So you've got a Facebook fan page for your business. Now what?

Your Facebook page can send people to your website, help you interact with your customers, and give you more front page rankings at Google. 

How can you get maximum effectiveness for that page?

• Get some good content there. Onsharp sends blog posts to our Facebook page automatically. You can, too. Depending where you house your blog, you might find it easier to do this from your dashboard, or you might prefer to set it up at Facebook. You can also automate the process by following the step-by-step instructions at Twitterfeed. If we take care of your  website and your blog for you, just contact us if you need help. You can also add content directly at Facebook. Uploading photos and videos is easy at Twitter, and it lets you make a personal, behind-the-scenes connection with your customers. You know how many people tune in to watch someone working in a bakery, tattoo parlor, or auto shop on TV -- they'd like to see what you do, too.
  
• Get some fans. Start by having all your staff suggest the business page to all their Facebook friends. That's just one post on your friend's walls, in amid the Farmville and Mafia requests -- it's not too intrusive. Some will accept the suggestion and become fans, and your interesting content will show up on their walls. Things can just naturally grow from there.
  
• Post some ads. Facebook has an astonishing reach -- hundreds of millions of users. If your product has broad appeal, you can pick up quite a few fans -- and new customers -- by diverting some of your advertising budget in that direction.
• Interact with your fans. Have some conversations, visit your fans, send out some virtual cheeseburgers. Even the most intense job has some downtime during the day, or moments when people might need to take a break. Let your staff know that you'll value their taking a couple of minutes from time to time to represent the company. Many busineses worry about timewasting and hesitate to make this suggestion, but we're betting that some of your staff visit their Facebook pages on coffee break anyway -- why not make that productive time for the company by asking them to drop by your company page when they get back to work?
• Keep track. Use Facebook Insight and your analytics to see how much interest Facebook is creating in your company and how much traffic Facebook is driving to your website. If it's minimal, then you may want to maintain a minimal presence at Facebook. If it's impressive, then you know you need to increase your investment.