in creating a Facebook business page for a little known maker like me? What is important to get right if going for such? What is your experience with business pages on FB? Or is a personal account more useful?
I have a Busman Whistles page on Facebook in addition to my personal page. Truth to tell it doesn’t get a whole lot of traffic, but then again I don’t add to it very often.
On the other hand, I’d say the vast majority of my over 300 friends are from the whistle or traditional music worlds, so if they so desire, those people can see what I post.
It costs nothing to create a page, so why not give it a shot?
FB works well if you post every day. getting exposure there is like throwing a rock at custard–you have to throw it hard for the ripples to make it far.
wow, worst analogy ever.
I for one never visit Facebook pages, so those shops which only provide information at FFB will be as non-existing to me. I regard the whole Facebook walled garden concept as the 'net getting some kind of near-disastrous pest infection.
That’s my general answer to any be-on-Facebook question. As for the specific question by Hans, I for one like your current web page, I like to visit sites like those.
-Tor
[edit: Forgot a paragraph]
Tor, I agree disliking the FB ‘walled garden’ concept, and I much prefer creating and updating my own website, as I am there in full control. A FB page will only ever be in addition to my regular website, and my regular website will contain vastly more information.
What FB offers is that new posts on a page there will be shown in the news feeds of all who subscribed (‘Liked’) the page, and that people can leave comments and feedback. In other words, it may help to develop a community. This is not so easy to achieve with a standard website.
So, yes, Paul, I will give it a try. And it is free, not counting the time wasted trying to get it right, to work within FB constraints.
As to posting every day, fearfeasog: if I would get some product info every day from some company, on FB or by email, I would get really annoyed and regard it as spamming, and would unsubscribe.
So I went ahead and had a quick start creating a FB page, just to set it up, but will update the cover photo etc and add more soon:
http://www.facebook.com/BrackerWhistles
I certainly will use it to inform about sales and developments. So if you are interested, subscribe by ‘Liking’ it.
facebook just works when you “feed it” (daily)
anyway there are people “living” on facebook and not visiting regular websites often
BUT Newsfeeds, comments and a community you can have on yopur own website too
i recoment, get ypur website “working” first (having feeds and comments there)
than if you have time left, start with facebook (the problem is, you have to visit facebook yourself than 
)
i did click on “like” even if i am nearly never on facebook (i dont like it)
If you are making a facebook account for a business pursuit, the correct way to do it is to make a page, rather than making a personal account with your business name. The latter is a violation of TOS.
I understand that some people hate the whole “walled garden” idea, but here’s the rub - others love it and are unwilling to leave. I’m a photographer, so I use my page extensively to get new clients. I used to just post teaser images and link to my blog, but the thing is, most casual visitors aren’t going to feel invested enough to click on an outside link, but they will go through tons of content on your facebook pages - and may then end up becoming a client. I’ve realized it’s much more advantageous to just let people consume content in the way that’s most comfortable for them. Should it really make a difference if people are finding my work via facebook and liking it enough to hire me, versus them seeing a teaser image and then clicking on my website and reading about the images? It kind of is an ego thing. The bottom line is, do you want to let your personal internet habits govern how prospective clients find you? Or do you want to be accessible through a variety of channels?
If you are actively trying to grow your business, a facebook page is one more way to bring awareness to your brand. But like others said, the key is keeping the content interesting. It doesn’t have to be daily, but your page shouldn’t look like a ghost town if someone visits it either.
Also, in this day and age, a facebook page is so widely accepted as something businesses do that having one adds a level of authenticity to your business. Just like having your own domain name, instead of hosting your site on a free web host. Everyone googles, and people expect, for the most part, for the companies they purchase from to have an internet footprint. It kind of freaks me out when I find a product I’m interested in, and I can’t find anything about it online. With instrument makers, I’m guessing the comments from happy customers would be great testimonials that would make other prospective customers feel safe purchasing from you.
It’s also very much generational. For the younger generation, facebook is how they interact with everything, and if you want to attract young customers it doesn’t hurt to have a presence on there.
Ooops, double post. My computer has the hiccups!
only problem is, you have to be presence there
thanks Lynn, you made good points! But it is quite a challenge to create an attractive Facebook “presence”. The format is so limited, there is basically just on page (the “Timeline”), plus album spaces for photos. I probably could add an album with videos, but I have to create videos first, right now I only got sound tracks, as sound samples for my various whistles. And to create more integration of website and Facebook page is even more challenging, but I’ll try and explore what is possible.
@Andreas: I take your point about adding the option for visitors to leave comments, and perhaps even have RSS feed. I think both make sense for blog pages, but not so much for info pages (like a page about Low D whistles). Adding and integrating a blog to my site might be worth it. That would then sort of function in parallel to anything posted on Facebook, with some duplication.