ARTICLE BY JAMES BRINDLE

So you’ve decided to create a Facebook Fan Page for your company, congratulations! Now what? One of the first rules of marketing is to stand out, something that will be difficult to do with a cookie-cutter fan page template. . . unless you follow these tricks:

Add Boxes to your Page:

1) Download FBML code: this is the first and most important step to giving your page a facelift. Simply search for FMBL in the Facebook search bar and select the FBML Application when the results come up. Once you’re on the FBML Page, simply select the Add to Page button, and choose the fan page that you have created when the window pops up.

2) Now, return to your fan page’s wall and select the Edit Page option. Scroll down and click on FBML-FBML. Here’s where it may get a bit tricky. If all you want in your boxes is text, you simply write what you want to appear in the content box. However, if you’re looking for something a little more, shall we say, visually stimulating, then you will need to do some HTML coding. Don’t freak out. If you’re not familiar with HTML you have a few options:
• Search the web for “HTML Dictionary” and learn the basics. It’s not that         hard to do, for instance, if you would like to simply add a picture to your text,     enter: <a href=”your image url” width=”350″ height=”258″ /></a>
The width and height you may, of course, alter.
• Download a program off the web such as Adobe Dreamweaver® that will     help you design your code.
• Hire a college kid to do it for cheap!

3) To make another box, select Add another FBML box at the bottom of the Edit FBML page.

Give Your Page a “Website” feel:

So what if you want viewer’s first impression of your fan page to be that it’s more like a website than a Facebook page? This strategy is a little more advanced, but the results can be worth the headache.
1) Download FMBL (see above for details)

2) Enter the HTML code. Chances are, there will be some heavy coding to get the look you want to achieve, so if you’re not familiar with HTML, we suggest you hire somebody (see step 2, bullet point 3 of the above strategy).

3) Once your code has been created and added to your page, it will appear in the boxes tab as a box. To change it from a box to its own tab, go to back to your page’s wall and select Edit Page. Find your newly-created FBML under Applications and select Application Settings. In the window that pops up, select remove next to Box and add next to Tab, and hit Okay. Select the new tab and check out your work!

4) To make your HTML tab the first tab that new viewers land on, select Edit Page on your wall, choose Wall Settings and set the Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else to the tab you just created.

Make your Profile Picture Pop:

If you want to literally “break out of the box” that Facebook creates, here’s a trick specifically for you! Follow this URL and find out how to make it appear as if your Facebook pic is popping out of its frame:

http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-profile-photo-hacks/

We’d love to hear how you’ve customized your page, and the responses your getting! Feel free to drop a note in the comment box below!