Continuing our 10 in 10 series today, we will focus on Facebook and the New Year's Resolutions that we should all adopt as we take our organizations through 2010 on Facebook.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.

Everyone talks about how the new year allows each of us to start with a clean slate.  We can make a resolution to lose weight, get in shape, or become a better person.  The same can be said for our social media activities as well.  The new year brings the opportunity for us to change some things about our online identity in much the same way as we do offline.  In that spirit we have compiled a list of the top 5 New Year’s Resolutions for Facebook:

1. I will let Facebook be Facebook. The point of Facebook is so that people can interact with a wide range of people without leaving the site.  So, keep them there!  Don't simply use Facebook as a tool to drive traffic to your website.  Put enough information on your Facebook page that your fans won't have to leave to get the stuff they want.  The vast majority of Facebook users want to accomplish all of their Facebook tasks within the Facebook site.  Allow them to do this within your page.
2. I will add some branding. This can be as simple as using a brand image as your profile photo or as complex as designing an entire tab on your fan page with a branding feel.  Either way is fine, but do SOMETHING!  You don't have to have everything perfect at the outset, get a photo up and then start to build from there.  Facebook users are much less rattled by frequent changes to the look of your Facebook Fan Page that traditional web-users would be if you changed your web-site 2 or 3 times a week.  So play around with what works best for you!
3. I will admit that its not a Fad. The temptation in the last couple of years was to discount Facebook as a fad and a time waster.  Its time to give that up.  Facebook is one of the most visited sites on the web and barring some major disaster that will not change anytime soon.  Its time that you embrace Facebook and its usefulness in communicating with your fans, clients, or customers.  Think of it as the telemarketing that they don't mind.
4. I will give stuff away. Never underestimate the power of a freebie.  Whether you make clothes, provide cleaning services, or run a moving company you have something that you can give away for free to your most loyal customers via some kind of Facebook contest.  It doesn't matter what it is, make the fans compete for it and earn yourself some valuable marketing information in the process.  Give away t-shirts to the first 25 people that respond to a poll question or to the first person that gets 25 new fans for your company.  Free stuff is seen as valuable even if the actual items are not.
5. I will link back to my Fan Page from my Apps. This assumes that you will be creating/using apps for your brand/business this year.  Many apps fail to link back to the fan page and lose traffic.  If you really want to grow your influence on Facebook you need to link back to your fan site so that fans can easily return to your page and talk about how fun/informative/entertaining your app was to use.

What have we missed?  What is your number 1 Facebook Best Practice for the New Year?  Remember we will be back tomorrow with another 10 in 10 post.