- Kenneth Hein, Brandweek

NEW YORK Visa is attempting to get small businesses socializing on Facebook.

Yesterday it launched Visabusinessnetwork.com. The idea behind the network is to let small business owners share tips and ideas as well as to provide tools to help businesses better target customers.

To grease the wheels, Visa is offering a $100 "Facebook ads"  credit to the first 20,000 businesses that join the network.

This first Facebook application for small businesses was developed based on Visa research. "One of the first things they told us is networking is absolutely key to their livelihood," said Larry Drury, Visa's global head of commercial marketing, San Francisco. "We went to where they are going now which is Facebook."

There are currently 80,000 small businesses on the social networking site. "It is a very accepted way for small businesses to connect with each other, manage [their businesses] and grow their customer base especially in these economic times," said Drury.

As part of the group, business owners will be able to access news, commentary and tool kits. Google, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Forbes.com, Microsoft and AllBusiness are all on board. Tools within the resource center range from Google Calendar to an open Q&A with experts about topics like managing cash flow and working with suppliers. AKQA in San Francisco is handling the effort.

Roughly 24,000 applications have been built for Facebook during the past 13 months, per CNN.com. The application will evolve over time, said Drury. "We'll go where the community leads us," he said.