This is the most common question I get from clients.  The truth is it takes time to build a new fan base from scratch.

From the day you set up a Facebook page, it does require an ongoing commitment to brand, monitor, and network with people who find interest in your product. Besides quality service, it’s important to build close-knit relationships with visitors.

How do you get people to like your Facebook page?  Here are 10 tips…

#1: Be Prepared With Quality Wall Posts and Consistent Engagement

If you want to be liked, be likeable first.  A disorganized Facebook page can turn off customers instantly. When reviewing a Facebook page, quality content and active engagements are great first impressions.

Several other factors people look for before joining a page include the brand itself, consistent posting of fresh information, and active engagement from both fans and admin.

#2: Reward Your Loyal Supporters

You may have just started your Facebook page, but your business is well-established. Encourage your loyal customers to join your Facebook page as supporters, reward them with customizable badges/tabs (to be placed on their profiles for visibility) and special deals for consistent support.

A shout-out from a happy customer is a lot more attractive than a marketing slogan, creating irresistible appeal for that ‘Like’ button.

#3: Leverage Your Existing Social Networks

If you’ve built a strong Twitter network for your business, utilize it to promote your Facebook page. Some people prefer not to overlap similar social contacts on both accounts, but why diminish your chance to be noticed? Your followers can broadcast your message on both of their social platforms by reaching out to a greater audience about your business.

A brilliant example of this is how Mari Smith rewarded her Twitter followers while attracting people to visit her fan page:

Did I mention that a few indirect promotions on your Facebook personal profile could work wonders too?

#4: Integrate Facebook Social Plugins to Your Website

It’s essential to have a main hub correlating all your social media activities. Your company’s website is the only place that gives you full control over content and brand management.

Integrate Facebook social plugins to encourage connections such as Facebook’s Likebox, Like button, and Comment stream.

As Facebook visitors increase, your page is more likely to show up on supporters’ news feeds and those of their friends, prompting people to find out more about your business page.

#5: Remind Your Fans to Like and Share

Facebook has some easy ready-made sharing buttons with which people can promote your tabs and pages to their friends.  Place a shout-out or reminder to ‘Like’ your status updates and instruct fans to click that little ‘Share’ button right next to your message so their friends will be alerted about the update.

#6: Utilize Forum Signatures and Membership Sites

If you’re an active participant in a forum or membership site, placing a signature with your fan page link is a plus. No-one will care about your information unless you stand out from the crowd.

Be an active helper in a LinkedIn Group or a frequent poster of special tips and tricks. As long as your participation in the niche community is appreciated, there’s a higher chance for other members to check you out.

Here’s an example of my signature at Chris Garrett’s Authority Blogger Forum.

#7: Take the Initiative: Request Help From Friends

It’s difficult to start a fan page with no engagement whatsoever. Why not initiate messages to your friends and buddies who are supportive of your business? Ask them to help out in some discussions, reward them with publicity or return the favor. It’s easier to ask a friend than a stranger if you’re worried about spamming people.

Make sure the question is interesting enough to get them talking. If you use your personal account and fan page strategically, you’ll discover a huge advantage of getting new friends to be your fans while they’re getting to know you better.

#8: Use Tagging and Acknowledgments

A great networking tool, status-tagging, can even drive in new connections.  Tag an author or a popular Facebook page to draw attention, but only if you have good reason to do so.

For example, selflessly promote a niche-post and how it benefits people who like your page. Be authentic, and the page admin (hopefully the fans as well) will appreciate you for it.

#9: Participate Outside Your Page

Use the Facebook Directory and Facebook Search to locate other Facebook pages in your niche and look for public discussions based on search terms related to your business.

Provide value to the popular pages; build credibility and relationships with the admin and members.  Get to know them better before asking them to look at your page. They just may reward you publicly.

#10: Collaborate With Other Page Admins for a Social Event

You can collaborate with other page admins to create a special event that may benefit both your fans and bring in new connections. I find this to be very successful.  There should be a mutual understanding and proper planning to make it work for everyone’s professional goals.

For example, Social Media Success Summit 2010 was a successful live online conference with 24 social media experts who shared how to use social media to attract quality customers and grow your business.

There are many ways you can increase your Facebook fan base.  Remember, showcase the quality of your service and why it matters to be a part of your page community.

Cut through the noise and let your message be heard. Intelligently apply Facebook Applications to enhance your Facebook page while learning from these superstars to empower your social media presence. Quality networking starts with effort and time, but the return will be worthwhile!

What have you done to be “liked”? What rewards have you used?  What have you done to increase visitors to your Facebook fan page?  Let us know in the box below.

Why Do You Need a Facebook Fan Page? You may ask, “Why do I even need a Facebook fan page?” Here’s why: Facebook currently has an Alexa ranking of 2. They are the second most trafficked website next only to Google!

This means your Facebook page will be indexed faster on Google and other search engines, so if you don’t have a fan page, be sure to add one and promote it.

Here are 5 great ways to grow your Facebook fans:

#1: Invite People From Your Facebook Friend Lists

Do you have your personal friends and professional colleagues segmented into lists on your Facebook home page?

I have a number of lists in my personal Facebook account.

You can invite these lists as groups to your Facebook fan page instead of sending individual invites. This is the easiest and fastest way to jump-start your fan base.

When you click “Suggest to Friends” on your fan page, start typing in the name of your friends list in the filtered friends section; for example, “Social Media Professionals.” This will automatically send an invitation to your fan page to all of your colleagues listed in that category.

It’s possible that it may take a while before you start seeing those familiar faces pop up in your fan page because people are busy. There have been a few occasions where I’ve gently nudged them with an individual invite, but I keep that to a minimum.

As you add more people to your network, remember to go back to your same lists and send the invite to the new people you’ve added. The names of those who have already been invited will be grayed out and the invite will only be sent to your new contacts.

#2: Find People With Facebook Search

The updated Facebook Search feature (see the Search bar at the top of Facebook) gives you a view into conversations of your friends and status updates that may even show you who may be looking for the services you provide.

There is even an option to search “Posts by Everyone,” which gives you a glimpse into conversations of people who may not even be connected to you. After entering a search term, there will be a display, “Posts By Everyone.” This allows you to view conversations from others who aren’t in your friend lists.

Here is a screen shot when I entered “buying a home” in the Search field:

As you can see, there is a person saying “I think we are buying a house tomorrow.” If this person is already in your contacts list, the following is a very easy conversation starter: “Hi ___, I saw your Facebook comment about your plans to buy a house tomorrow. Do you need any help with school information in that particular area?”

There is another person stating that they plan to stay in their house for a long time. This can be a potential candidate for a loan refinance. Again, if this person is already a friend on Facebook, it would be very easy to start a conversation without sounding like an annoying salesperson.

#3: Attract People With Facebook Social Ads

Social Ads provide advertisements alongside your Facebook sidebar which show related actions your friends have taken on the site. These actions may be things like “Leah is now a fan of The Offspring. Would you like to become a fan too?” It is possible to tailor ads to your friends and their interests, which makes it more appealing for them to take action because you are interested as well.

This strategy requires a small budget, but can be very effective in finding your target market. It is very important to do a Facebook search with specific keywords in your particular niche to find out if it’s being talked about on Facebook (see #2 above).

If you click on “Promote With an Ad” on your fan page, you can start a campaign.  You can set a daily spending limit of $10, $25, or other appropriate amount. Because I market mostly to businesses with my keywords (such as real estate broker, loan officer, real estate investor, and so forth)—which are in numerous profiles as job descriptions—I have been able to use Facebook Social Ads effectively for my fan page.

It’s possible to run your Facebook ads for only 4 to 5 days with a $25 per day budget. Then stop the ad for a few weeks if you like and run the same ad again. This allows your fan page to grow in spurts and I have found it to be very effective in growing my fan base without spending a lot of money at once.

#4: Facebook Fan Page Twitter App

The Facebook Fan Page Twitter application is a great tool that brings your Twitter following back to your fan page. When you post a status update, a link or a photo (you can choose) on your Facebook fan page, there will be an update to Twitter with a shortened bit.ly link back to your fan page. This is just pure genius to drive traffic from another source right to your page.

There are other Facebook and Twitter integration applications; however, this is the one that leads people directly back to your page. This gives them an option to become a fan of your page right at that moment if they click on the bit.ly link from Twitter.

#5: Facebook Fan Box Widget

The Facebook Fan Box Widget is a great feature to add to your blog or website. This widget allows you to show your fan base and allows others to become fans instantly. This is just one way to promote your page across several social media sites. It is important to cross-reference all of your social media sites so others can find you and your websites on other networks.

For more great Facebook tips, be sure to check out Top Tips for Using Facebook for Business .

Editors note: Check out Social Media Examiner’s new Facebook fan page by clicking here.

So what do you have to add to this list? Are you finding other effective ways to promote your Facebook fan page? I would love to hear from you and your successes in promoting your pages in the comments below.