Are you giving people a reason to "like" you?

Facebook has over 500 million users now and has become a great way to promote your local business and lately it seems we have all received messages that say "Hey, go 'like' this" from someone we don't know. Most of the time those pleas get ignored. In fact, more than likely, that very impersonal request gets filed in their mind as rude and impersonal. That's not the way you want to be thought of, is it? Do not ask people to like your page on Facebook, give them a reason to! Your potential clients/customers are not going to " like" you on Facebook just because you have asked them to. Many of today's Facebook users understand that when you ask them to "like" your page you are going to end up marketing to them, so in return they think.. " Whats in it for me?". Well what is exactly "in it" for your fans? This is a question to consider when trying to market your business on Facebook. Below you will find a few ways that can help you get more likes to your business Facebook page.

Offer an incentive to get people to like you:

Lets face it.. Everyone wants something for free. Give them what they want, offer some sort of promotion to get people to like your page. This can be anything really, if you are in the retail business offer some sort of product for 1 lucky winner who likes you between date 1 and date 2. If you are in the service industry.. offer up some of your time or free service for 1 lucky winner. Whatever you decide... make it enticing.

Install a Facebook Like tool onto your website:

Installing a “Like tool” is an excellent way to allow visitors to your website become fans without even leaving your website. If they are already logged into their Facebook account they can simply like your page with no hassle.

Connect your Facebook page to Twitter:

Connecting your Facebook page to Twitter is an excellent way to convert your twitter followers into Facebook likes. Doing this  will cause all of your posts to be sent to your twitter page with a link back to the Facebook version of the post.

Get your followers to upload and tag photos:

People love to talk about themselves on Facebook. If you decide to host or attend an event with some of your followers make sure you take a ton of photos and then tag your followers in them, when you do this it will show up on their walls and will lead to additional traffic for your page.

Post status updates regularly:

If you are not getting the traffic you would like to receive on your page do not be afraid to make a post and ask for the "like". Of course make sure you give them a reason to " like" the page.

Link your page as a place of employment:

This is a quick and effective way to get the information out there in front of others who are connected with you on Facebook.

Talk about your page:

We all know that word of mouth does not start on its own. Tell people about your page and create yourself a custom url on Facebook so it is easy for people to remember.