With more small businesses on social networking every day, Facebook has tried to jump ahead of the market. The company will try educating small businesses on how to use its site by launching the Facebook for Businesses portal, according to Direct Marketing News.

The new educational tool on Facebook for small businesses will help companies use the social media website's advertising offerings, DM News reports. The new feature also incorporates Facebook's partnership with American Express OPEN, the credit card's small business division, to create a "Big Break For Small Business." Each business that enters receives a $50 Facebook credit and three companies win $20,000 and a trip to Facebook headquarters in California.

"The core focus for us from the very beginning was to get small businesses excited and interested in Facebook as a marketing channel," Adele Cooper, director of global customer marketing and communications for the website, told the news source.

A post by John Jantsch, a marketing consultant at Duct Tape Marketing, said Facebook allows small businesses the chance to tightly target their ads. He said the ads are small, so space must be used wisely and must be tested, but said the ads can be effective if done correctly. 

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