One of the many perks of having a Facebook account is that you can create a group–otherwise known as a fan page or business page–that you can invite people to. In theory, a Facebook group is similar to a Facebook account. There is a feed where you can post updates. You can have photos and video added. And, people are friends to you. Therefore, managing one is similar to managing a Facebook account.

The first step is to log in and go to your feed. This feed is where you get to see everything people post on their walls, new pictures, etc. On the left sidebar there should be a link that says “Groups.” Click that. A sub-link will appear that gives you the chance to check out any groups your friends own–ignore it. In the center of the page there is a “Create a Group” link. Click that to be taken to the creation page.

At this page, put in a unique group name, a description, a city, and any other information you want to display. You’ll want to set what network you want the group to be for. If it’s specific to, for example, your college, only allow people in your college’s network in. If it’s wide open to everyone, keep it general. Once all of the information is how you want it, click the “create a group” button.

The next step is to customize the group. Here you set up what different people can do. Can people post on the wall? Can people invite people? Is the group open or closed? If it is open, anyone can join. If it is closed, they need to be invited. Pick all of the different rules and then hit save. You can always go back to this after you’ve done other things.

The next step that Facebook prompts you to do is invite people. It’s best to only invite people who are interested in what your group is about. The worst thing you can do is invite everyone because then people might get peeved. Therefore, if your group is about a certain game, invite only those friends that like that game.

The final step–and this step is mostly for personal preferences–is to upload photos, set a profile image and to start populating the discussion board with different topics. The more complete your group is, the more likely people are going to join. You can advertise your group on your feed or by using Facebook ads.