At this point it is very clear that you need to run 2 power tools around your branding, your site or business: Twitter and Facebook Fan Pages, but when it comes to the later you have to dig a little deeper to get familiar with the possibilities.

The main difference is that you will be working more on Facebook itself while with Twitter you’re relying mostly on 3rd-party apps. I created a list of 10 steps to help you get some blood pumping into your Fan Page. Here we go:

1. Insights (Your In-House Analytics)

If you are already running a Fan Page, the first step will be to start paying attention to your analytics. Yep, Insights doesn’t include an incredible amount of analysis and reports but it sure provides enough data to get to know your audience a little better. So make that your first stop, see the genders, age groups and other available data before you start designing a strategy. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s located on the left sidebar of your page.

2. Vanity URL

In order to do this you need to first have a minimum of 100 fans. This pretty much takes your URL from http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/socialmouths/180746308742 to http://www.facebook.com/socialmouths. Hurry up if you don’t have your 100 25 fans yet and reserve your username, after all this is only the #2 most popular website in the planet.

3. Big Profile Pic (Banner Style)

There is not much to do with Facebook in terms of customization and don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing or the site could be looking more like MySpace… but that means we have to leverage from any real estate available on the page and that is your profile picture. The width of the image is limited but you can use a vertical image that covers most of the left sidebar.

4. Invitations & Bulk Messages

One of the main differences between a Profile and a Fan Page is that you can send bulk messages to all your fans. Also, and one of the first steps you should take is sending an invitation to join to all your friends with the “Suggest To Friends” feature right under the profile picture.

Obviously this a feature that you need to use wisely and be careful not to annoy your audience.

5. Facebook Widgets On Your Blog

So you are promoting your content on your Fan Page, now promote the other way. Bring your Fan Page to your blog or site by adding the Fan Box to encourage visitors to join the page. Facebook provides you with the necessary code to take care of the integration.

Along with the Fan Box, there are many other tools available to make your blog very Facebook friendly.

6. Twitter Integration

You can’t ignore Twitter. Again, both ways, you can now sync your Fan Page to update your Twitter status. The other way will be to bring a Twitter feed into your Fan Page, you can do this with applications that let you do this in a few clicks and add it as tab.

7. Blog Promotion

You should always post links to the wall but if you are looking into taking it to the next level, add your blog to the tabs. Blogging networks such as NetworkedBlogs or Blogged allow you to integrate a feed and give your fans a little taste of your blog. At the same time, your blog is now part of a network and that can translate in some additional traffic and followers.

8. FBML Landing Page

So this one requires of some coding skills and the installation of the FBML application to be able to integrate, but it is great way to welcome new visitors and turn them into fans. First time visitors usually land on the wall, which really doesn’t say much of what you’re all about. This pretty much allows you to do whatever you want with all the real estate on the content area. If you don’t have the design and coding skills, consider hiring somebody to do it for you, it is definitely not rocket science and it adds a lot of value to your Fan Page.

9. Facebook Ads

Those little ads you see on your profile sidebar are a great way to increase your fan base, mostly to kick it off at the beginning. Facebook advertising is really very affordable, you can setup campaigns of any sizes by controlling your budget and they are highly targeted. We usually assume that advertising is expensive, don’t let that scare you and give it a try.

10. Facebook Apps

There are many applications you can integrate to Fan Pages that will help you promote user interaction. Some of them, like the Video app, are already a default on your page, but I suggest you browse through them and you will most likely find something great for your industry or business. Don’t be affraid to test different ones, you can always remove them.

So To Wrap This Up…

If you are an entrepreneur or a blogger, you can’t afford to ignore this power tool. Just like any other social media platforms, you need to be creative and find ways to provide value and engage your tribe.

Having a clear goal of what you want to achieve is always good, then test and adjust.