Before you create your Facebook page, you will want to have some basic information ready ahead of time.

WHO: Who is your ideal customer? Consider the age, gender, job, and income, as much as you can to identify your perfect client.

WHY: Why are you creating this page? (Not just because I told you to, I hope.) Are you hoping to find new leads and customers? Do you want to build a community and loyalty with your existing customers? The page can have more than one purpose, but one should be dominant.

WHAT: What do you want your fans to do at this page? Can they post messages to your wall? Pictures, video, and audio? Just play with some of the many apps available? You want to engage them in a community. I know you may be wary of giving up brand control, but your brand image has always been in the consumer’s hands, anyway. Create the best experience for your customers you can, and the rest will take care of itself.

NAME: What will be the name for your page? If you have an established business name, you will want that to be the name, of course. If you are an independent professional, such as a consultant, CPA, doctor or lawyer, use your own name for your page. It’s OK to have this even if (as you should) you already have a personal profile under the same name.

Have some pictures ready, at least a couple of profile pics. Make them as personal as you can. People connect with people, not corporations, so you will want a human face for your profile pic. You want it to be the face people associate with your business, whether that is the hostess at your restaurant or your delivery driver. Use you own face if appropriate. Don’t let ego get in your way, that’s what your personal profile is for.

To create your Facebook page, go to http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages. There you’ll start on the Overview tab. I highly suggest you download the Product Guide; it will answer a lot or questions you may have.

Click the large green “Create a Page” button to begin. Select the category for your business, and enter the name you chose for your page. You can select the “Do not make Page publicly visible at this time.” if you are worried about people seeing the page before it is ready. Not many people will see the page for the first few days anyway, so I never worry about it.

Click “Create Page” and you’re ready to begin the real work of customizing your page, driving traffic to it, and engaging your new fans.