So you've dabbled on Facebook, creating a personal account and have even become fans of a few businesses.
But have you taken your business to the next level by incorporating a Facebook page into your business' marketing and operational plan? Now is not the time to hesitate.
A recent study of Facebook fans for a store in Houston found that they spent 33 percent more and made 36 percent more visits to than non-fans.
Facebook offers a great opportunity to connect with people who are searching for your products and services, for engaging with current and prospective customers, for creating a community around your business and to promote other content you create.
Today, more than 450 million people are on Facebook, averaging almost an hour a day on the site.
In addition, Facebook recently announced new "like" buttons that are anticipated to put more added interests in Facebook members' profiles - data that advertisers can then use to more finely target their ads.
For just a few dollars a day, a Facebook ad can attract new customers, patients, donors, prospects or whoever your target audience is.
Here are a few tips to consider as you wade into the Facebook pool:

• Start by creating a page.
  Unlike people, who create profiles, businesses need to create a page.
  While it may sound like common sense, choose who creates the page carefully since the site keeps the creator of your business fan page as an administrator for the life of the page.
  Populate your page with your business' personality through comments, questions, blogs and more.
  
• Set a strategy.
  Think about how you want to use Facebook as a tool for connecting with customers and/or potential customers.
  Without a strategy, you face just another marketing tool to maintain.
  It's worth your while -- If you've got a Facebook page, you'll enjoy more attention from search engines than if you don't.
  
• Claim your name.
  Many businesses have Facebook pages, but they are hard to find.
  Using the Facebook.
  com/username tool, you can claim your 'user name' on Facebook.
  If your website is bobbysbits.
  com, you claim the Facebook name Facebook.
  com/bobbysbits.
  Telling that to your customers is a sure way to get them to your page and generate more fans.
  
• Launch conversations.
  Facebook, by its very nature, is a great feedback loop.
  You can carry on discussions with customers, introduce surveys and feedback.
  Get your fans to post memories, pictures, videos and more.
  Remember, it's about engagement and interaction, not one-way broadcast.
  
• Put everything on Facebook- Another thing overlooked by businesses is the content requirements to keep up a good Facebook presence.
  Think of everything going on at your company that's worth of public sharing.
  New business, upcoming events (and posts on events in progress), press releases, new hires and everything else that happens.
  
• Advertise.
  As mentioned above, one of the major benefits of Facebook is that its advertising model uses targeting based on demographic data.
  So you can target a very narrow, defined audience.
  

By following a few simple best practices, you can dramatically increase the effectiveness of your Facebook presence.