It is not a surprise that so many  have been asking for more quick and easy tips to building and promoting your Facebook Pages – they are more popular than ever at the moment!

For example, on my radio show, The Social Media Chef, a few weeks back we focused on Facebook Pages and the comments were through the roof.  The next week I continued on the topic of Facebook Pages with yet another mountain of comments.

As this seems to be one of the hottest topics right now, I wanted to share some more tips that you can easily apply to your Facebook Page to make it even better, more attractive and full of “Likes.”

Here are my top 5 Tips to Better Facebook Pages:

1.  Get Your Custom Facebook Page URL:  If you haven’t done this yet, it is free and wonderful.  Simply go to facebook.com/usernameand follow the instructions.  Make sure to choose a URL that is catchy, easy to remember and fits your brand!

2. Get Your Friends Behind You:  This enables you to get a diverse bunch of “Likes” to your page.  Find your key supporters in your Facebook network and either send them a personal message or call them to request that they invite all of their friends to connect with your page.  If you are timid don’t be shy, this is done everyday by brands large and small.

3.  Ask for the “Like”:  What I mean by this is anywhere that you can supply content to your Facebook page, you should be asking for the reader to “Like” your page.  For example on your Info tab within your page, there should be plenty of requests to “Like” the page built into your copy.  Also, post a link to the group on your own profile and ask your friends to “Like” it.

4.  Make Sure Your Web Address is Visible:  Not only should you add EVERY website you own in your Info tab (including your social media links), but also add it to the main picture you have associated with the group.  Remember, this is one of the first places people look – and it is easy to see and visit!

5.  Add a Free Facebook Application to Enhance Your Page:  There are many of these out there, with some of my favorites being Social RSS, Clobby and Poll Daddy.  Simply search through these on the Applications section and try them out!

And there you have it – another 5 tips to create better Facebook Pages!

When going through numerous articles on social media strategies it dawned on me that there was a glaring omission: tactics on how to promote your social media profiles OUTSIDE of logging in to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

While it may sound odd, cross marketing is an essential part of a successful social media marketing strategy (as well as a successful marketing strategy). It is completely understandable that when you launch a social media campaign, you really want to spend a bulk of your time logged into the site trying to achieve penetration and engagement.  For example, when marketing your business’s Facebook Page, you are logging in on a daily basis to update your page, share it and use different onsite tools to engage with your target consumers.

But what about the people that you speak to everyday on the phone or at events?  How about those who you give your business card to?  How about the people on the receiving end of the 100+ emails that you have to respond to daily?

This is where you need to focus on what I call Off-Site Social Media Promotion.  The best part?  It isn’t that tough (which is always a good thing, right?).

Here are my top ten tactics that you can instantly use to promote your professional social media presences…off-site:

1.  Add to Your Email Signature: When it comes to promoting your social media presences off-site, email is your first stop.  In your email signature, add a link to one or all of your social hubs.  Just be careful not to overdo it!  If you are a member of 100 different networks, don’t add them all.  My rule is to try to keep it to around 3 or less.
Read the full story