Facebook just recently surpassed mighty Google as the No.
1 visited web page in the world.
Facebook recently soared past the 500-million member mark, and is gaining millions faster.
It all means that no Internet marketer can ignore including Facebook into an overall marketing strategy.
Whether you are a stay-at-home mom who wants to make a little extra cash selling a cookbook, or an established business with an entire line of products to move, a Facebook presence is a must.
If you do not have a personal Facebook page already, go there now and sign up for one.
It is easy and it takes just minutes.
Facebook is super easy to use, but it is still a good idea to spend some time getting comfortable in the Facebook environment.
Once you have a personal Facebook site, you are ready to start leveraging this incredible social media network for business and marketing.
So your next step is to establish an additional Facebook page - the Facebook "fan page," which is sometimes called a "business page.
" You can and should use your fan page in tandem with your personal page - your personal page can be used to drive more traffic to your fan page.
The fan page should be all about business, and be more professional in tone than your personal page.
It should focus on what you are selling.
It is a good idea to spend some time looking at the fan pages of other established business models - from the biggies like Starbucks and McDonald's -- to smaller businesses.
Look to see if some local businesses you know in your own community have a Facebook page fan page.
This will give you an idea of how they look, and how they are moderated.
The goal of a Facebook fan page is to get as many people as you can to "Like" it.
For every person that "Likes" your page, you gain access to another potential customer to whom you can target marketing messages.
Next, it is extremely important that you link your fan page to other social media networks - especially Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and any other you can think of.
So when you post a status update on your fan page, they automatically get blasted out on your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts - magnifying your effort in one easy step.
You must also post links to your fan page and encourage others to "Like" it on your other Internet marketing sites - your web page, your blog, and make sure you place your Facebook fan page link in all of your emails by including it in your email signature.
You can also buy Facebook advertising to attract even more users and likes to your fan page - it is highly recommended you at least experiment with buying a few Facebook ads.
You can buy other ads as well, such as Google ads.
Once you start gathering "Likes" and building a significant following on your Facebook fan page, you must actively moderate it and interact with your "fans" as frequently as possible.
It is critical that you also update your status and keep providing new, interesting information on your page almost every day.
It is extremely important to remember that Facebook is a "social media.
" That means the central basis of its marketing power is leveraged through social activity or interaction.
When people make posts on your fan page, answer them with comments, or at the very least, make sure you "Like" their comments.
If you don't let people know you are reading their posts and acknowledging them, you will defeat the purpose of using Facebook as a marketing tool.