According to a recent study by Flurry, consumers spent 81 minutes per day using mobile apps, compared to 74 minutes of web surfing. Here’s where it gets even more interesting. Social networking is one of two categories that dominate mobile app usage with 32% and games are responsible for 47%.

In Search of Apps

As a social media marketer, you’ll likely want to find apps that will help you keep up with social networking and stay productive while on the go. Many of us hear about apps from friends and colleagues, from articles we read, from searching around on Apple’s App Store to see what’s new and through dedicated search engines such as Chomp.

Apps to help manage your time, projects and clients.

If the app is free or relatively inexpensive, then chances are we may be willing to give it a whirl. But with 500,000 apps on the App Store in numerous categories and apps literally being released every day, it’s hard to stay on top of them.

While Apple’s campaign “There’s an app for that” makes many of us now associate the topic of mobile apps with Apple, the reality is that companies such as Android, Nokia, Blackberry, and Palm all sell apps, too.

In this article, I’m going to focus on apps that are compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (iOS) because those are the devices I’m most familiar with and could access for the purpose of testing.

Useful Apps List

The apps listed below were recommended by a number of businesspeople through a query I posted on HARO, others that people had been talking about in blog posts, on Quora and social networking sites. The apps range in price; many are free and the most expensive one listed is $9.99.

Because new apps are literally released on a daily basis, it’s nearly impossible for this to be a conclusive list. But hopefully it’ll give you ideas about some apps you’d like to try. I hope you’ll take a few moments at the end to share a few of your favorites, too.

Here’s the list in alphabetical order:

#1: Analytics App

Analytics App consists of 55 reports, showing data up to 110 rows. You can check your analytics on the go. Never be away from your data again!

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#2: Battery Pro

Battery Pro monitors what your battery level is over a period of time and calculates the time remaining to empty or full.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#3: Check It!

Driven by checklists? Check It! claims to be “The simplest checklist ever!” It’ll help you get some control over all the to-do’s in your life.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#4: Chomp

Chomp is a search engine that finds the iPhone (and Android) apps you want. Its proprietary algorithm learns the functions and topics of apps, so you can search based on what apps do.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

#5: Documents to Go

DocsToGo lets you edit, create and view Word and Excel files (including Office 2007/2008/2010); view PowerPoint, PDF, iWork and other files; send and receive attachments using the device’s built-in mail app (iPad/iPhone 4/iOS 4); and includes a desktop app (Win and Mac) with two-way file sync (WIFI required to sync).

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.

#6: Dragon Dictation

Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice transcription application powered by Dragon^® NaturallySpeaking^® that allows you to easily speak and instantly converts your voice to text messages.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#7: Dropbox

Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs and videos anywhere. After you install on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad, and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

#8: Evernote

Evernote turns the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life. From notes to ideas to snapshots to recordings, put it all into Evernote and watch as it instantly synchronizes from your iPhone to your Mac or Windows desktop.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#9: Facebook

Facebook for iPhone makes it easy to stay connected and share information with friends. Use your iPhone to start a conversation with Facebook Chat, check your friends’ latest photos, status updates, look up a phone number or upload your own mobile photos to Facebook while on the go.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#10: Flickr

Share your photos. Watch the world. Flickr^® for the iPhone enables photo sharing on the go—from your phone to the world.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#11: Flipboard

Flipboard is a fast, beautiful way to flip through the news, photos, videos and updates your friends are sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Flickr and Instagram. See your social media in a magazine layout that’s easy to scan and fun to read.

Catch up on the latest stories, videos and posts from popular publications and people such as National Geographic, The New Yorker, Wired, Rolling Stone, Oprah, Forbes, Robert Scoble, and Brain Pickings’ Maria Popova. Share articles and photos, comment on posts and like or favorite anything. Customize your Flipboard with sections created from your favorite news, people, blogs and topics.

Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.

#12: Google Search

Get the most advanced Google search experience for your iPhone, now with Google Goggles, Voice Search and My Location.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#13: HomeBase

HomeBase is your social media “megaphone.” You can blast your announcements and even add links and pictures to your messages, to all your social media outlets. It brings social media marketing to a whole new level.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#14: HootSuite for Twitter

Compose and converse on the go. HootSuite for iOS is the perfect social media tool for Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. Join the conversation from anywhere with HootSuite for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Simple, elegant and powerful, HootSuite allows you to send and schedule Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare updates, track click stats and set up tracking columns to monitor keywords, #hashtags and lists.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.

#15: Instagram

With Instagram you can pick from one of several gorgeous filtered effects or tilt-shift blur to breathe a new life into your mobile photos. Transform everyday moments into works of art you’ll want to share with friends and family.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.2 or later.

#16: Instapaper

With Instapaper you can save web pages for later offline reading, optimized for readability on your iPhone or iPod Touch’s screen. Great for long articles and blog posts that you find during the day and would like to read, but don’t have the time when you find them. Save with Instapaper and then read later when you’re commuting, in a meeting or waiting in line.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

#17: Kindle

The Kindle app gives users the ability to read Kindle books on a beautiful, easy-to-use interface. You’ll have access to over 950,000 books in the Kindle Store, including bestsellers and new releases. Amazon Whispersync automatically syncs your last page read, bookmarks, notes and highlights across devices (including Kindle), so you can pick up where you left off on another device.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#18: LastPass

LastPass Tab Browser combines a full-featured tab browser for the iPad with LastPass integration allowing you to use your existing accounts or create new ones with ease. LastPass is the last password you’ll have to remember. It provides a safe and convenient method of storing your passwords while ensuring you can access them on any device anywhere. A form filler is also provided that allows you to easily shop directly from your iPad!

Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later.

#19: LinkedIn

LinkedIn for iPhone puts your professional network just a touch away. Walk into any interview or client meeting with the ability to look up the details and connect with over 100 million professionals worldwide. Get the latest updates and messages from your network and keep them up-to-date with your status in real time.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#20: LiveProfile

LiveProfile helps you stay connected with friends in real time. LiveProfile is the crazy fast, completely free, cross-platform messenger for iPhone, Blackberry and Android smartphones. Send messages, photos, videos, post status updates, customize your profile, set your profile picture and much more!

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#21: Mashable

The official Mashable iPhone/iPod Touch application delivers the latest coverage from Mashable.com. Mashable is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on web 2.0 and social media news.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#22: NetNewsWire

NetNewsWire is an RSS reader for iPhone—you can read news from the millions of blogs and sites that publish RSS feeds. You can star items or send them to Instapaper to save them for later. You can email articles or post links to Twitter to share with friends.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

#23: Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio is your own free personalized radio now available to stream background music on your iPhone or iPad. Just start with the name of one of your favorite artists, songs or classical composers and Pandora will create a “station” that plays their music and more music like it.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#24: PeakMeetings

Make good meetings great—or bad meetings suck less—with this powerful tool for capturing and organizing your thinking, and making meetings more efficient and effective. Peak Meetings™ is simple to use, and perfect for grabbing your thoughts in those moments when ideas hit you. With 7 different meeting types to choose from, you can focus your thoughts and plans to exactly what you’re trying to achieve.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

#25: PhotoRocket

PhotoRocket simplifies the task of sharing lots of photos simultaneously to people and sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. Even though it’s simple, it also offers extra options such as captions and automatic online backup.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#26: PitchEngine

Pitch™ is the official mobile app of PitchEngine, a social platform that enables businesses and organizations to get the word out.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#27: Posterous

Posterous is the easiest way to share stories, photos and videos with the people you care about most. You can either post content to your public website or selectively share to a private group.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#28: Q & A: Quora

Social Questions will let you access and browse the Quora mobile website with cool shortcuts and fast navigation (faster than Safari mobile).

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#29: Quick Voice Recorder

QuickVoice is a full-featured iPhone/iPad voice recorder. Record ideas, voice memos, voice email, dictation, lists, meetings, classes or entire lectures! For professional, educational and personal use.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

#30: Skype

Call, video call and instant message anyone else on Skype for free with Skype for your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#31: Snaptell

Use this app while shopping in a store to quickly find more information, compare prices, buy the product or to remember to look at the product later. Snap a picture of the cover of any book, DVD, CD or video game and within seconds get a rating, description and links to Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, IMDb, Barnes & Noble and more.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

#32: SocialMedia

#SocialMedia hosts a weekly Twitter event on Tuesdays that brings together social media professionals from around the world. Each week a new moderator hosts the event and drives a unique discussion that aims to further the advancement of social media in business. The hashtagsocialmedia.com iPhone app allows people to follow the filtered discussion from anywhere.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#33: Spout

Instead of spending hours scouring the web, simply “turn on the Spout,” sit back and enjoy a steady stream of information specifically meant for you! Relax as a veritable flood of news, messages, tweets and comments pour forth from your Facebook, Twitter or Google Reader (RSS) feeds.

Words spill onto your device, swirling, twisting and scrolling across your screen, pooling in the center momentarily, like a leaf on a pond, before being whisked away as new social messages pour in.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#34: Toodledo

Toodledo is a powerful task and note manager for the iPhone and iPad. It will help organize your to-do list and notes and make you more productive. You can use Toodledo as a stand-alone application, or you can have it seamlessly synchronize your lists with Toodledo.com, one of the most popular online task managers.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

#35: Tumblr

With Tumblr you can post anything: share photos, video, audio, quotes, links and text. Multiple blogs: seamlessly manage all of your blogs. Advanced controls: save drafts, queue posts, customize tweets and more! Address book: find people to follow from your iPhone’s address book. Messages: view and reply to messages.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#36: TweetDeck

TweetDeck allows you to monitor, manage and engage in your social world by bringing together your Twitter and Facebook feeds in a powerful and flexible column-based dashboard.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#37: Twitter

Follow your interests: instant updates from your friends, industry experts, favorite celebrities and what’s happening around the world. Get short bursts of timely information on the official Twitter app for iPhone.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

#38: Twitterrific for Twitter

Now a universal app for both iPad and iPhone, Twitterrific is the friendly, award-winning Twitter client that’s beautiful to look at, easy to use and full of elegant features. Effortlessly read and compose tweets, search Twitter.com, filter message types and much more.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#39: Vignature

Vignature allows you to sign a PDF document online, anywhere, anytime. It’s fast, easy and secure.

Compatible with iPhone 4, iPod Touch (4th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi, and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#40: Wired PR Works

Wired PR Works is your always-on PR and social media marketing mobile app. Access tips, ideas and strategies to grow business, build brands, increase influence and connect with communities with social media, marketing and PR. Listed on Alltop and AdAge Power 150. Stay updated with conference coverage, digital public relations guides and new media marketing tactics for entrepreneurs, small businesses and non-profits.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#41: WordPress

It’s easy to manage your WordPress blog or site from your iOS device. With WordPress for iOS, you can moderate comments, create or edit posts and pages, and add images or videos with ease. All you need is a WordPress.com blog or a self-hosted WordPress.org site running 2.9.2 or higher.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

#42: WorldTube

The only app in the App Store to allow you to check/watch/share the current top videos by countries in 16 categories. Explore what the world is watching right now.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

#43: Xmarks

View bookmarks and open tabs from your favorite browser right on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Simply download the Xmarks client from xmarks.com to your desktop or laptop computer. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari for Mac are supported.

Once your bookmarks (and optional open tabs) are synchronized to Xmarks, you can use Xmarks for iPhone to view them while on the go!

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

#44: Zinio Magazine Newsstand & Reader

With this app, you can choose from digital magazines, subscribe or purchase single issues.

Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

What apps do you recommend? What would you add to the list? Leave your comments in the box below.

Special thanks to the following people for providing their app recommendations for this post: Megan Colyer, Stage of Life; Amanda Goodhue, Excelamktg; Danielle Lerner, Publicist; Tanya Mahr, Revolution Public Relations; Jessica Nunez, Jessica Nunez PR Group; Matt Spradley, Vignature, Inc.; Mike Stelzner, Social Media Examiner; Elgin Subwaysurfer Boiling, Creative Caricature Marketing Consultant; Marian Thier, Expanding Thought, Inc.; Robin Tilotta, Chomp; and Shrey Verma, Buzzvalve.

As more professional LinkedIn users create Twitter profiles, I believe this application will become more and more powerful for building influence and visibility with your network connections.

The primary benefits of the LinkedIn Tweets application are:

• Follow your LinkedIn connections on Twitter
• Post status updates simultaneously to both Twitter and LinkedIn
• Monitor and interact with your Twitter streams from within LinkedIn
• Create a LinkedIn-specific Twitter list

Before we look at some additional ways to leverage the Tweets application, make sure you’ve first added your Twitter account to your LinkedIn profile.

Add Your Twitter Account to Your LinkedIn Profile

Click “edit profile” and “add Twitter account” next to the Twitter field. This will create a link directly to your Twitter account on your LinkedIn profile for all visitors to see if you choose to display it on your profile.

To share your tweets in your LinkedIn status, I would recommend that you choose the “Share only tweets that contain #in” option rather than allowing every tweet to flood into LinkedIn as a status update. Typically, one or two daily status updates in LinkedIn will be sufficient—you don’t want to overdo it.

Share tweets that can add value to your LinkedIn connections!

Install the LinkedIn Tweets Application

Go to “Applications” in LinkedIn and search for the Tweets application to install on your profile. Once installed, you’ll be able to visit your Twitter page on LinkedIn by going to the “More” menu tab and clicking on “Tweets.”

With Tweets, you can now display your most recent tweets on your LinkedIn profile.

How to Utilize the Tweets Application to Build Social Influence

Below are three important features of the Tweets application that you can use to help you grow your Twitter connections, gain intelligence about what your LinkedIn connections are tweeting about and promote your connections through their tweets.

#1: Identify and follow all of your LinkedIn connections on Twitter within the Tweets application

Go to the “Connections” tab to see who you’re NOT following on Twitter and follow them. You may not find a substantial number of your connections on Twitter, but go ahead and follow those who are! Most likely they’re going to follow you back.

#2: Create a dynamic Twitter list of your LinkedIn connections

From within the Tweets application, LinkedIn makes it easy for you to create an official dynamic Twitter list of your LinkedIn connections. Go to the “Connections” tab and on the left-hand side you’ll see “Save as Twitter List.” It may take a few minutes for this list to populate, and by default it will be a private Twitter list. The newly created list will show up within the Tweets application where you’ll have the ability to view the stream in real time.

This is a great tool in and of itself. Rather than manually having to go through and create a Twitter list of your LinkedIn connections, it’s done in the click of a button and always up to date. I can’t think of a better way to make Twitter more relevant to your existing professional network! If I had very little time to spend on Twitter, this is where I would focus my efforts.

Consistently monitoring this unique Twitter list can give you tremendous insight into what your LinkedIn connections are thinking and spreading online. People tend to update Twitter much more often than LinkedIn.

#3: Look for engagement and promotional opportunities through LinkedIn Tweets

The Tweets application actually functions as a Twitter client. You can tweet, reply, retweet or even share posts as messages with any of your LinkedIn connections. However, the real power comes from being able to update your LinkedIn status simultaneously, along with tweeting, replying or retweeting.

Remember, promoting and connecting others is a very effective strategy to build social influence! Don’t underestimate the power of consistent status updates, and the reach that those particular updates can have. When you find a tweet in your LinkedIn Twitter stream that’s relevant, or could be interesting, entertaining or helpful to your broad LinkedIn network, this is where you’ll want to engage and promote.

Ideally, you’ll want to retweet the important post(s) from your LinkedIn connections within the Tweets application and go a step further by checking the box to share the tweet as a status update. The retweet will then show up as a status update to your entire LinkedIn network and it will hyperlink to the individual’s Tweet page within LinkedIn, giving others an opportunity to follow that person on Twitter.

Not only have you promoted the content to your LinkedIn network, but you’ve also provided your connection with extended visibility in both networks and will potentially help him or her gain some new LinkedIn connections and Twitter followers.

This is a retweet from the Tweets application that I also shared as a status update.

By clicking on @ducttape from within the status update, the link travels directly to his Twitter page in LinkedIn.

You could spend time reviewing your other Twitter lists from within the LinkedIn Tweets application and engaging with those individuals as well. If you find something relevant that your LinkedIn network connections can benefit from, again retweet it as a status update. Follow up with that individual to let him or her know that you also posted the tweet as a LinkedIn status update because you thought your network could benefit from seeing it.

Ultimately with any social network, you want to be viewed as a resource who can be relied upon to share and spread quality information. If you can marry this with promoting those professionals with whom you’re already connected on LinkedIn, you can build social influence by helping your connections increase their visibility. This is a win-win.

For additional tips on leveraging Twitter and LinkedIn together, read “How to Prospect Using the Combined Power of LinkedIn and Twitter.” Consider downloading the Free LinkedIn Guide for Professionals from HubSpot as well. This is another very helpful resource for taking advantage of all that LinkedIn has to offer for growing your professional network.

Have you incorporated the Tweets application into your profile? What are some other ways to utilize this application to build influence on both networks? Share your feedback in the comments box below.

Ahhh yes, the lovely LinkedIn.

She warms me up with friendly introductions to powerful decision makers. She brings a smile to my face from the absurd amount of targeted traffic to my websites. And she goes WAY over the top with the number of direct sales referrals she gives me.

It’s a digital romance we have, and I’ll profess my love for her ’til the end of time.

In all seriousness, I’m a big fan of LinkedIn because of the direct business I receive from it. And although I’ve written books about LinkedIn, given webinars and presentations on the topic and written articles like Top 5 Ways to Market Your Business With LinkedIn, I’ve never done a dedicated article about the advanced applications… until now.

Get More With LinkedIn Applications

In this article I want to share with you the top apps you can leverage to get more leads, traffic, product sales, brand awareness, ticket sales, investors, sponsors, consulting engagements and more.

Let’s dig into some of my favorite apps and how to get more from them.

Add Your Blog to LinkedIn

Surprisingly, I’ve seen some of the top bloggers in the world miss out on displaying this app. Failing to include this WordPress app on your profile is a huge mistake because it can help you drive more traffic and shows those who come to your profile how to learn more about your expertise.

This is a simple app that every blogger should have on his/her profile.

Autoplay a Video!

Imagine someone lands on your profile and instead of seeing the same old boring profile, they hear a voice. This voice either comes from you or a raving fan giving a testimonial. This technique is used so rarely that people can’t help but be shocked when they hear a voice and watch a video on your profile.

Adding the SlideShare.net app allows you to showcase presentations you may have, but it also allows you to add a video that autoplays when people land on your profile. Currently the video must be on YouTube for it to work, but it definitely adds a nice touch. Learn more about how to add video to your LinkedIn profile here.

Showcase Your Books or Others’ Books

Many bloggers are coming out with their own books, but are forgetting about a valuable resource to help promote and sell more of them: their LinkedIn profiles! The Reading List by Amazon is great because it helps you to stand out while adding to your credibility.

Even if you don’t have a published book on Amazon, you can still add this app and include the top books that you’re currently reading to give others a better sense about your interests and ongoing education.

This allows you to add a picture of your book on your page.

Syncing With Twitter on LinkedIn

I synced my Twitter account to LinkedIn when this app first launched. Some said they were annoyed when they saw all of the Twitter updates come to their home feed, but after about a week people got used to it.

I find that I often get as much or more interaction from my Twitter updates that sync to LinkedIn than those same updates on Twitter. Your messages don’t get lost in the feed as much on LinkedIn and there are threaded conversations similar to Facebook so you can continue the dialogue for days after.

I recommend doing this if you’re active on Twitter as you will look like you’re interacting on LinkedIn and continuing to stay on top of the minds of your LinkedIn connections even if you don’t use LinkedIn very often.

A great way to stay connected and updated.

Feature Your Events on LinkedIn

Hosting a major industry conference, regional networking event or maybe a small TweetUp and want to get more exposure and ticket sales? If so, look no further than the most powerful events promotion tool online today—LinkedIn Events app.

An example of a major professional event by Gary Vaynerchuk.

Here's an example of how powerful promoting your events on your profile can be.

You can see how many people have RSVP’d for your event, who’s interested and who’s exhibiting. You can also see a picture of those who are attending or interested, their industry, how you’re connected to them, what company they work for and more.

There are a few features I wish they would add to help event organizers promote better (like adding a messaging ability to all of those members who are interested), but other than that, I love the way you can use this app to get the word out about your events.

More Advanced LinkedIn Apps

There are a handful of other apps I haven’t mentioned that help a variety of industry professionals.

Business Apps:

There are a number of general business apps. Some of my favorites include Box.net Files, Tripit Travel, Google Presentation, Huddle Workspaces and Polls.

Legal Apps:

There are two apps specifically for lawyers. The Legal Updates app allows you to “get legal news that matters to you and your business. (Lawyers, upload your articles and other content. Be found for your expertise on LinkedIn).”

The Lawyer Rating app allows you to “showcase your Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ and Client Review Ratings™ to further validate your stated credentials and help you make the right connections.”

Designer App:

The Creative Portfolio Display allows you to “showcase your creative work in your LinkedIn Profile with the Creative Portfolio Display application. Free, easy to manage, and supports unlimited multimedia content.”

There are a number of other apps that you may or may not feel are valuable to include on your LinkedIn profile, but my suggestion is to try a few out and see how you like them.

Since the release of the advanced application section on LinkedIn, they continue to release new apps every so often. Make sure to check the application section for future updates, or find out more by following the LinkedIn blog.

Have you tried using any of the advanced LinkedIn applications on your profile? If so, what is the one you like the best, and why? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments box below.

These apps allow you to customize your landing tabs, add your blog, add videos and photos, add chat, add polls, contests, geolocation, scheduling, email, ecommerce and much more.

Why Facebook Apps?

Why add apps to your Facebook Business (Fan) page? By customizing your Fan page with apps, you can significantly enhance the user’s experience. And, the more you keep your fans engaged and coming back for more, the more likely you’ll increase your “viral visibility.”

In other words, every time a fan interacts with your Fan page, it’s free advertising for you because each fan’s activity goes out into their stream (their wall and their friends’ News Feeds). To find the best apps to enhance your Fan page, you could spend endless hours browsing Facebook’s Application Directory:

Facebook App Directory

However, there are literally tens of thousands from which to choose. Even clicking on the Business category as I’ve done in the screenshot above, we get apps like Bartab (send friends real drinks for $1) and Hugs and Hearts. I don’t know about you, but these are hardly business apps in my opinion!

There’s also Appbistro where you can browse their comprehensive directory of apps for businesses.

Now that Facebook nixed the ability to have our own custom content/apps on the Wall tab (left column), we need to get even more creative to ensure content on tabs is actually seen and that your fans interact with it; otherwise there’s not much point in having a dormant app that doesn’t enhance the user’s experience.

You can track your metrics via Facebook Insights and see which of your tabs gets the most clicks as shown in the screenshot below:

Facebook Insights - Tab Views

However, it may be that very few of your tabs get much visibility except the actual Landing tab (my top scorer in the screenshot above). Your Landing tab is the default page that visitors see who have not yet joined your page (click Edit Page > Manage Permissions > select Default Landing Tab).

So, my recommendation is to focus on those apps that actually publish content to your own Fan page stream (your page wall and the News Feed of your fans). Plus, add a few apps that allow for heightened engagement at specified times, such as live streaming video and live chat apps as I’ve detailed below for you.

Custom Landing Tabs

Let’s start with custom content as it’s important to have a branded Landing tab for your Facebook page. In fact, as reported by InsideFacebook, BrandGlue founder Jeff Widman discovered that a custom Landing tab DOUBLES conversion to fans:

We ran an A/B test just four weeks ago to guesstimate the efficacy of a landing tab. We drove visitors to the fan page of a major brand using ads. Those ad-driven visitors converted to fans at a rate of approximately 47% WITH a landing tab. When we turned off the landing tab, those same ad-driven visitors converted to fans at approximately 23%. A VERY noticeable loss in conversions over the course of the campaign.

The most popular app by far to add your own custom content has been Facebook’s own Static FBML. Facebook will be replacing all FBML tabs and apps with iFrames at the end of 2010, at which time you’ll be able to create custom tabs using iFrames. However, Facebook will continue to support any and all tabs/apps created prior to when FBML gets deprecated. See the Developers Roadmap for updates on the timeline of changes.

By way of example, here’s the Landing tab for Social Media Examiner’s Facebook page. Note the call to action (“Click the Like button”) and the seamless branding:

Social Media Examiner Facebook Fan Page - Landing Tab

Apps for adding custom content/branded Landing tab:

Here are my top two recommendations:

• Static FBML – you’ll need to be familiar with coding or use a WISIWYG editor first. See Tabfusion’s Free Facebook Page Tab Maker here.   Plus, review these two helpful tutorials.
• TabSite – free version with two TabSite subpages or choose from three paid levels. Complete WISIWYG editor; tabs within a main tab. TabSite is one of my favorites. It’s a very easy-to-use interface. I created the “RESOURCES” tab on my Facebook page using TabSite.

TabSite - Facebook App

Facebook custom tab apps:

• Welcome Tab
• iwiPage

For easy-to-use templates, check out these options:

• Static520 – UPDATE 12/21/10 – some users have reported this app provider is not working properly.
• Pagemodo
• FanPageEngine
• PageLever
• SplashTab
• FaceItPages – UPDATE 12/30/10 – added this provider to the list.

These sites offer suites of apps, including custom Landing tabs. Some apps are free, some have a fee:

• Involver
• MiproApps
• Tabfusion
• NorthSocial
• Momentus Media
• Friend2Friend
• ShortStack Lab
• Avenue Social

Involver.com - Facebook Suite of Apps

For a helpful review of some of these apps, see this post on TechCrunch. Plus, read Jay Baer‘s review of several of these apps here. For a list of over 50 Facebook-approved developers, go here.

Designers/developers:

If you’re looking for full hands-on customization service at very affordable rates, my top choices are:

• HyperArts
• Likeable Media
• Custom Fan Page Designs

See also:

• KickApps
• FanPageGenerator
• Say It Social
• Hilinsky Consulting
• 140ology [Update: added 12/21/10]

Enterprise-level customization:

• Vitrue
• Buddy Media
• Context Optional
• Sprout
• Friend2Friend
• Avenue Social

ContextOptional.com - Social Marketing Software and Services

See the complete list of Facebook Preferred Developer Consultants here.

Your Blog

Once you’re happy with your custom Landing tab, it’s time to import your blog’s RSS feed. My favorite app – used widely by many bloggers on Facebook – is Networked Blogs. It’s free and relatively simple to set up.

Networked Blogs - Facebook app

Once you’re set up and have a few followers, you can place the Networked Blogs widget on your blog for added visibility. Any time you have the chance to display your fans’ faces, go for it!

Networked Blogs - Facebook widget

You can add the Networked Blogs app to your personal profile in addition to your Fan page, if you wish. Alternate methods for pulling in your blog posts include:

• Facebook’s Notes app (can be a lag time and is sometimes buggy).
• Any of the RSS apps; e.g., RSS Graffiti, Social RSS or others.

RSS Feed and Content Publishers

You can easily import any of your content that has an RSS or Atom feed. For example, I import my Twitter favorites and Google Reader Shared Items using the RSS Graffiti app.

RSS Graffiti Facebook app

RSS/Content apps include:

• RSS Graffiti
• Social RSS
• Involver – RSS Feed (free version posts to the tab, Pro version posts to the wall)
• North Social – RSS Feed
• Objective marketer (complete publishing platform – used and recommended by Guy Kawasaki).

Video – YouTube and Viddler

I’ve been searching for some time for the ultimate YouTube app – one that automatically publishes new uploaded videos from your channel to your Facebook page wall, has a nice-looking tab, is easy to navigate and doesn’t take users away from your Fan page to view videos. Plus, if I were really waving a magic wand, I’d love it if YouTube gave us the option under their “Activity Sharing” feature to post liked or favorited videos to our Fan page (versus profile).

The closest I’ve found is YouTube Channels – I like their interface but the downside is they charge a monthly fee of $4.99 and I couldn’t get the Publish to Wall feature to work, so I canceled my subscription. Check out the YouTube Channel app by Involver (screenshot below) or the YouTube Video Box app.

Involver's YouTube Channel Facebook app

If you have a Viddler account instead of or in addition to YouTube, check out the Viddler app.

Twitter

I’m not a big fan of importing all tweets onto your Facebook wall, unless you don’t tweet that often! A more effective solution is to only publish select tweets TO your Fan page using this app:

• Selective Tweets – once set up, this app allows you to post your tweets to your Facebook page simply by including “#fb” at the end of the tweet (or there is an option to include #fb anywhere in the tweet but I don’t recommend that option as it’s too easy to make a mistake!). You can choose to post tweets to your personal profile and/or Fan page.

Or, my favorite solution as mentioned in the RSS Feed section above is to only import your Twitter Favorites. I do this using the RSS Graffiti app. To find the RSS feed URL for your Twitter Favorites, with the new Twitter design the only way is to view your Twitter account while logged out:

Another Twitter solution is to simply install an app that pulls in all your tweets onto a tab, but doesn’t publish in the stream. I’m not sure there’s much benefit to this, as I say the primary goal here is to get into the News Feeds of your fans.

• Involver’s Twitter Facebook app
• North Social Twitter Feed Facebook app

To publish your Facebook content TO Twitter as tweets, connect your page using Facebook’s own Twitter app. You have a choice of six different types of content: Status Update, Photos, Video, Links, Notes and Events. Facebook’s publisher (the field where you type your updates) takes up to 420 characters; whereas tweets are 140 characters. With this Facebook to Twitter app, your content will automatically be truncated with a link back to your Facebook page which can help increase engagement by bringing your Twitter followers onto Facebook.

Facebook's Twitter app

Flickr Photos

To display photos from your Flicker account, you might want to try the Flickr Tab app. See also the suite of app providers above.

SlideShare

If you have slides up on SlideShare, display them on your Facebook Fan page! You’ll have a nice display on the SlideShare tab, but I haven’t found that adding new slides automatically publishes to the wall. So, as you add new slides (and/or videos) to SlideShare.net, also publish the URL right on your Facebook page wall. What this does is pull in an actual player very similar to the video player with the blue play button icon. Your fans can play the slideshow right on your wall, and of course like and comment, providing that coveted News Feed ranking.

SlideShare Facebook app

Reviews

Facebook has a Reviews app that you can add to your Fan page. The cool thing about this app is whenever a fan writes a review, it goes out into their stream (their wall and friends’ News Feeds). If you have a particularly negative review, spam or trolls, unfortunately there’s no way to remove individual reviews. If that ever happens, you could remove the app altogether. Otherwise, I think the Reviews app is an often-overlooked goldmine for businesses to have on their Fan pages!

Live Video

One of my favorite apps to spark immediate real-time, live engagement is Vpype. You can launch a webcast at any time (or scheduled time) to your fans and the app then posts an announcement on your wall. The app can hold up to 300 viewers with a live chat alongside your webcam broadcast. You can easily record and archive your shows; recordings include the full chat transcript too. Plus, you can even download the FLV file of your shows. The app tab is aptly named “Shows.”

Vpype Facebook app

Read my review here from when I beta-tested the app for Vpype.

Alternatives to Vpype include:

• Livestream
• JustinTV
• UstreamTV
• Linqto (going live January 2011 – this should be a very popular webinar/livestream app!)

Live Chat

Along with offering impromptu or scheduled live video broadcasts, you could also offer live chat sessions with your fans. One such app I’ve tried and like is Clobby. The one downside of this app is the obnoxious banner ad at the top of the chatroom as you can see in the screenshot below. However, simply scroll the page down enough to hide the banner while chatting.

Clobby - Facebook live chat app

Whenever you open your chatroom, you can publish an announcement to your Fan page wall, which of course goes out in the stream and fans start coming over to chat. Publish a tweet as well to get even more people in the chatroom! You could host a regular live chat for your fans; I suggest capturing the chat stream with an app like ScreenFlow for Mac or Camtasia Studio for Mac or PC – that way, you have an archive to refer to.

For a more upscale chat room, see Involver‘s premium Facebook Connect Chat app. [UPDATE: 12/21/10 - this app is not displayed on Involver's website but IS available if you contact them.]

FAQs

If you find yourself continually answering the same questions for your clients and community, be sure to compile a Frequently Asked Questions section – the simple FAQ Page app allows you to have an FAQ tab on your Fan page that you can direct fans to when answering questions on your wall. A couple of things to note about this app: you can’t reorder the questions once inserted, so you may wish to compile your FAQs and all their answers in a separate document before pasting each one in. Also, it would be great if each question had its own unique URL so you could just share the link in answer to questions on your wall, but this isn’t the case.

FAQ Facebook app

Polls and Quizzes

For a poll or quiz app to work well, you want your fans to quickly and easily participate and for that activity to spark more engagement and visibility. If users have to jump through extra hoops to participate, they’ll likely just move on. This screenshot shows the Fan Appz poll app live on the Family Guy Fan page – I like how the app provides the option for voters to share (on their personal profiles) and also to share on their Fan pages!

FanAppz.com Poll app for Facebook

Some choices include (free and paid):

• Poll
• FanAppz Polls and Quizzes
• Widgetbox Poll app
• Involver’s Poll app

Contests and Promotions

Facebook’s rules around contests, drawings, competitions and sweepstakes are rigorous. Though many Facebook users are either unaware of the rules or choose to ignore them, I personally feel it’s not worth the risk to administer a promotion of any kind that doesn’t adhere to Facebook’s rules. In one fell swoop, you could lose your carefully built Fan page.

Facebook Promotions - Target example

The safest way to run any kind of contest or drawing on your Fan page is to use a third-party app such as:

• WildFire
• Fanappz
• Vitrue
• BuddyMedia
• Votigo
• ContextOptional
• BulbStorm
• NorthSocial
• Momentus Media
• Friend2Friend
• Strutta

Apps for Local Businesses

With the boom of LBS (Location-based Services), local business have more ways to integrate social and mobile media than ever before. Why not show off your Foursquare customer check-ins with an app on your Fan page?

Plus, be sure to claim your Facebook Place page: just search for your own business name on Facebook and look for the link at the foot of the Place page that says “Is this your business?” Once claimed, you’ll have the opportunity to merge your Place page with your Fan page. The resulting new page looks rather different, so think carefully about this. (For examples of merged pages, take a look at Iron Horse Vineyards and The Ellen Show).

• Foursquare Place Widget – see screenshot below
• Yelp Reviews by North Social
• Store Locator by Involver
• Facebook Places and Deals

Foursquare Place Widget - Facebook app

Appointment Scheduling

Make it super-easy for your Facebook fans, clients and prospects to book time with you. Add a tab synched with your appointment scheduling platform of choice. Remember, each tab has its own unique URL; you can easily direct your fans to your appointment tab.

• Schedulicity app (requires a Schedulicity account)
• Genbook BookNow! app (requires a Genbook account)

Schedulicity app

Contact Forms

Ideally, you have your own email marketing service provider as outlined in the next section. However, perhaps you wish to get started with a simple contact form on your Facebook page. Here are a few options:

• Contact Me

ContactMe app

Embed on an FBML tab:

• Response-O-Matic
• JotForm
• Allforms

See this helpful post by Tim Ware at HyperArts with a review and tutorial on JotForm and Allforms.

Email Marketing Apps

Your Facebook Fan page can be a tremendous source of traffic and a means to collect email addresses of your fans. Plus, some email marketing service providers have a feature that allows you to post your latest enewsletter to your Fan page. Check out any of the following:

• Mailchimp
• Constant Contact
• Nutshell Mail
• Delivra via TabSite integration. (See Delivra on Facebook)
• AWeber

NutshellMail - Facebook integration

Ecommerce Apps – Sell Products on Your Page

Many Facebook page owners often ask me if it’s okay to put up “Buy now” buttons and actually try to make sales directly from their Fan pages. I say “Go for it!!” If your fans are already spending time on your page learning about you and your products and services, you just never know when someone might be ready to buy from you. There are a few choices for adding a shopping cart tab to your fan page, including:

• Ecwid – free, run your own store, mirrored on many sites
• Payvment
• ShopTab
• VendorShop [UPDATE: added 12/21/10. Thanks to Krishna De for the tip + review.]
• OWJO [UPDATE: added 12/21/10. Thanks to Krishna De for the tip + review.]

Ecwid - Ecommerce app

See also this related blog post on Social Media Examiner: How to Sell Products via Your Facebook Page.

What do you think? Do you use any of these apps?  What has been your experience?  Also, have I missed any Facebook page apps you’ve tried successfully?  Please add your comments in the section below.

Here are our top five articles (in order of popularity) from this year…

#1: Five Must Read Social Media Marketing Studies

Here’s a quick overview of the this article:

Study 1: By 2010, 26 Million (1 in 7) U.S. Adults Will Use Twitter Monthly

The study by eMarketer found the following: “In 2009, there will be 18 million U.S. adults who access Twitter on any platform at least monthly. That represents a 200% increase over 2008 levels. Usage will reach 26 million U.S. adults in 2010, a further 44.4% climb.“

Study 2: Americans Spend 17% of Online Time on Social Media Sites

As popular social media platforms continue to grow their numbers of users, it is logical to conclude that Americans are spending more time on social networking sites.  According to a study by The Nielsen Company, among those paying the most attention to this recent trend are advertisers. Online ad spending increased by 119% to $108 million in August 2009.

Study 3: In 2010, Over 50% of Marketers Will Be Using Social Media

The “2010 Media Planning Intelligence Study” by the Center for Media Research, examined the likelihood of marketers including social media in their 2010 marketing plan.

Study 4: Blogs Most Useful Social Media Tool, Say 51% of Businesses

McKinsey Quarterly’s “Global Survey” examined companies’ overall assessment of the value of different social media technologies.

Study 5: 75% of Marketers Plan to Increase Social Media Use in 2010

The study by the virtual events provider Unisfair showed that marketers are most focused on attracting and keeping customers in 2010 and they plan to use social media to make this happen.

Click here to see the full article.

#2: Five Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Pages

Have you ever wondered, “How do I promote my Facebook fan page?” or “Why do I even need a Facebook fan page?” This article reveals five ways to use the power of Facebook to grow your fan base.

Here’s a snapshot of the five fan page strategies:

Strategy 1: Invite People From Your Facebook Friend Lists

Segment personal friends and professional colleagues into lists and 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.

Strategy 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.

Strategy 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. 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.

Strategy 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.

Strategy 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.

Click here to see the full article.

#3: How to Add a Retweet Button In Your PDF Documents

One growing trend on Twitter is the retweet button showing up on websites everywhere.

The retweet button allows any reader to easily post a tweet into his or her Twitter account.  And it’s not just any tweet, but one that’s prefabricated by you and links back to the original landing page where your document resides.

A retweet button in your PDF file empowers readers to easily share your PDF with their fans as well as allows readers to show their appreciation of your work by simply clicking a button. It also provides steady streams of traffic to your PDF file (because as people discover the file, they will retweet it if they like the content), plus allows you to know precisely who is sharing your document (for marketing engagement)

Check out the entire article to learn the 6 steps to add retweet buttons to your PDF files.

#4: Three New Social Media Studies Worth Reading

Here’s a quick overview of the this article:

Study 1: Social Media Engagement Big Challenge for Many Businesses (Deloitte)

Survey results from a Deloitte study (2009 Tribalization of Business Study) pointed to some key challenges that organizations are facing as they move toward integrating online communities into their social media strategy.

Study 2: Social Media Used as a Discovery Tool by 18% of Online Population (Nielson Company

This study by Nielson Company examined the relationship between social media and user search options.  The report compared social sites to search engines and portals like Yahoo! Of those surveyed, 18% reported social media sites as core to finding new information.

Study 3: Businesses Slow to Incorporate Social Media Into Practice (BIA/Kelsey)

Although numerous recent reports show how businesses plan to incorporate social media into their 2010 marketing mix, a recent study by BIA/Kelsey reported that many small- to medium-sized businesses are slow to incorporate the strategies into their plans today.

Click here to see the full article.

#5: How to Create Headlines That Go Viral With Social Media

If you are struggling to get more clicks and bookmarks on your articles, there is one area in which your content might be letting you down: your headlines.

Without a compelling headline, you will not attract attention, and your article will not spread as easily. If you do write a killer headline then you will get more clicks, more bookmarks, and your readers will be compelled to share it with their friends and contacts.

Compelling headlines grab attention, identify a targeted group, are specific, generates curiosity, and promises powerful benefits.

To grab your audience where it counts, you want your headlines to show empathy and make your readers feel. Here are three popular headline emotional hot buttons:

Boost and Slam—What is the best/worst/most/least? Compare and contrast.
Laugh, Cheer, Snigger or Cry—Human interest that tugs the heartstrings work.
Outrage, Anger, and Righteous Indignation—Listen to talk radio or the talking heads and their jabbing fingers on any cable news network.

Check out the entire article for more emotional hot buttons and a free PDF of 102 Proven Headline Formulas.

As we move into the new year, we are looking forward to sharing with you the latest trends and insights in the social media world.  On behalf of all of us at Social Media Examiner, we wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year in 2010!

So, now it’s your turn.  What do you think of our top 5 social media articles for 2009? Which article resonated most for you?  What social media topics do you think will hit the “Top 5” list for 2010?  Let us know your thoughts!

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.