Creating a large following on your facebook fanpage is a lot of work and will not happen overnight for most businesses. An exception to the statement… you are a mega empire corporation everyone already knows.

Driving visitors to your fan page for small businesses will take dedication and commitment. One brand that does that well on facebook is the Pringles page. They have installed video, blogs, and even coupons for their fans to use.

These features make the experience of being a fan all worthwhile and is just one of the many rewards of fans to join a page.

Having a link to your facebook page on your website, other social media sites, blogs, and even taking out facebook ads are helpful ways to build your fan base.

Many businesses lack dedication, expecting their fans on facebook to find them automatically. However, that’s not usually the case. When is the last time you went looking for a brand’s facebook fan page? More than likely, you never do. Most of the time a customer will stumble upon the page, get the page suggestion through a friend or personal recommendation, or the page will come to them-(i.e. a facebook ad).

Some pages are used as connection tools, but others offer information to their consumers. They use the information as added value to have consumers create a connection with the business.

Offering something for fans to join can help build a large community. Some examples of things to offer: Weekly deals, coupons, freebies and special offers for facebook fans only.

Running contests on facebook: Currently, there are strong rules about having contests on facebook. Please be very careful, as you can get in a great deal of trouble if you do not have permission to run a contest.

Alternative ways to get a page:
One of my favorite stories about social media involves the Coca Cola facebook page. The fan page was created by two users who liked Coke. What started as a fan page for fun, turned out to be the largest product fan page on facebook.

Coca Cola, instead of taking over the page and making it their own, rewarded the fans by bringing them to Atlanta and giving them a tour of the Coke facility. The fan page remains theirs, but now they have the blessing and help of Coca Cola.

By empowering the fans to keep their fan page, Coke ensures a passionate page owner.

The Coca Cola marketing team was also smart enough to realize that letting others know what happened here would work in their favor. The fan page creators were told to make a video of the history behind the fan page, and how Coke had reached out to them and rewarded them for this.

Taking over unsanctioned facebook fan pages isn’t always the best idea. Instead, rewarding dedication can inspire others to do the same.

Does not happen for everyone:

Sometimes no matter what, your facebook page may not get large. This can be the demographic for facebook. Some facebook users do not use facebook for shopping, discovering new products or fanpages. People may use it only to stay in touch with people they know.

Understanding the demographics on facebook will help you determine if facebook is right for your business.

The demographics that make up facebook are changing quickly, as more moms have begun to join. Keep checking on demographic changes over time. As facebook changes, your pages may need to change with it.

EXTRA BONUS: Here is a video that will take you through the steps of creating your own facebook fan page. (courtesy of canadahelps)

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About the Author: Trying out about 3 new sites per week, Roxanne has chosen Social Media as her flavor. She spends several hours a day online, with a heavy focus on Facebook and Twitter. Learning, reading and sharing with other Social Medialites, Roxanne enjoys StumbleUpon in the place of her cup of coffee every morning. Combining Reddit, Digg, Blogger and Technorati, she recommends anyone to try out several pieces of Social Media and then narrow down to a few favorites that work for you based on your needs. Check out her blog at Social Media Rox.