Facebook is what we like to call a “social media tool” around here. By putting this free service in your arsenal of online band promotional tools, you can get in touch with new and interesting folk — and your existing fans.

Today I’m going to take a step back from philosophy and show you how to create a fan page for your band on Facebook. Aren’t you lucky? Less ruminating and more “do this now.” I should mention that creating a Facebook page for your fans doesn’t instantly bring you fame and fortune, there is a little bit of legwork that goes along with that. You will need your own Facebook account in order to create a page; there is a step for you to log in, but if you don’t have an account — don’t worry about it because there will be an opportunity for you to do that later.

Anyway, here are the steps to creating a FREE fan page for your band on Facebook:

GO TO FACEBOOK — You don’t even have to think. Just click on this little Create a Facebook Page link. Guess where that takes you?

CLICK on the ARTIST, BAND, or PUBLIC FIGURE PAGE TYPE — So now you need to tell Facebook that you are part of a band and you want to be showered with money, fame and lots of men (or women). Whatevah! The choices are: Local (For a company or business), Brand or Product (Self-Explanatory) or Artist, Band or Public Figure (Band, Musician, Writer, etc.). From what I’ve seen, lots of bands choose the “musician” option. Makes sense, right?

ENTER YOUR BAND NAME — If you’ve chosen “Band,” probably be a good idea at this point to name your page with your band’s name. Once you’ve put in what name you want to be referred to and searched by, click on the blue “create page” button and remember — it’s permanent so choose wisely, grasshopper. Oh, and you “might” want to include the word “Band” with your name. Check out this Tool fan page on Facebook for an example.

LOG IN WITH YOUR PERSONAL ACCOUNT — Remember earlier when I said you need your own account? Yeah, well this is the part where you have to log in to Facebook here, or you have to create your Facebook log in. Only human beings, chimpanzees (and aliens posing as human beings) can create Pages, so once you’ve verified you’re not a robot you’re good to go.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR PAGE for YOUR BAND — OOOOOooooo, shiny! Now you have a page for your band, but there is nothing on it! Well, fortunately you do NOT have to be a web designer to customize a page on Facebook, but you do need a bit of reading comprehension. Here are a few of the ways that you can choose to customize your Facebook page.

Add a Picture: Remember when I mentioned all those free photo editing and storage tools for your band photos? Here’s where that’s going to come in pretty handy. The maximum filesize for an image is 4 megabytes. Our MXTABS.NET page on Facebook can give you some ideas. Though, I’m sure those photos can get kind of…dangerous. *evil grin*

Add Your Band Website’s RSS Feed: Got a band blog or a website? Click on the “Add a Note” feature for your band page’s customization and add your RSS feed. On the right hand side in a small, grey box you’ll see “Notes Settings” where you can import your blog. This is kinda cool because you won’t have to update your page as often.

Add Band History for your Information: Take a peek under your band’s picture. Notice that dead space? Well, here’s a chance for you to write a couple of paragraphs about your bandmates, what type of music you play, where people can listen to you, etc.

Add a Music Video: OOoooo… I heart home-grown music videos, don’t you? Unfortunately, shorter videos work better than longer ones because there’s some extra hoops to go through here. You can add links for other videos on “the wall,” though.

PUBLISH your BAND on FACEBOOK — Yeah, so pretty self-explanatory, but in order for other people to see your creation, you’ll have to publish it. DOH!

PROMOTE YOUR BAND’S PAGE LIKE CRAZY — Do I really have to explain what this means? You can add a link to your band’s page on Facebook pretty much everywhere, but there are some “restrictions” on how you can promote yourself. (Read the long laundry list of what you can do with Facebook pages, including promotion – here.)

So there you have it. Delivered straight to you, this is a free, legal way to promote your band. Just the way we like it. Got a Facebook page to share? Yours or another band’s? Post ‘em in the comments below!