With over 500 million users, Facebook appears to be a great harvesting ground for network marketers and direct sellers. For anyone just getting started, it can appear such as an overwhelming sea of faces and a fresh time and energy to start pushing out marketing messages. One tool that Facebook has generated to simply help people effectively market their business to it's users is paid advertising. Facebook has partnered with Google, and employing their AdWords engine has generated a pay-per click advertising model that, when used properly can help an immediate sales consultant touch base to a targeted number of clients, eager for his or her product or service. Here's a simple overview of how Facebook Ads may benefit your direct sales business.

Targeted Demographics

Want to reach cat loving twenty-somethings in a fifty mile radius of Peoria, Illinois? Facebook's powerful demographic surveying gives them a very targeted database that to draw leads. You are able to target not only gender, but location, interests, and other publicly available data. You are able to target fans of a specific page, product or service. You may even specify degrees of separation (friends of friends, or people who aren't linked to the page at all) to create your advertising dollars go farther.

On-site or Off-site Linking

Your ad can connect to a full page on or off Facebook. If you choose an off-Facebook landing page, be sure that page has the appropriate privacy policies and disclaimers, otherwise, Facebook may disallow your ad. If your company enables you to advertise your consultant site, you can drive traffic straight there, or even to your own opt-in site to gather leads for your list. Alternatively, you can direct them to any page within Facebook, including your own "fan" page. This can be a popular method to gather more fans quickly, by advertising your fan page to other targeted prospects already on Facebook.

Pay Per Click or Impression

The decision is yours! In the event that you want to create awareness, paying per impression can be a less costly selection for getting your ads into the marketplace. Pay per click generally costs more Facebook Ads Consultant, but you are only paying when someone actually clicks on your link, rather than for every single time your ad is displayed on a page.

More Targeting = More Expensive

The theory is that, because you are getting more specific as you obtain more targeted, you are getting better qualified leads, and thus should have better performance on the ad. In light of that fact, it costs more to a target 44 year old feamales in Chicago than it will to a target women, or 44-year olds, or people in Chicago. Be sure to watch your budget carefully.

A Word of Caution

Because Facebook can generate 1000s of views in a few momemts, it's crucial that you track your ad campaign cautiously - specially when you're first starting out. It's easy to pay money quickly and although you can set your daily spending limit, you want to make sure you're getting the absolute most possible exposure for your ad at the occasions your targeted clients are online. If you spend your daily limit in the first few minutes each day, many potential clients won't even see your ad.

For many direct sales companies, Facebook advertising is just a no-no, as is most online advertising. For those companies that enable it, however, Facebook provides a great opportunity to locate and attract high-quality, targeted leads for your direct sales business. More leads equates to more sales, bookings and recruits, that leads to a much better book of business this season.