Hands-on Facebook workshop scheduled

Local resident Mark Shead plans to use his expertise to present a workshop designed to help local businesses with their marketing strategies.

Shead will present a Hands-On Facebook for Business workshop from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 17, in the Citizens Bank training room on the second floor.

The date was changed from Aug. 10.

The seminar will cover topics such as setting up and managing a Facebook business page, ideas on getting people to follow the page, and tips on using the popular social network and other sites to market locally.

"Particularly in Fort Scott, there is a lot of business that goes elsewhere just because people don't know what's here," Shead said.

Shead said he wants to help people who have Facebook pages but aren't sure what to do with them, or don't know how to set up a separate Facebook page for their business.

"A lot of people were asking for a step-by-step on how to create a page and market it," he said.

Shead said he would like to give people the tools "to use their Facebook page more effectively."

"I hope what comes out of the class is that people start seeing stuff in Fort Scott," rather than ordering products on the internet or visiting another town to purchase goods, he said.

There are benefits for business owners to creating a business page separate from their personal Facebook account, Shead said.

"People have their personal profile, and then a business page lets you create something completely separate from your personal page," he said, adding the business page can provide information on the business, such as hours of operation and other details. "Another advantage is there's a limit to how many people can follow you on Facebook ... but for the business page, there is no limit to the number of followers."

Cost for the workshop will be $10 for chamber members and $20 for non-members.

Among topics to be covered during the seminar are:

* How to set up and manage a Facebook business page

* Managing interactions with users

* Posting strategies -- how to engage your followers

* Getting likes -- some ideas on getting people to follow your page

* Facebook ads

* Vanity URLs -- how to get an easy-to-remember URL (web address) for your Facebook page.

Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lindsay Madison said the chamber "is trying to hold a quarterly business seminar as a service to business members in the community." Workshops feature topics relevant to businesses.

Shead said his company, the Xeric Corp., provides consulting services to businesses. He said the company "bridges the gap" between the worlds of technology and business sense.

Shead conducted a workshop earlier this year titled "How to use everyday tools to increase everyday sales." A total of 15 businesspeople attended the two sessions, held at Mercy Hospital. Topics discussed at that seminar included:

* Using Google and Twitter to help business

* How to use and advertise on Facebook

* How website and mailing lists can benefit business

Shead said he is volunteering his services "to help the chamber and Fort Scott -- to hopefully help the economy and raise awareness of what's here."

The seminar later this month will be a hands-on session, so participants should bring a laptop if possible. Shead said he encourages those without laptops to borrow one from someone, if possible. There should be a couple of extra computers on hand at the workshop.

Madison said six people have thus far signed up for the seminar.

Contact the chamber at (620) 223-3566 to make a reservation. Shead can be contacted at mark.shead@xeric.net.