"I’m proof that Facebook can give your business a shot in the arm if you allow it to," says Sara Cole, owner of Parisian Nails of Sequim in Sequim, Wash. Cole started a business Facebook fan page when she began nail school because it was the best way she knew to hit the ground running when she graduated. And it worked. "I’ve gotten new customers from it, and my existing customers can see what’s up and what’s new," she says. "I believe a Facebook fan page is ‘electronic word of mouth,’ so to speak."

Cole is so impressed by the power of Facebook that she and two friends now set up fan pages for other small businesses. "The three of us own a business called Shop & Play Olympic Peninsula. My partners are very good at sales and I’m behind the scenes doing most of the Facebook postings and creating the new pages," she says. "We cross-market businesses we represent to get everyone more exposure. We charge $75 to set up a fan page and $75 a month to manage them."

For more information on Cole’s services, e-mail shop-playolympicpeninsula@hotmail.com or visit www.shopplayolympicpeninsula.com.