Join us as we discover whether or not the Facebook Fan Page is…uh…dying at the hands of the Facebook Group.

We started an experiment last night, and, even though it’s early, we are optimistic. The experiment?

What would happen if, instead of asking people to “Like” a brand page on Facebook, we started a group instead? AND, what if that group had a mission statement that didn’t try to ram things down people’s throats?

So we did it. First, the objective – increase connections between small business owners and give them access to information that can help them better market their products and services. We came up with a Mission Statement worthy of an H1 tag:

Mission: Share Small Business Marketing challenges, questions, concerns – in a non-threatening, non-salesy way.

This might seem counter to what you hear on Facebook – that it’s all about the Fan Page Numbers, and that, unless you have massive numbers of fans, you can’t do anything substantive. Like sell product. Or make connections that lead to business. Or whatever.

But what if it isn’t about that?

What if, instead of asking someone to “Like” your page (so you can try to sell them something) you, instead, invite them to join a group where they can share knowledge?

What if, instead of looking to be one of the nameless, faceless brands with 1,000,000 Fans but no engagement, you, instead, start conversations and jump in on other conversations?

What if, instead of trying to sell something, you, I don’t know, DON’T try to sell anything?

Why are we optimistic? 12 Hours in and we’re already up to 175 members of the group, and counting.

Want to join the group – and the experiment?

Here’s a link – Small Business Marketing Group on Facebook.