If you’re using a Facebook fan page (also known as a business page) as part of your small business marketing plan, you’re probably trying to figuring out how to grow your fan base. “If you build it, they will come” might make clever movie magic, but it’s a bomb on Facebook’s marquee. The idea of social media is the creation of a mecca for friends and, today, a gathering place for fans. Promoting your fan page and actively increasing your fan base without alienating friends is a lot like fishing. It requires finesse, patience and a lure.

Etiquette is a dying art, which makes its application a powerful tool for standing out in a crowd.  It’s politically incorrect to create a Facebook Fan page that touts your business by starting out high-pressuring your personal friends to “Become a Fan” using the “Suggest to Friends” Facebook feature. It is self-defeating and runs opposite of all that “social” implies.

Lures that Reel ‘Em in

Emily Post would approve of using your email list of subscribers for sending an invitation to the party at your place. Let your subscribers know they are important by welcoming their participation on your fan page, beginning with an informative description of your place. Let them know what’s in it for them, and what they will gain and/or learn by becoming a fan.  Encourage them to join your endeavor with an incentive.

Make your fan page “you” by dressing up the lure with your own tone of voice and phraseology. Try things like “Write on our Facebook Wall” as opposed to the standard verbiage “Join our Fan Page” that’s normally expected. While you won’t be able to edit the standard Facebook buttons, you can definitely design your own fan gate page that matches the look and feel of your own personal branding.

Add a link to your fan page in your email signature rather than the standard self-promotional link that most small business owners use. Add wording to the link that would encourage interactivity and drum up excitement in joining the group.

Casting your Line

If you have a number of regular “friends” (friends don’t have to be fans and fans don’t have to be friends) who might be interested in becoming fans, but you don’t want to be overly promotional.

In the event you want to engage the support of your Facebook friends on your fan page, incorporate a brief, friendly, informative “mini bio” in the field beneath your profile picture. Adding a link is a good idea that requires the logistics of formatting the URL with http:// for clickable access. A limitation on the character count requires brevity and foregoing the www’s.

Print media is a powerful business tool. Make sure every item of your print media, including business cards, letterhead and newsletters display your Facebook fan page link and logo, loud and clear.

The ever-present Facebook Share Button offers easy accessibility for connecting via your personal profile. Go to your fan page, and click “Share plus” spot at the bottom left column. Keep in touch by adding newsworthy commentary on your fan page related to exciting updates, changes and incentives. Use this opportunity to invite friends to join.

Hook, Line & Sinker

By linking your Twitter account with your Facebook fan page, your fan page content will automatically be posted to Twitter. You have control over postings through the ability to edit, selecting from Events, Notes, Status Updates, Links and Photos.

If your business has physical headquarters, promote your presence on Facebook with a highly visible plaque, up-close and personal, in your store. Don’t be stingy with instant rewards for joiners.

Using the @ tag fosters connecting through communication via your personal profile wall. The process is simple when you’re a fan of your own fan page. Take the opportunity to connect with friends with a friendly update that includes an @ tag for creating a subtle hyperlink in which your friends have the option to click and engage.

Photo by Daquella manera