Facebook is a great place to market if you use it correctly.  It’s versatile and it offers several different strategies that will easily generate large volumes of traffic in a short period of time.  If you combine this with resources like Twitter, Friend Feed and Ping.fm, the traffic volume you can generate with one message is amazing.  Here’s a screen capture from bit.ly of a message sent just the other day…

The best way to get results like this is to share valuable information that will keep bringing people back for more.  This is not done by simply blasting ads at people.  It’s done be making an effort to go against the flow, step up and stand out in the crowd as the “Go To Gal/Guy”.

To do this, participation is required.  Facebook, if it’s anything, it’s participation oriented.  From groups, to multi-player games, Facebook is an incredible traffic resource.

To take advantage of that, here are a handful of strategies you can use to get great results:

1.)  Add Your Blog To Facebook:  This is a simple task that allows you to update your friends each time you create a new blog post.  To use this feature go to your applications menu, select “notes”, click “edit import settings” on the upper right and then add the rss feed from your blog.

2.)  Add New Friends:  I recommend adding 10 to 15 new friends per day by focusing on groups that qualify as your target market.  For example, if you are promoting a weight loss product/opportunity, you will want to add friends from weight loss groups.  This strategy will work with any target market.

As you add new friends, many times you will receive a message in the lower right hand corner of Facebook stating your request has been accepted.  When this happens, go directly to the wall of that person, thank them for accepting your friendship and start a conversation.  I usually use something like “Hi NAME, thanks for adding me as a friend, how are you today?”  Nothing fancy, just simply and basic… open the lines of communication and start building the friendship.

If you’re really gutsy you can go so far as to record a video, using your webcam, and send a video message to people each time they accept your friendship.  This makes a huge impact!

3.)  Start Your Own Group:  Starting a group is easy and it’s fun.  Setting one up is very simple… I’ve created a video on YouTube to walk you through the process:  click here to watch!  One of the coolest aspects of setting up a group on Facebook is the ability to message all of the members in your group.  Use this respectfully (in other words, don’t spam the daylights out of people) and it will serve you well.

4.)  Participate:  When given the opportunity, participate!  If you find a group where it’s okay to share your link, then share it.  Participate in discussions, wall posts, etc.  Each time you do this your action show up in the live and news feeds.  This is a great way to get the right attention and generate great traffic.

Hope these tips help!

Rex