Facebook and Small Businesses

RT: Joy Roach -- Interesting article about small businesses and Facebook from USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2011-09-16/facebook-small-business-sandberg/50419654/1

Thank you, Joy, for calling this to our attention.

Let me make the following points about the article:

* With 750 million Facebook users, it looks like Facebook is going to be in the middle of social media marketing for the forseeable future.

* This article provides the following excellent example of how small businesses can use Facebook advertising -- "A wedding photographer, for instance, could advertise just to women in a specific ZIP code who list on Facebook that they are engaged. A movie chain could talk just to film fans."

* This is another example from the article -- "Sarah Loveland, owner of Daddies Board Shop, a skateboard shop in Portland, Ore., began using paid advertising with Facebook in 2010, in hopes of growing her business more quickly. She targeted fans of extreme sports and friends of those who ride skateboards and longboards. The result: She says her business shot up, and she attributes much of it to Facebook."

* The article also suggests that 10,000 fans is a majic number for small businesses that want to grow and reach a wider community. I don't know if 10,000 is the right number, but it seems to be reasonable target.