Facebook has a shiny new thing called Places, and through that, Deals.  They work in conjunction with your Business Page.   Three concepts, explained:

1. People can be a fan of your PAGE and receive updates as you post them in their news feed
2. People can check-in to your PLACE when they are physically present, and when it is connected to your PAGE…
3. ….People can also redeem DEALS.  With deals, you can offer one of four things:
   1. An individual deal whereupon checkin, they receive X
   2. A loyalty deal whereupon mutilple checkins within a specified timeframe, they receive X
   3. A group deal wherepon checking in with friends, they collectively get X
   4. A charity deal (shown below) whereupon checking in, they help your chosen charity

Captions:  1. iPhone Application, 2. Places nearby to check into, Subway has a deal, as indicated by the yellow icon, 3. The Deal, shown on the “Check In” screen.

All in all, a very rewarding experience for not just the fan, but for the page owner with a physical location as well.  But there’s one caveat… in order for people to participate in this, they have to tell the world they’re not home.  That’s a scary concept if they don’t know how to protect their information.  This is where this blog aims to help you educate your fans so they won’t be afraid to use this shiny new thing to help them earn rewards with your business.

Feel free to share this article with your customers and copy/paste as you like, but please be courteous and provide a link back to this page.

Step 1.

When logged into Facebook under your own personal account, go to the top right of your screen and click on “Account.”

Step 2.

Then click on “Privacy Settings”

Step 3.

This is the screen you should see next. As marked by the red arrow, click on “Customize Settings.” You may have different privacy settings enabled and may see different dots filled in, but you may also see the same. Whatever you see, simply focus on the “Customize Settings” link.

Step 4.

Follow the red indicator arrows in this picture to the “Places I check in to” drop down box and click it. If you like, if you’d like additional privacy, uncheck the “Include me in “People Here Now” after I check in. Further down the page, you may disallow people from checking you into places by scrolling to the section entitled, “Friends can check me in to Places” and then “edit settings.”
Yours will likely say “edit settings,” not “Those I Love.”  This is an example of a list.  It’s highly recommended that you choose a list of those that are closest to you so you know your house will not get broken into while you’re away!  The last thing you need to be doing is alerting acquaintances to your absence from your home!

Step 5.

Again, regardless of the “Those I Love” list name, click “Custom edit.”

Step 6.

In this screen, you may begin to type the name of the list that contains only those you trust. You may also type individual names here also. Would a list be easier? See the end of this post for instructions on how to create one.

Finally, click “Save Setting” and you’re all set and ready to go! You can now SAFELY begin using Facebook Places as much as you want and never miss a single deal!

Bonus: How to Create a List

Step 1.

From any screen on Facebook, you may click the account button, and then click edit friends.

Step 2.

Click on Create List when you see this screen.

Step 3.

In the top left, you can name your list.  Pick something you’ll remember easily so you can begin to type it and then click on it when the list pops up.  In the second box lower and to the right, begin to type your friends names that you would like to appear on the list.  Alternatively, you can opt to click on your friends’ faces as they appear in the white area below.

Images are copyright protected by their respective owners, Apple, Inc. and Facebook, Inc.