If your facebook fan page just hit the fan, you are not alone. Probably in excess of 2 million Facebook Fan pages are expected to get clobbered by Facebooks new policy that goes into effect on October 1, 2011.
All eternal apps and i-frame source pages need to be https:// and not merely http:// This is a big deal.
If your ear’s to the ground and you follow stuff like this, the news isn’t new news. Facebook announced the policy back in February. But most people either didn’t hear about it at all, figured it didn’t apply to them, or let in go in one ear and out the other, so to speak.
For the month of October, I expect to be doing a lot of Facebook work helping local businesses in the twin cities area get set up on SSL and then working with them to build better Fan Pages altogether.
You could do the same, or even just do your own thing if you are the hands on type of business by using either or both of the two resources I will be using.
The best guide I’ve seen for setting up the SSL certification process is the
Getting set up is not difficult, but it is a multi-step process that includes several small purchases and several interim waiting periods, that make it a multi-day effort. As such it is a perfect project for a small business consultant, like me, to handle for businesses that are otherwise focused on running their business and not their facebook fan page.
Now once set up, the next question is how effective the fan page really is in meeting the businesses’ actual goals. Just like the web sites I’ve written about in the past, most small business Facebook Fan Pages Suck. Even those done professionally are often deficient in key aspects. That is where the second tool is invaluable.
==> Instant Facebook Fan Pages
With the Instant Facebook Fan Pages system, what used to be a tedious process is made simple. Like everything, you get better with practice, so while a business may do well by owning and using it themselves, it’s ideally a tool for those who wish to help local businesses get set up on facebook.
Now I will be charging my local clients a $150 introductory fee to get them fixed up on the SSL issue. Most people I know charge around $500 for setting up a facebook page, which is where I typically am as well, although I tend to package it with other services, including an autoresponder setup, ethical bribe generation, and the essential keyword research that is so critical to determining how many and which fan pages to focus on initially.
