Creating a Facebook application is not easy. Creating a successful Facebook application is even less easy. You need to know different things before embracing the Facebook adventure, here are the 10 most important (according to me):

Know the Facebook Platform.
It can seem obvious but you need to well understand the Facebook platform and API. Learn FBML, […]

Creating a Facebook application is not easy. Creating a successful Facebook application is even less easy. You need to know different things before embracing the Facebook adventure, here are the 10 most important (according to me):

1. Know the Facebook Platform.
   It can seem obvious but you need to well understand the Facebook platform and API. Learn FBML, FQL and FBJS in order to embed your application in Facebook. The difficulty is that the current official and unofficial documentation is scarce and not easy to understand.
2. Read the TOS.
   It is better to know the Facebook platform Terms of Service. Imagine that your application is successful but that you have to close because you violated the point 54.3.2.a of Facebook Terms Of Use? To avoid this, read the TOS carefully. For example you can’t keep users information in your databases more than 24h.
3. Buy a hosting plan.
   You have to host your own application. As a consequence you must take into account that building a Facebook application is not only time-consuming but money-consuming. Take the hosting price into account in your budget.
4. Buy a domain name.
   It is not expensive and the name you choose is not very important as the final user will not see it often. Also, take the domain name price into account in your budget.
5. Maximize the Social Graph.
   You need to think how you take advantage of the Facebook Social Graph, i.e. the fact that potentially thousand of people can use your application. How will you spread the word? How will you monetize your application?
6. Prepare your Business Plan.
   You need a small business plan. It is very important because from Day 1, you will spend time and money to support your application. You need to plan how and when you will make money to refund your expenses and make some profits.
7. Forecast your bandwidth need.
   You have to forecast your application utilisation. If your application becomes popular very quickly, your initial host plan will be rapidly inefficient and you application will suffer. As a consequence, when you first choose your host, be sure that you can switch from basic plan to more advanced hosting plans.
8. Be addictive.
   In order to generate revenue, your application must be addictive. If the users just install your application and never go back to it, it is useless. With the new Facebook user activity statistics, only users using your application on a daily basis are counted as Daily Users.
9. Be simple.
   To attract more users, you should create an easy-to-use and straightforward application. Many different people will use your application, and the vast majority are not IT engineer
10. Take advantage of the user data.
    An application is useful and addictive if it create value based on the user and the user’s friend data. Personalize your application according to each user.

Maybe this list will discourage some of you but think about the differences between starting a business on Facebook, or on the Internet. You will quickly understand that Facebook gives you all the tools (social graph, Facebook plateform) to ease this difficult process. That’s why every person motivated enough can take the plunge and try to build a successful business on Facebook!

Good Luck