If you haven't tried Facebook advertising yet, count your blessings.

Good for you for staying strong where so many other business owners have failed.

Surprisingly, many people are still not aware of the harmful effects of Facebook advertising on businesses.

Here at FB Ads Lab, we want to make sure you have all the facts before you make this critical mistake.

Here are 5 reasons why we urge you to stay off of Facebook!

1. There are like a zillion people on Facebook already (ok, maybe more like 800 million, but still!). Why would you want to be where EVERYONE else is? You're your own person. You're unique, and your business is unique too!  Why would you want to be like EVERY other business out there?
2. They offer WAY too many options for advertisers. It's quite overwhelming, actually. I'd suggest sticking with local newspaper advertising, handing out flyers at sporting events, or buying large lists of email addresses. As a busy business owner, you don't have the time or energy to sift through all the targeting options Facebook offers advertisers. I mean, why would you even want to target certain groups anyway? Who actually takes the time to figure out who their ideal customer is? Standard print advertising was good enough for our predecessors. Do we think we're better than them?
3. You pretty much have to be a computer genius to figure out how to advertise on Facebook.

I mean, look at this:

'URL'?  Huh?!Title? Title of what? My business? My formal designation (Ms, Mrs., etc.)?

Image? Like, of me? What is this, another one of Facebook's tricks to expose my identity to millions of other users?

Come on, Facebook, if you expect business owners to advertise, make it so you don't have to have a PhD in programming to understand your terminology.

4. Your competitors are probably on Facebook. Stand out from your competition! Do you want to just do what they're doing, or do you want to be DIFFERENT? Let them worry about that whole 'online presence' thing. While they’re wasting valuable time on Facebook, you can get ahead by doing something practical like re-organizing your files or getting caught up on your shredding.
5. Your customers are probably on Facebook. If they're already seeing your print ads, do they really want to see you on Facebook too? Facebook is where they 'get away'...where they go to hang with their friends and find out about cool new products and businesses. They already know about your business. Ever hear the word 'overkill'? Plus, why would you want to waste your advertising budget on reaching people who already know about your business? Sure, they may see your competitors' ads on Facebook, but they know and are loyal to you, and I'm sure they wouldn't even consider clicking on one of those ads. You know the saying: “Once a customer, always a customer.” So I hope by now it's clear to you why you definitely shouldn't be wasting your time with Facebook advertising. We like to think of ourselves as beacons of light in exposing the perils of Facebook...we hope you agree!