To begin, let's uncover the BIGGEST MYTH of Facebook...
The BIGGEST myth of Facebook is that if you have thousands of 'Fans' or 'Likers' on your Facebook Page...
you're 'good' at Facebook, or that you're 'successful' at 'doing' Facebook.
This is the single biggest misconception that I come across among business owners.
It's not just the Facebook Page owners themselves that believe that the more fans they have the more successful they are, it's also other business owners that visit their Page.
There's an automatic assumption that if someone has a thousand fans or more on a Facebook Page, that they're somehow 'doing well'.
But that's just not the case.
One benefit however of having a large number of Likers is that from the consumers point of view, your Page appears to be 'active' which will no doubt help with them potentially 'liking' your Page and even engaging with you on your Wall.
But does this mean they'll do business with you?? Think of it this way...
if you owned a retail store and people came in to 'browse', they might even try some clothes on, then they'll say "I'll think about it".
Having someone come to your Page and perhaps engage on your Wall is the same as someone browsing in a retail store, trying clothes on but buying nothing.
Do you have a customer? POTENTIALLY...
but NOT TODAY.
TODAY is what creates a customer, TODAY is what initiates the buying process.
What we're talking about here is what's known in sales as 'Hunting vs Farming'.
Hunting is going for the sale TODAY, to CREATE a customer.
Whereas Farming is about building a relationship in the hope that someday, the prospect will buy, turning them into a customer.
That's one of the massive advantages of having a Facebook Page for your Business, you can HAVE BOTH! You just need to know how.
When it comes to marketing in general most people fall into the 'default marketing' trap, that is, looking around at what everyone else is doing and automatically assuming that what they're doing is working, then copying them.
You see this all the time, especially in local newspapers, the ads are all the same...
"we stand by our service", "quality service at the right price", "call us today for your free quote" (cause they usually charge for this??) It's no different online; business owners look at their competitors' websites and copy what they do.
The only thing that differs is their logo and colours.
They give no thought to how they could do things differently, to increase leads, to build their database, to get the phone ringing etc.
Back to Facebook Marketing, let's talk about Farming...
The beautiful thing about a Facebook Page is that someone can simply click the 'Like' button at the top of your Page and they're automatically on your 'List' (your Facebook 'database').
While email marketing has become old news, the Facebook Like button creates a similar opportunity for you to have someone 'signup' to your news, offers etc.
And while the 'open rate' of a typical newsletter is about 30% (if you're lucky), a person can't help but view your Facebook Page Post in their News Feed once they've clicked the like button on your Page.
(Well, that's not actually quite true, thanks to Facebook's EdgeRank algorithm).
The Facebook Like button therefore allows you to 'Farm' your list, to build a relationship with your likers over time.
But then what?? Do they magically decide to buy one day just because they like you? Hardly.
This is where you'll need knowledge of Facebook Marketing Campaigns...
how to plan one, what will work, what won't work, what offer should you create, how to qualify your leads, how to follow up after you receive the leads to ensure you convert these leads into paying customers.
Let's talk about Hunting...
Generating Leads With Your Facebook Page The huge advantage of having a Facebook Page for your business is that you can not only Farm your existing likers but you can also 'Hunt' both new likers and existing likers in order to generate leads for your business TODAY.
In order to do this you'll need a thorough understanding of how to create and execute a Facebook Marketing Campaign right through from creating the right offer or incentive that will generate the leads through to the right script to convert them into a customer.
The first thing to realise is that Facebook is a formula.
If you have the right ingredients in the right order you'll have a successful Facebook Marketing Campaign.
If you don't, you'll have lukewarm results and end up saying "Facebook doesn't work!" I'm sure you've heard this before from other business owners.
After trying one time to get Facebook working for them, most business owners give up rather than testing, trying, re-testing and succeeding with a Facebook Marketing Campaign.
To implement a successful campaign you'll need:

• The right offer/incentive (what would cause someone to take up your offer?)
• The right approach (how can you meet the customer where they are, rather than trying to force them to do what you want to do?)
• The right 'look' (if a prospect senses that things 'don't add up, they'll back out, immediately)
• The right funnel (how can you get them to take the action you want with the shortest amount of steps possible?)
• The right follow up (remember that thing called a phone? They're still around and you may need one if your Facebook Campaign is convert successfully)

Above is a short checklist of the components of a Facebook Marketing Campaign.
If you get it right, you can generate leads from a brand new Facebook Page with ZERO fans.
If you get it wrong you'll fall into old trap of believing that you need a thousand likers to have a 'successful' Facebook Page.
Don't buy into what others say you need to be doing on Facebook.
You wouldn't go to your Accountant for mechanical advice, why would you listen to someone who's not already generating leads on Facebook?