How to Get Facebook Working for You

Facebook is an incredible website wouldn't you say? Who hasn't heard of Facebook before? With over 600 million active accounts at the time of this writing we can guess that there are not many people out there who don't at least know what Facebook is. Knowing that there are over 600 million accounts just proves that there is an incredible opportunity to grow your business there. There has to be somebody on Facebook who is looking for what you have to offer and chances are there are several of them. So the question is how can you get Facebook working for you in terms of growing your business?

• Create a Business Page. Creating a page is easy and all you need is an existing Facebook account which you probably already have. If you do not however, it is very easy to get started and all you'll need is some basic information about yourself and an e-mail address. On your business page, be sure to fill out all of the information including location, address, website and any other contact information you'd like to include.
• Update on a Regular Basis. Updating your Facebook page is a must. Each time you update, the "Likers" of your page will see your update in their Facebook feed. If you stop posting updates they may forget about you but you also don't want to update so often that it's annoying. Also, don't spam your followers. Provide useful content and be personable - that's exactly why people love to follow active Facebook pages.
• Add Custom HTML. Facebook pages provide additional tabs that you can use to create opt-in boxes for e-mail address or even a custom "Welcome to our Facebook Page" page. If you don't know HTML you can get a simple page written for you by hiring somebody from Elance or Odesk. It's quite possible that somebody you know may know just enough HTML to provide you with a custom template that you can use to stand out from others.
• Give a Little Something Extra. It's likely that you're going to end up with Twitter, Facebook and possible website or blog followers so try to provide something extra with your Facebook page. Provide links to other useful content or provide fresh status updates that aren't seen on every single social media network that you use. This gives your Facebook followers more incentive to keep following you.
• Create Facebook Ads. Facebook ads are a simple way to attract more customers to your page. You set up a simple ad and because of the targeted ads that Facebook can provide you with, you'll end up with even more followers. You can choose to target a specific location, a certain gender or age group or those who have a specific like or interest.

If you aren't leveraging the power of Facebook you are basically leaving money on the table. You can easily gain hundreds of followers in a very short period of time which could bring in some good business for you and your company.