Here is what it means to me: FREE PUBLICITY. I try to post in my status on my business page at least 2 to 3 times a week something that I am doing or can do, ("We are soft washing a house and roof today in Humble TX", or "WE offer complete and permanent Odor removal for homes, businesses and auto's," stuff like that.. When I do that it is supoosed to show up on everyones page that "likes" my page unless they have hidden my page from there view.
Occasionally when some one add's a comment about a status I have posted, that will show up on that persons page for all of that persons fans to see as well, even their friends that are not my friends. This sometimes leads to new friend requests strictly because they read about my service(s) on their friends page and they want to contact me about my services. Cetainly doesn't happen everyday, but it does happen. Your business page should showing you how many "impressions" your status get's also.
This year I have started asking EVERY customer if they are on Facebook. If they are, I then ask them if I can friend them. Most always say Yes. Once I friend them, and they accept, I then send them an invitation to like my business page. It's just another way to get know my customer from a personal level, (find out birthday's, anniversaries, kids birthdays, etc, etc,) and is a great way to stay in communication with them from a more personal level vs a strictly business level. They also get to know me better personally faster which just helps to build trust a lot faster.
This was probably way more info than you wanted Ron, but I just feel Facebook can be a huge tool in reaching NEW customers as well as retaining previous customers, if used properly. I am no expert on FB by any means, but sure is fun playing around with it and discovering new ways to market my services. ALL FOR FREE.
