Did you know that Facebook accounts for every 1 in 4 online page views? ONE IN FOUR. You and your business would be naive to resist this statistic. This highlights the alarming potential a Facebook fan page can harness. For beginners click here for easy fan page creation!

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The following are 5 essential Facebook fan page applications you should use if you are looking to build your brand and promote yourself successfully!

Static Fbml- It is very hard to stylize your Facebook page to a personal level because neither Facebook pages or profiles allow html coding. However, with the Static FML app, users can add their own custom code via FBML [Facebook markup language] or HTML. Every brand should use this application to add a personalized element to their page. You can add images of a new product, hold a contest, create live performances, or, hold a vote- use your imagination and crate something that is unique to your brand on this tab as it is one of the only apps that lets you add custom code! Coke takes advantage of the Static FBML tool wonderfully!

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Extended Info- Think of extended info as a bite size static FBML page. With the extended info box you can use HTML to customize content unique to your brand. Many users have said that extended info box is easier to use than the static FBML page. Here you can offer custom coupons to your Facebook fans and post images among many other options. The extended info box is a neat and easier alternative for a second customizable area on your page.

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Facebook Notes- Think of Facebook notes as a mini- blog. You can set this application up to pull in your blogs RSS feed and it will automatically drop these articles you write into a note. A great way to keep users engaged is to then go into that note and tag people on Facebook you think it would be of interest to. This way the note also shows up on their wall, they can interact, and anyone who views the users page will see your note and be more likely to become a fan of your page!

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Blog RSS Feed Reader- I am assuming most brand interested in leveraging social media already have a blog. Well a great way to keep your Facebook page in the forefront is to use a blog RSS feed reader. Many applications exist on Facebook but my favorite is this one. The reason I use this one is because it allows for more customization than other similar apps. This is obviously crucial when building a brand. I encourage you to take advantage of the custom header feature of this application in order to make your Facebook mini blog look like your real blog!

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Flash Player-This Flash app will provide a box where you can add your own flash files. This is another spot where a high level of customization can occur. It can also be renamed to reflect your brand. My personal favorite use of this box is to create a custom game, ideally addicting, that revolves around your product. This way, you can advertise the game, it builds brand recognition, and you generate more fans!

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Harnessing the brand leverage of each of these apps will dramatically increase your Facebook fans and your brand recognition! Have you used any of these applications?

Top Twitterer: @aplusk

Ashton Kutcher made it no secret that he wanted to be the first person on twitter to top 1,000,000 million followers. Today he sits at 4.2 million. This tops the twitter celeb list which you can view here: http://social.implu.com/. The question is how’d he do it?

Well Ashton understood the power of a strong following to the extent that it heightens his personal brand. What happened next? Nikon identifies with @aplusk and his 4 million+ followers and sees a goldmine in quick marketing.

But how’d he get there? Besides his fame, many argue billboards. While this may seem like something every brand can’t do, let’s understand the process so that we can downsize it and still create an appropriate program to generate our own followers.

The billboards were donated by Lamar, a top 5 billboard company in the US, who said they wanted to support Kutcher’s idea to donate malaria nets to charity. This in turn propelled Kutcher’s followers into the millions. The billboards alone reached an estimate 34 million+ impressions. So how can you as a company downsize this idea?  Well instead of billboards, what about tee-shirts- check out the innovative idea/design here: http://www.thesocialtee.com/?p=120

While Kutcher may have mega-millions, fame, an established fanbase, and an expensive public relations team, you would be naive to overlook his efforts due to their grandeur.

-Try partnering with your local charities and donating web space for every twitter follower they help you generate.  [Much like Kutcher did with Lamar]

- Be personal and professional in your tweets so as to be genuine to your fan base.

-Once you grow your fanbase, try selling your tweets to other companies whose demographics fit your followers. [Much like Kutcher did with Nikon]

- Invest in tee-shirts as advertisements, TheSocialTee can help with that! [Much like Kutcher did with his billboards]

-Network with your followers, especially distinguished ones, and see if they can drive traffic to your account. [Much like Kutcher did with Oprah]

Take advantage of these practices in order to build up your own personal, or business based brand. Heck, you may have a company looking for a deal or partnership in no time. What’s that mean? More exposure for you, more brand building, and more income.

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