The process of gaining new friends, fans, followers, etc. is an interesting one and one that comes up a lot in social media conversation. The truth is, there is no real magic formula to getting your number of fans to go up.

Think of it this way, if you walked into a networking event and just stood in the corner or at the bar, you wouldn't get to know very many people, right? Or, if you were delivering a seminar but you were dry, boring and the information you shared was regurgitated, you aren't going to necessarily walk away with people who loved what you did. People want authenticity and they want interesting.

Making friends, fans or followers on social media comes from having interesting things to say, interesting resources to share and forging relationships with the people you meet. It also comes from the value you give to the community.

There is this perception on social media that more followers / friends / fans = success. It's just not the truth. You could have 100,000 fans on your Facebook page but the real value is in knowing how many of those people listen to what you have to say, interact with you and interact with the other people you've attracted.

However, that being said, there are some ways that you can attract more people to you.

• Start a blog. If you aren't blogging yet, do so! You can utilize the blog as a feeder system into your other outlets. For example, you could start a blog post on your blog but have the rest of it posted as a note on your Facebook fan page which will drive people there. Blogs allow you to give the ultimate amount of value and they never disappear so you benefit from them for a long time to come.

• Interact in groups, pages, etc. to find other similar people. Sometimes the "if you build it, they will come" idea just doesn't work. Instead, you have to go out and find people to friend, fan or follow. Once those relationships are being built, you'll naturally find people who are ideal for your world.

• Contests are a great idea - when done correctly. There is something to be said about a good Facebook fan page contest but there is even more to be said about the bad contests. The goal here is to create something of interest that will want people to come to your site but you also don't want to come across as saying, "I just want MORE fans!" Yes, that is the end result but saying so might make your current "fans" think, "Well, I wonder what's wrong with the lot of us that is here!"

After you gain new "fans", building the relationship and having them stay a long-time "fan" is something you'll have to work on personally and that will just take time, authenticity and a little effort.