Many people decide that they don’t want to use their Facebook personal profile to connect with potential clients, business partners and professional connections. With all the fears over privacy settings on Facebook and people getting fired over comments they made online, it’s understandable.
My opinion?
The easiest way to successfully promote your business using social media is to connect with people through your personal profile!
There, I’ve said it. Not what you wanted to hear right?
But here’s why I say that:
• People want to work with people they know, like and trust: Being friends with you on Facebook is the fastest way to do that.
• Building your ‘Likes’ for your business Page on Facebook is much easier when you have a solid target market network on your personal profile.
• Converting those friends to clients and money in your pocket is faster and simpler when those people have got to know you a little.
WARNING: Do not create a second Facebook personal profile so you can keep things separate! According to Facebook Terms of Service, you are only allowed one account.
Building A Professional Presence Online
We all know that we need to have a professional presence on Facebook, and that you should only be promoting your business through your business Page (AKA ‘Like’ Page). (You do know that right??). If you don’t already have a large email list of current and past clients or friends on your personal profile to send to your Facebook business Page, then how are you going to find potential new leads and clients for your business?
Whether you use Facebook ads or Google pay per click, you will have to advertize in some way in order to generate traffic to your business Page.
By refusing to connect with people other than close friends and family on Facebook, you are missing the point of social media i.e. the word “social”. Social media is all about interaction, sharing and building relationships through that.
I think that a lot of fears are generated by the media and news stories, together with a lack of knowledge of the Facebook tools you can use to control your account. You can protect your account by knowing how to use the Facebook Privacy settings correctly and using Friend Lists to control who sees what you post.
How do you manage your Facebook profile? Do you agree? Post your comments below.
To find out more about how to use Facebook to promote your business safely, sign up below for our free newsletter and you will get access to our complimentary free training to get you on the right track. Don’t hold yourself back! Get the right training, the right knowledge and let 2011 be the year your business takes off!
