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[I:http://www.media-cn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/LeahThompson1.jpg]With over half a billion users, Facebook has become its own power country on the web. Every single day, over 20 million of those users are interacting with the millions of Facebook Pages that have been created. Essentially, what this means is that it’s not easy to get your business to stand out from the rest of the competition especially when that competition includes billionaire brands like Coca Cola and Wal Mart.

This doesn’t mean, however, that your brand can’t stand out from the crowd.

Before we go too far into that, though, we can look at the main benefits of even having a Facebook Business Page in the first place.

1. They’re free. You’re not going to find a more cost-effective form of advertisement. All it takes to create a Business Page is a personal account on Facebook and a little time. You’ve already got an account (or if you don’t, now is the time to set one up), so all that’s left to do is to create your page. What you do with it after it’s been created takes more time, but we’ll get to that later.

2. They’re customizable. With the (also free) FBML application, you can create as many custom tabs for your Business Page as you feel is necessary. Granted, to generate a unique custom tab you’ll need to know FBML basics (which is essentially a simplified version of HTML), but if you don’t, fear not. There are sites that specialize in helping you create a great Facebook Business Page without requiring you to know anything about HTML.

3. They’re known. With 20 million opportunities at your fingertips, there are plenty of opportunities to gain a substantial following for your brand. Of course, there’s no way you’re going to capture all 20 million of the people connecting with Business Pages, but even 1 percent of 20 million is 200,000 people, and just .01 percent is still 2,000 people. You get the idea.

But creating your Business Page is only the first step. Once you’ve got it up, the next part gets a little more tricky – generating traffic. Still, with a few things in mind people will start liking your Page before you know it.

The most time-consuming, but also the most important way to promote your Business Page is to consistently keep it updated without cluttering it with too much superfluous content. Brand factoids, important updates, upcoming events or promotions, and videos are all great things to update your Page with, not only to keep it updated, but to engage the viewer with something he or she will be more interested in reading.

Keep it professional. Although your Page is connected to your profile, it shouldn’t be treated the same way. Keep personal information, such as your home address, family photos, and vacation plans off your Business Page. Not only does this have nothing to do with your business, but customers aren’t so much interested in your family outings as they are in what your brand has to offer.

It only takes someone about three seconds after landing on a page to decide whether or not they’re going to invest any more time in it. For this reason, the first impression is crucial. Don’t make the mistake of having visitors land on your Page’s wall, where they’ll see just about the same thing that they’ll see on half of the other Page’s they visit. Instead, create a customized landing page using the free FBML application and make your Page truly stand out.

The great thing about Facebook is that it’s one big string of people linked together by friendships, fanships, and likes. You can invite your friends to your Page, who will then invite their friends, who invite their friends and so on until you have more people liking your page than you know what to do with.

While this is all great in theory, it doesn’t mean much if you don’t put it to action. Having thousands of likes doesn’t automatically make you successful. You must engage those people who have liked your Page so that they won’t forget about you. The best way to keep people coming back is to join the discussion – show that there’s a real person working behind the brand that everybody already sees.

Looking to generate more traffic to your Facebook Business Page? Visit FaceItPages.com to create your own landing page tab for your brand using the FBML application. FaceItPages is partnered with Go Smart Solutions, LLC, a web-based company looking to create online solutions for professionals in order to help their business thrive.