Right, because I recently started working with a few local retailers and am SO excited about it that I’ve wanted to spread the word everywhere: on my blog, on Twitter and of course on Facebook, to name a few! So I added a Retailers page to my blog, updated my Profile in my Etsy shop, tweeted it out and made a few Facebook status updates about the news. And this week, I added a new tab on my fan page called “Where to Buy”!

Here’s a tutorial on how you too can add a custom tab to your very own fan page!

You’ll need:

• A Facebook Business Page (aka fan page) of your own
  • If you don’t yet have a fan page, see my previous post entitled Promote your Etsy shop on Facebook for assistance or try one of the many other fine tutorials that have been written since!
• Some very basic HTML knowledge…or simply the ability to copy other people’s HTML code!
  • Here’s a page from w3schools.com with four very basic HTML tags that make a perfectly good start for HTML newbies! If you’re feeling more adventurous, use the menu of the left side of their site to find out how to make bulleted or numbered lists, basic tables…and more! Hack away, no harm done!

Ready?

1) Add the Static FBML application to your page

• Go to the Static FBML application page and click “Add to my Page”.

• Tell Facebook which of your fan pages you want to add the Static FBML app to. Click Add to Page. Then click the Close button.

2) Go back to your fan page and open the newly added Static FBML application

• I usually access my fan page either through a bookmark that I’ve added to my browser, or through a shortcut I’ve created on my Facebook profile page. Below is a screenshot of the latter.

• Once you’re on your fan page, click Edit Page.

• You’ll see a list of editable stuff for your page. Scroll to the Applications section. (1) Click on the pencil icon to display the edit menu and (2) Click the Edit link.

3) Create content for your new tab

• Clicking the Edit link above will take you to a simple form page where you can edit (1) the title of your tab and (2) the content to be displayed in your tab. You’ll notice that I’ve used some really basic HTML tags in the FBML box in order to format how my content is displayed. If you don’t know any HTML, you could just enter plain text but everything will just show up as, well, plain text and in a single paragraph — no line breaks, no bullets, nada.

• When you’re done, click (3) Save Changes.

• Facebook will confirm that your changes are saved. Then, click on the name of your fan page to return to its front page.

4) Tell Facebook to display your new tab, dammit

• When you get back to your fan page, you’ll see that your new tab is…nowhere to be found. WHAT?! Not to worry. Click on (1) the + icon to add a new tab, and (2) select your newly created tab — in this case, “Where to Buy”.

• You should now see something like this, where your new tab is displayed, content and all, alongside all your other tabs:

You did it! You did it! Jump up and down, call your mother, tell your friends and holla at ya fans! Your new tab is in town!

Addendum:
Waaaaaait a quick second. Say you come back to your page the next day and WTH?! Your new tab is M-I-S-S-I-N-G. Freak out! No no, don’t do that. This just means that your other tabs have momentarily crowded it out. Just click on (1) the double arrow >> icon, and (2) select your previously “missing” tab. Note that you can shuffle the order of your tabs around just by clicking on the tab you want to move and drag it to your desired position, holding your mouse button down while you do this. Hooraaaay, happiness returns.

Feeling fancy?
To take it to the next level, or for more ideas and information, try these helpful articles:

• Customizing Facebook Pages with “Static FBML” application by HyperArts
• Static FBML: Not Every Facebook Fan Page Needs An Application by Snipe.Net

I hope this was helpful! If you have any other tips to share, I’d love to hear your inside scoop!Similar Posts:

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Looking for a way to get some more exposure for my products and Etsy shop, I spent the morning creating a Facebook Page for eleen.etsy.com, complete with an Etsy Mini (a widget that displays a subset of products from my shop).

A Facebook Page is basically a profile page for your business. It’s linked to and administered from your personal Facebook page and is distinct from a Facebook Group in the sense that groups are “meant to be built around a group of people rather than an individual business or brand”, says the author of Facebook for Business: Opportunties and Limitations. Also, you can add applications to Pages but not to Groups. For another helpful comparison of Pages vs. Groups, see this article on Facebook Groups vs. Facebook Pages.

Anyway I didn’t think Facebook Page creation was the most straightforward process in the world so if you’re looking for guidance on building your own, here’s how I went about it.

But first! I present a screenshot of my new Facebook Page to all who are interested:

Tada!

Okay here goes (these instructions assume you’re logged in to your Facebook account already):

I. Create a Facebook Page for your Etsy shop

1) Go to Facebook Pages and review the description and setup instructions
You can also get there from the Home page by clicking on Advertising (in footer links at bottom of page) > Pages (2nd row of links at top of page). Thanks to Amy’s “Using Facebook to Promote Your Etsy Shop” video on YouTube’s Indie5Collective channel for pointing me in this direction.

Make note of the fact that you cannot change the name of your Facebook Page once you’ve created it. I didn’t catch that and it sucked. You have to delete and create a new page if you need to change your page name. Ah well, better now than later.

2) Go to Create a New Facebook Page, choose your category and enter your shop name
I chose Brand or Product > Online Store > and named my Page “eleen :: good stuff * hand made”.

3) Add the basic information about your shop
I uploaded my shop logo in the Picture section, filled out the Information section and created a few photo albums to start out with.

4) Add your Etsy Mini to the Page
Here’s the fun part! There are two apps that allow you to add your Etsy Mini to Facebook. One is the Etsy Shop app, which adds your Etsy Mini to your personal profile (instructions below). This app is not currently available for adding to Pages.

The My Stuff by Gigya app lets you add your Etsy Mini to your business Page (as well as to your personal profile). This is the step for adding your Etsy Mini to your business Page.

• Click on the Edit Page link in the top right corner of your page.
• Scroll to the bottom of the list of default Applications on your page.
• In the More Applications box, click the Edit (pencil) icon and choose Browse More.
• Now you’re on the Application Directory page.
• In the Search Applications field (towards top right of page), search for “My Stuff”.
• On the results page, click on My Stuff by Gigya.
• Click on the blue Add to Page button in the right column.
• Click the Add My Stuff button to confirm that you want to add this app.
• So here’s where I got confused, because from there I got a blank page.
  • If you have the little Facebook toolbar at the bottom of your browser, you can click on Page Manager > Pages > Edit Page.
  • If you don’t have that, go to your Facebook Home page and in the right column under Applications, click Page Manager > Pages > Edit Page.
• Now find the My Stuff app that you added to your Applications list, click the pencil icon and select Edit.
• Open a new browser window and go to Your Etsy. Under Promote in the left column, click Etsy Mini.
• Build your Etsy Mini. I did 4 columns, 4 rows of thumbnail sized images.
• Copy the code for the Flash version.
• Go back to your My Stuff editing window and paste the code into the Add Code box.
• Click Add to profile and be entranced by the interstitial animation.
• Go back to your Page (either using the browser back button, or navigating to it from the Page Manager). You should now see your Etsy Mini! Note: If there’s a giant green arrow, click on it to make the Flash load. Also, if for some reason it still doesn’t show, head back to your My Stuff edit page and click the Refresh Profile link.

5) If you have a blog, you can import your entries into the Notes application.
Why not?! Click edit in the Notes section, then under Notes Settings just click “Import a blog”. Instant notes!

6) Add apps as you see fit, drag the content around til you like the order, then Publish the Page
My Stuff was the only app I added to start out with, and I deleted the Video app for now since I have no content for it.

II. Update your Facebook personal profile

7) Add the Etsy Shop application to your personal profile
Etsy provides a handy Facebook app that lets you easily display up to 6 shop items on your personal profile page. You can choose to display it from either your Wall tab or your Boxes tab.

On the Wall tab, the module displays in the left column beneath your Description, Information and Friends boxes:

In the Boxes tab, the module displays in a larger format with product names. This is where I’m placing mine.

• From the Etsy Shop application page, click on Go to Application, then Allow access.
• Complete the form with your Etsy Username, the number of items you want shown (1-6) and whether you want to show items from your own Shop or from your Favorites. Click Add.
• From the next page, Click Add to Profile. Note: The Favorites from your Facebook friends will not be added your profile page.
• Choose where you want your Etsy Shop app to show up, either in your Wall and Info tab or your Boxes tab. Click Add.
• If you’re happy with the placement shown, click Keep.
• If you’d prefer a larger view of your Etsy Shop, click the pencil icon in the right corner of the box, and choose ‘Move to Boxes tab’.

III. Spread the word!
This I have only just begun to do, but here’s where I plan to start…

8) Link to your own darn page!
Maybe because it’s new and I’m  not used to it, but somehow I find it really hard to get to my own Facebook Page. So now I not only have a browser bookmark to it, I also link to it from several different places.

• On Facebook, in the Information box underneath your profile photo and description

• On Facebook, in the Posted Items box. From your Facebook Page, click the Share button. Select the Post to Profile tab and Post. Now you’ll have an item posted in your Posted Items box, which displays by default under the Boxes tab of your personal page. I’ve moved this to my Wall tab for (maybe) better visibility.
  
• In your Etsy Shop Announcement and/or Etsy Profile
  
• From your blog (see Step 10)
• In your email signature… You get the picture!

9) You fan their page, they’ll fan yours
Lots of Etsy sellers are more than willing to be a fan of your page if you become a fan theirs, and you can find lots of threads in the Etsy Forums about Facebook and Facebook pages where sellers list their links in droves. Also, don’t forget to become a fan of your own page. This will add your page to the Info tab of your personal Facebook profile.

10) Use a badge, any badge
Well actually it looks like Facebook only provides one, but it looks like this and is available, along with Facebook’s usage guidelines on Promoting your Facebook Page outside Facebook.

11) Share and share alike
Use the Share button in the right column of your page to beg and plead your friends to become fans of your page and/or ask them to ask their friends to do the same.

12) Listen to the wisdom of those who’ve gone before you
The Pages portion of the Facebook Help Center and the Facebook Pages Insider’s Guide offer plenty of paths to follow to get you (and me) started in on promoting our pages. I’m sure there are countless other fine resources as well. If you’ve had good success with yours, I’d love to hear how you did it!

III. Track and optimize
Once your page has been published for about 48 hours, you’ll get free access to metrics on “user exposure, actions, and behavior relating to your Social Ads and Facebook Page” via Facebook Insights. I haven’t seen this yet since I only just published this morning. 36 more hours! Update: Here are my stats after about 6 days of the page being live. I got work to do!

Here’s Facebook’s take on which pages will be the most successful:

The Pages with the freshest, most engaging content stand to gain the most from this new product—since each track played, video viewed, review written and event attended can generate News Feed stories that propagate through the social graph. Facebook will accelerate the rate at which unknown entities become popular, and it will also fortify the position of those who are already recognized highly among users. Whether large or small, all artists, businesses, and brands have the potential for exponential distribution through the graph if they can engage users.

So, I can see how you could end up spending a whole lotta time on this. But I can also see how it’d be well worth the effort. We’ll see how it goes!

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