You’ve been asked by your manager to set up a Facebook Page for the business and most of what you read says you have to do this from your personal profile. You don’t want this business page attached to YOUR personal profile. After all, what happens when you leave (hey, it can happen!) Perhaps it’s YOUR business, but you still don’t want to link it to a personal profile that you use for family connections and REAL friends.
FEAR NOT! You CAN do this. It may feel like you’ve been asked to turn over your personal diary for the world to read on your business page, but I assure you, your secrets are safe. Even though you are linking them for access, you are not linking them for the world to view.
So let’s understand something up front. When I create a business page, it is like creating a website for a business. I will need access to the backend of the site to load or change content, but nowhere on the site does it have to give my name or contact information, unless I want it to. It is the same with Facebook. Your PERSONAL profile is your access point or portal into Facebook but from there you can create and manage as many business pages as you’d like. You don’t need a special login and password for each page, and you don’t have to share passwords with anyone. (If your mother didn’t tell you this a long time ago, you should NEVER give your passwords to anyone. Whether they are your manager or not. There is no need for anyone to use YOUR password.) You log in and go to the pages you have admin access to. Your manager, or other team members, can log into their own personal profile and have the same access point if they are made an admin for the page.
If, and I hear this all the time, your manager or co-worker does not have a Facebook account of their own, so they ask to log into your account to check the business page, tell them you would like their login information to their bank account to check on your payroll first! They need to create their own account–it’s FREE and they don’t have to ever use it or share their horrifying vacation pics. If they need to log into a site, including Facebook, they need their own login credentials. There are just some things, like a glass of milk, a toothbrush or social media passwords, that should never be shared with other people.
When you are logged in from your personal profile and then jump over to your business page (easy to switch between the two from the dropdown arrow in the upper right) people on the outside do not know you are associated with the page. They cannot see any of your personal information and they are NOT automatically made FRIENDS of yours if they LIKE the business page.
With that out of the way, let’s get started! To begin, log into your own personal Facebook profile and THEN go to Facebook.com/pages and click CREATE PAGE in the upper right. You will be asked to name your page and select the category (not-for-profit, local business, etc. And don’t worry too much about the categories since they can be changed at any time. Your name is not so easy to change so choose wisely!).
Https://Facebook.com/pages
Fill out the basic info and you are well on your way!
In the SETTINGS for your new page, look to the left and find PAGE ROLES. This is where you add an additional admin to the page, such as a team member or your manager (who will need to have a Facebook account). You can select different ROLES for people such as EDITOR (someone who cannot add or remove others but can post and comment AS THE PAGE.) You can select MODERATOR, ANALYST, even JOBS MANAGER to give specific rights without allowing people to add or remove others. If you leave the organization, you simply make sure there is an ADMIN assigned to the page and then remove yourself in this same area.
Now that we’ve covered how to set up your page, let’s move onto the REAL WORK…. creating and posting content every day!
That’s where things get scary! Happy posting!
No, No, Not Content Creation
Gina Schreck is the founder of SocialKNX. Their teams help organizations connect to their world and convert LIKES into DOLLARS! Be sure to find more geeky goodness on our own Facebook Page!
Many of us woke up this week to find business owners and marketers running through the streets screaming and gnashing their teeth as the news of Facebook’s algorithm changing again came out. What will happen? Business pages will no longer be seen by anyone…ever!
Facebook calls its algorithm the “Audience Optimization Tool” and it is optimizing the newsfeed to correct its focus on paid news and more specifically, “Fake News” delivered in the past. It will be making a significant change to the way content will be shared in the newsfeed.
In a post on Facebook’s Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg said business and media posts are crowding out more personal moments. They want to encourage more “meaningful and personal connections and to do this they will increase content from friends, family, and groups in the news feed; and limit content from companies, brands, thought leaders, authors, journalists, celebrities and more. They want to “put the social back in social media.” Ask yourself right now, has your business been more social or more promotional? Are you talking to your audience or are you just posting content?
So what does this mean for your business? Are you doomed? Should you go out and buy that CLOSED sign to hang on the door this weekend? Here’s the simple math equation that will help you solve the algorithm problem:
If a post goes out at 8am and reaches 300 people and you multiply it by 2 shares and divide by 13 likes and 2 laugh responses you will get a score of …. Oh come on …do you really think we can EVER figure out Facebook’s algorithm? Instead of trying to outsmart the Facebook brain, let’s talk about 3 actions you should be taking:
Shift Your Thinking Back to Email
Let’s all remember that no matter how many people see your posts, and regardless of the number of fans you have acquired, you are on rented land. You don’t own the platform and therefore having a million fans that see your content should never be the endgame. Your focus should be to pull people into your email list and nurture the relationships there as well. (Nurture being the keyword. Do more than COLLECT email addresses.) Social media is the tool, or driver, to get new people to your property…your email list. (Read: What is a lead magnet and why do I need them in my marketing)
Create a Different Kind of Content
Keep in mind the reason the algorithm is needed: There’s just too much content out there. We all have more “friends”, more pages we have liked, and more ads calling to us.This algorithm change is just another filter to bring the best (or most popular) content to the top. Soooo… quality content is going to be CRITICAL. It has always been important, but perhaps now before you hit publish, you ask yourself questions like:
Is this unique information? Look around and see if others are posting the same stuff.
Does this elicit a response from people? Am I asking questions or making a provocative statement that will get people talking? There is an art to asking great questions. If you ask waste-of-time questions like, “Who wants to make more money?” “Who wants greater health?” you will get crickets (or you should). Instead, get personal. Talk one-on-one. Ask people to share what they think or what they will do with the information.
Am I providing content that people will find actionable and helpful? Does it give people something to ponder or do that will impact their lives or business?
Is this piece of content just unnecessary? You know the pretty quote overlays and the funny gifs we post to get likes? Well, those may not serve you well on Facebook any longer. Sure we may get people to chuckle and click LIKE, but unless a comment or conversation is started over it, Facebook will probably bury it 6 feet under.
Get back to basics.
In the old days, when we still had phones hanging on our walls and televisions sat on our living room floors, we used to get out and greet others on social media. We joined forums and groups where we asked questions, shared answers and formed a community. We got to know people who were not on our business pages and some of these relationships turned into friendships or business collaborations. I call it “walking about” (Read: 4 Tips for Better Social Media Management) and it will benefit you to go back in time and get social again. Build relationships on social media platforms. Don’t just post your content and sit back and wait for the analytics to show you how many people read it. It may seem like a tedious or slow process, but you will build solid relationships that will spread and who knows…you just might find your next customer or business partner.
So let’s agree that instead of wasting our energy crying over Facebook ruining our businesses, let’s get refocused and make some needed changes to our social media content and habits. I’d love it if you would share your ideas for greater connections here in the comments or of course you can jump over to our DIY Social Facebook Group and share then with us–you may just meet some other fabulous people while you’re there.
We also put together a “DO’s and DON’Ts for Facebook’s New Algorithm Changes” resource for you with actual questions and comments to use instead of the old “engagement baiting” LIKE THIS or SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS. You can download it here:
@GinaSchreck is the CEO at SocialKNX and loves connecting on any social platform to share and learn together. Just don’t send creepy private messages that just say “Hi.”
There is no doubt that Facebook is the power-tool that we need in today’s marketing toolbelt. With well over 2 BILLION users, you have almost half of the world at your fingertips.
What started as a college connection tool has evolved into a Quad-Faced, personal networking and professional business behemoth. Along with this evolution has come great confusion. How to separate personal from professional use? What is the difference between profiles, pages, and groups? Here is an overview of the four faces and how to use each.
The FACEBOOK PERSONAL PROFILE.
The mainstay of Facebook is the personal profile, and it can be used for both personal connections with family members and close friends or as a professional networking tool. The terms of agreement at Facebook state that you will have only one account. If used correctly, you do not need separate accounts for business and personal use. Using the “LIST” feature you can create a list for colleagues and lists for family members or friends and then set privacy settings for these lists that will help you keep your information and photos nicely separated. When you go to craft a post on Facebook, you can select who you want that information to be shared with–the PUBLIC, FRIENDS, FRIENDS of FRIENDS, or you can select one of your groups…family only, people who live in Littleton CO, etc.
The FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGE.
The former FAN PAGE has matured into the Business Tool extraordinaire. PAGES can do just about anything a website can do including house videos, blogs, testimonials, and more. You can have as many PAGES as you’d like and they are created off of your personal PROFILE. When you log into your personal PROFILE you will find a section on the left column that reads, “EXPLORE” and then PAGES. From this link, you will choose “Create a PAGE”.
PAGES have no limit on the number of fans you may have (profiles cap at 5,000) and each post from a PAGE is fully indexed by Google and other search engines (profile posts depend upon your privacy settings). People who like your PAGE cannot see anything on your PROFILE (unless you are connected there) and your friends are not automatic fans of your PAGE. Facebook PAGES also offer wonderful analytic tools to help you track click-through rates, fan demographics and more.
[Read: 7 Reasons to use a BUSINESS Page over a PERSONAL PROFILE]
One word of caution when naming your page: You may want to put your business name or other benefit-revealing name on your page instead of your personal name. Your friends will know the value or type of information YOU will provide but if your goal is to grow your fan base beyond your friends, your page should give an idea of WHY I SHOULD allow your PAGE information to be added to my information stream. [See post: Unless You’re a Rock Start, Your Facebook Page Shouldn’t Have Your Name]
The FACEBOOK PLACES PAGE.
This is the somewhat old and random face on Facebook. This was to try and create a Yelp-like page for people to post reviews and photos of different locations. When a business came around to finally creating their “business page,” they would convert the PLACES page into a BUSINESS PAGE. The problem is, there are still PLACES pages being created by users who just can’t find the actual Facebook Page for the business, and then the businesses find several rogue places pages out there and have to merge them into the main page. It’s a pain and I hope these go away soon.
Facebook GROUPS.
GROUPS are meant to foster discussion around a particular topic area and were initially great tools to use after a class or conference to keep the conversations flowing. Facebook GROUPS are similar to LinkedIn Groups. They do not have the same functionality as PAGES but have the benefit of being made private (members must be approved to join) or even secret (not even showing up in group searches). This makes them a great tool that you are able to monitor as an individual or business. Currently (2017) a business cannot start or run a group. They must be managed by an individual profile. So I manage our DIYsocial group as Gina Schreck. SocialKNX (our business page) can promote the group, but SocialKNX cannot post or comment. I have a feeling this will change soon as more businesses are finding creative ways to use groups. To create your own GROUP, you simply log into your Facebook PROFILE and like creating a PAGE, you look for the GROUP link on the left column and select “Create a GROUP.” After naming your GROUP and filling out some basic information you will be taken to the second page that allows you to make the group public, private or secret.
So whether you choose to take advantage of one or all four of Facebook’s Faces, it all starts with YOUR face. Take off that mask, create that profile and let’s connect!
I would love to know which face on Facebook do you spend the most time with or find the most helpful to your business?
If you haven’t joined our DIYsocial group–pop on over, there’s lots of helpful info and it’s a place to get your questions answered.
If you are just setting up your business page, be sure to download our free GUIDEBOOK for STARTING ON FACEBOOK
@GinaSchreck Connect with me on Facebook – Gina Schreck or any other social channel…I’m everywhere you want to be! 🙂
So you, like so many business owners, are about to pull your hair out just thinking about all the duplicate Facebook and Twitter accounts you have. Perhaps you have two personal profiles on Facebook, 3 different business pages, and a handful of Twitter accounts that you secured early on as your brand was launching. How did this happen? Many businesses rushed to create a Facebook Page or set up a Twitter account before they really knew what to do with them and now they can’t remember the passwords or even all the usernames they had secured.
You can’t just leave these duplicate or old accounts floating out there like satellite junk floating in space. You may think they aren’t doing any harm, but when consumers search for your brand, it can be confusing if they find several variations. Unlike sitting on multiple domain names to prevent anyone else from grabbing them, an unused social media account with a similar name is seen to the public and will have your consumers wondering which one they are supposed to connect with. It can dilute your brand’s power on social media sites. So what’s a person to do?
Here is how (and why) to convert a PERSONAL PROFILE on Facebook to a BUSINESS PAGE, as well as how to merge two or more Facebook BUSINESS PAGES or PLACE PAGES that may have even been created by consumers who couldn’t find you. Then we will tackle duplicate Twitter accounts, which are much easier to deal with.
CONVERTING A PERSONAL PROFILE ON FACEBOOK TO A BUSINESS PAGE
This one is tricky. Facebook wants you to maintain a personal profile to network and connect with other people. They also want you to maintain a personal profile to MANAGE a business page, but there are times when you and your brand are one and the same. Your name is the name of your business. Professional speakers, actors, musicians, sports figures, or other celebrities, might have a personal profile that maxes out at 5,000 connections and so they either allow followers (people can follow updates you post to PUBLIC without actually “FRIENDING” you. To enable this, go to your GENERAL SETTINGS and look for FOLLOWERS.) or create a business page to allow an unlimited number of fans to join in. Many people in this situation end up creating duplicate content for both sites and then miss messages left for them on one or both.
A bigger reason to convert your PERSONAL PROFILE to a BUSINESS PAGE is if you are conducting or promoting a business regularly from a personal profile. It is against Facebook’s Terms of Agreement to use a personal profile to conduct business or to represent a business. Sure it’s done all the time, but beware, Facebook can (and has) shut down a profile if they discovered it is being used by a business.
Before merging or converting accounts you must first ask yourself if you want to use Facebook for personal use. Do you want to connect with your close friends and family members on a different level than you do with your fans and followers? If you answer, NO, then merging (or converting) the two makes sense. If you answer, YES, you do want to use your personal profile, you can put friends and family into lists and find ways to differentiate your personal from your business pages with different images or clear messages to fans to connect on your business page, telling them why they don’t want to miss the content that is shared there.
If you want to convert your PERSONAL PROFILE and all its friends, family, and fans into a BUSINESS PAGE (fan page) you take one of these two routes:
If you do NOT have a current BUSINESS PAGE, follow these steps:
First, go into your SETTINGS and download a copy of all of your data. You will most likely lose your photos and posts that have been placed on your profile when it converts. You will receive an email with this data.
All of your FRIENDS from your PERSONAL ACCOUNT will become FANS of your page. If someone has already liked your PAGE, they will only be counted once.
Be sure to appoint a new GROUP ADMIN to any groups you may manage, since once your PERSONAL PROFILE is gone, the group will be assigned to someone that Facebook selects (usually the most active member, which may not be who you want in control of your group).
Now to begin the migration, start HERE at Facebook’s Migration page.
You will not be able to UNDO these two, so be sure to think through your plan before you do this.
MERGING TWO FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGES
If you DO have a current BUSINESS PAGE that you want to merge with your PERSONAL PROFILE follow these steps:
First, go into your SETTINGS and download a copy of all of your data. You could lose your photos and posts that have been placed on your profile when it converts.
Be sure you are not the only admin on your BUSINESS PAGE. Add another person as a manager or admin before your personal profile (which was most likely the only admin on the page) goes away. This additional admin will be the person who can help you post content and manage your account if needed.
Go up and follow the steps listed above to first convert your PERSONAL PROFILE to a BUSINESS PAGE (giving you that additional page that you are going to then MERGE)
Now go to Facebooks MERGE page HERE to begin this process. Keep in mind Facebook will only allow two BUSINESS PAGES to MERGE if they have similar names and are essentially the same type of business. You will select the page you want to KEEP from the first drop-down menu and then you will select the page you want to MERGE it with from the second menu. If Facebook allows your pages to be put together, you will see the CONFIRM button.
You will not be able to UNMERGE these two pages, so be sure to think through your plan before you do this.
DELETING OR INACTIVATING UNUSED TWITTER ACCOUNTS
The hardest part about having multiple Twitter accounts is finding the login credentials for each one. This can be like untangling a ball of tiny chains found in the back of a jewelry box. Sometimes they slip right out and sometimes it is a long and tedious task.
Currently, Twitter has no way to MERGE duplicate or similar accounts into one. They cannot move followers or the people you are following from one account to another, so sadly, it is a matter of closing down unused accounts on Twitter and/or rebranding them.
You can easily change the username for your Twitter account and rebrand the images. As long as the name that you want is available, you can simply go into your settings and change the name.
If you cannot even log into your old accounts because you can’t remember the passwords, try clicking on the RESET PASSWORD and then try and remember the email that you used to set up the account. Twitter gives you a clue as to which email was used –> G***@S****************.com
MERGING YOUTUBE CHANNELS AND DOWNLOADING YOUR VIDEOS
This is another area that is a bigger task than you would think. At this time, YouTube cannot merge two accounts, moving videos from one account to another. You can re-upload your videos from one account to another if you still have the original video files, or you can download your videos from one account and then reupload them.
To download your own videos from YouTube (it is illegal to download someone else’s content without their permission), go to your channel and click on VIDEO MANAGER and select VIDEOS.
Find the Video you want to download and select the DROPDOWN ARROW next to the EDIT link.
Select Download MP4.
I hope this helps you save some of your hair from being pulled out! It can be frustrating and most of the time we are just mad at ourselves for creating so many accounts in the first place. So as you begin to tackle this, take a deep breath and remember, it’s SOCIAL MEDIA…it has to be easier than cleaning up space junk!
Let us know if we can be of assistance in any way. We have a team of experts in just about every area of marketing here at SocialKNX, waiting to help you make sense of your digital and content marketing efforts. You can call us, tweet us and even send telepathic messages–on a good day it can be quite fast–> Try it here!
Gina is the President at SocialKNX, a digital and content marketing firm with offices in Denver, Chicago, and San Antonio. She is an author and international keynote speaker on using today’s tools to reach your digitally savvy consumers. Connect with Gina on Twitter, or just about any social media site known to mankind!
She runs our DIY.social coaching program as well–learn more here: https://DIY.social
Have you been meaning to set up a Facebook Business Page for your business but have just not had the time to figure it all out? Have you been using your Facebook Personal Profile for your business and now even your mom and sister have blocked you?
You may feel that everyone is too far ahead on the social media marketing train and you have been left behind. Just know that it’s never too late to get started and you are not alone at this train station! Many people have set up their Facebook pages and profiles wrong or not at all, so let’s get you caught up and on the right track!
First a few basics:
Facebook Personal Profile:
You are allowed one personal profile per person.
According to Facebook’s terms of service, you are not supposed to use a personal profile for conducting business.
There are no analytics on the activity for a personal profile.
You cannot run ads with only a personal profile.
There are privacy settings on a personal profile you can adjust.
Facebook Business Page:
You can have as many business pages as you’d like.
You can set up a business page from your Personal Profile (recommended) or as a stand-alone page using a different login email (some limitations are placed on these accounts)
There are loads of analytics showing you everything from your fan demographics and individual post performance to the time of day most of your fans are online.
You can run ads targeting people on Facebook who do not have anything to do with your page and you can drive traffic to your website or any other place you’d like.
There are no privacy settings. Like a website, anyone can find and LIKE your page (unless you specifically block them, which you can do).
Facebook Groups:
You can be a member of 6,000 groups whether you start them or just join them, so if you are a member of 2,000 groups (first you are insane) you can start 4,000 more groups (crazy insane).
Currently, you can only enter or manage a group from your personal profile. Your business page cannot be in or comment on group activities. I believe this will change soon, since just this week, Facebook allowed a business to link to a group to help drive FANS over to join a group. (I know this gets a bit confusing…hang on!)
You can run ads using your business page account to drive people to a group.
There are 3 “privacy” settings for a group: PUBLIC-Anyone can find the group in search, see the content and request to join so they can comment and participate. PRIVATE-The group can be found in search but the content is closed to you until you request to join and get accepted. SECRET- This group cannot be found in search and can only be joined when someone sends a private invitation to join.
Why should you create a business page and have it connected to a personal profile, or can you create a Business Facebook Page without connecting it to a Personal Profile? These are two very common questions. Many people are worried that if they create a Business Page, people there will be able to see their Personal Profile posts. This is not true. The only connection the profile and the page have is that there is a single login and you can easily manage the business page, bouncing back and forth.
Others are worried that if they connect a Business Page to their own Personal Profile, other people who work at that business can see their personal information, or they cannot transfer the management of the page to another person if they leave the organization. This is also not true. You can set up 100 Business Pages for other companies and then help manage them or transfer the management to another team member.
If you do not connect the Business Page to a Personal Profile, Facebook will limit the visibility of the page and it will not appear in some search results nor will that page be able to comment on other Business Pages. [SEE 4 Tips for Better Social Media Management]
When I create a Facebook Page for a client—let’s say Company X—I would be listed as an admin or manager on that page. I would also want to add someone from Company X to be a second admin and perhaps another person to be a content editor or advertiser. You can have multiple admins/editors/advertisers on a Business Page. If I wanted, I could remove myself and the others would remain on the page. We also do not share a password. We all log in using our own Facebook login and then go to the page we are managing when we want to post, edit, or manage content on that Business Page.
If you are a solopreneur, I would still recommend you add someone else as a second admin or editor to your page. If you were to ever get locked out of Facebook, or put in Facebook Jail [SEE Banned on Facebook: 6 Lessons Learned] you would have someone else who could login to post or comment on your page.
Once you have your Business Page created you will want to add some content with great images before you start welcoming people to your new page. Use posts that ask questions so new people will feel compelled to answer and get engaged with you.
Now it’s time to start driving people to your page. It’s not as easy as inviting people to connect, like you can on your personal profile. You must let people know about your page and ask them to come and join you. Be sure to tell them WHY they will want to come to the page. Are you sharing tips and resources? Let people know the benefit of coming to LIKE your page.
If you want to invite your current friends and family members that you’re connected with on your personal profile, you can post something about your new page and let them know why you think they will want to join you. Post the link to make it easy for people. Do this about once a week. Not everyone will see the initial post. You can change it up and let people know you have a great discussion question on your business page that you’d love their opinion on and leave the link for them to click and come over to chime in.
If you want to invite people that you are NOT connected with personally, you can run some targeted ads, use the walking about method mentioned earlier, and cross-pollinate from your other social media channels and your email list, letting people know you are now on Facebook and would love for them to join you for … (tips and tools …benefits of coming to your page).
Is your head exploding yet? I know it’s a lot to take in, but take one step at a time. Get on the slow train and enjoy the ride. Don’t look at how many fans someone else has on their Facebook Page. The key is to have a few great fans that will engage, give you feedback, share their experiences with your products and services, and grow slowly.
If you get stuck along the way, be sure to pop into our DIYsocial group where we are there to answer your marketing questions, cheer you on and enjoy the train ride together!
I’m sure there are many reasons people avoid using their real names or photos of themselves on a Facebook page or profile as they set them up. Perhaps they are wanted by the FBI, their high school reunion coordinator, or their mother. This mistrust of Facebook and any other social media site, causes people to want to wear a mask and set up pseudonyms to protect their identity while they wander around the “social” web. Kind of ironic when you think of it.
Many who have avoided Facebook all these years, feeling rather smug about bypassing the bandwagon that everyone seems to have jumped on, are now realizing they are truly left behind when it comes to business marketing. After all, you can avoid the bandwagon all you want, but if your customers have all jumped on it, you are left standing in your puddle of pride…alone. (TWEET THIS)
Here are Types of People Avoiding Setting Up a Facebook Page Correctly.
The 2-Faced, Facebook User
There are people who enjoy using their social media profiles with their own names, but when it comes time to create a business page or profile, there is a fear of connecting that business profile to the personal profile. This causes people to break the rules of Facebook and some create a second personal profile with their real name but they use a work email. They plan to use this profile strictly to manage the business page. they just don’t realize that anyone searching for them will now find two profiles and it causes problems.
The Masked Business, Facebook User
Then there are those who break another Facebook rule and they create a personal profile using a business name. From that profile they create a legitimate business page. This is usually done all using the business email for that personal profile and anyone needing to access it, simply logs in using the single email. The problem with this scenario is you are giving everyone a single login password which is risky, and like the scenario above, it causes confusion when a customer searches Facebook for your business and finds two entries, a personal profile and a business page.
The Bound Business, Facebook User
There is an option to create a business page as a business account, solely using a business email, and not attaching any personal profiles at all. The page is set up but then the person trying to actually use the page to connect with others, comment on other pages and post realizes they have very limited functions available to that page.
One thing to note. Facebook is a free service (many will now argue this fact since we must pay to promote many posts to have them seen by your target user) and their revenue comes from advertising. When you log into your business page you are not seeing ads down the right hand side. Only when you log into your personal profile are you flooded with ads. This is one of the reasons I believe Facebook wants everyone starting from their personal profile and then jumping over to manage a business page.
So what’s a person to do? How can you maintain your own personal Facebook connections with your friends and crazy relatives, while managing a business page for your business or a company page where you work? Even if you are simply setting up a page for someone else and then you want to remove yourself, follow these steps:
How to correctly set up a business page using your personal profile.
Create a personal profile (if you are one of those who have been standing in your puddle of pride and are just now creating your own profile). Even if you don’t intend to use your personal profile for networking, create your profile and then set the privacy settings tight. If you already have a personal profile move to step 2.
After logging into your personal profile, go to Facebook.com/pages to begin creating your business page. You will select the category for your business page that best matches the type of organization you have. Don’t lose any sleep on this step, as you can change this later in your business page settings.
Be sure to fill in the ABOUT section for your business with a link to your website, ways to contact you or the business, hours of operation (if that is appropriate), and more. This is where you will put the email address and or phone number that you want your business audience to use. It may be completely different from the information you use on your personal profile.
Load some content with visuals. Like moving into a new house, decorate a bit before inviting everyone over.
Now start inviting people to like your new page. This is where you decide whether or not to invite your personal contacts or simply start from scratch inviting people your business is trying to connect with. (see our post on “4 Tips for Better Social Media Management” to build that page from scratch)
Now when you log into your personal profile you will see the business page that you manage in the left hand column of your home page. You can also find pages you manage in the drop down gear icon in the upper right of your page. I suggest going to your business page from the gear icon, because it automatically changes your identity from personal profile to your business page identity. Anything you post on the page from there is seen as coming from your business, not from you personally. The only way anyone would know that it is you posting, or that you are even connected to the page, is if you tell them, or if you comment as yourself, which you can do by going from the left column and selecting “Post as Gina Schreck (your name) once on the page (look at the top, right under your business page name). This will post your comment on this business page, as well as showing that post on your personal profile since you posted as yourself.
The last step is to add another person on this business page for security purposes. If you ever got locked out of your Facebook account, or penalized for something (there are things that can cause Facebook to throw you in Facebook jail for 24-48 hours or longer. See my experience here) you want someone else to be able to login and post for the business. If anything ever happened to you, like missing work because Nordstrom had a 3-day sale in their shoe department, or you decided to move to a remote island, you must have someone else on the page who can log in and post for the business. Adding others as a page admin, also allows you to remove yourself if you ever leave, and the page remains intact with the other admins running it.
We know that Facebook is a powerful way for businesses to connect, get feedback and build business from their target audiences, but it does take work. Take the time to set up your account correctly. Plan your content to be interesting and helpful, and don’t give up too quickly. It takes work AND time! Let us know if you have any questions, or if we can help you manage the daily activities that will grow your online presence and business.
