Many small businesses have discovered the benefits of using Facebook to connect with their customers. Yet many of these same businesses have made a critical error in setting up their Facebook presence and as a result, run the risk of their presence being shut down for violating Facebook’s Terms of Service.

What is this common mistake? Setting up your business as a Profile instead of a Page or a Group. There are 2 easy ways to check:

1. Do you have to log out of your personal profile and then log back in under your business email?
2. When a non-friend or non-fan visits your Facebook profile or page, do they see an “Add Friend” button?

If either of these is true for your business presence on Facebook, then you are likely in violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service and are not taking full advantage of having your business on this popular social media platform. Facebook is set up for a Profile (where you have a unique login/password and can have “Friends”) to be used by actual people only. So a brand such as “Creative Assistants” cannot have a Profile.

So what should we do instead? Create a business Page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php). This Page is totally separate from your personal profile and your personal profile is set as an “Administrator” for that Page (you can name other admins too). You do not have to friend everyone who wants to connect to your business (a huge plus for those of us who post personal info on our Profiles!). You will not run into friend limits if your brand is popular. You will have more opportunities for marketing, advertising, and customization of your Page.

It’s a common mistake, but one that can be remedied – the earlier the better!

Sep 28, 2010

A client recently asked me how to add their blog’s RSS Feed to their Facebook Page. There are 2 main ways of doing this via applications – Notes or Networked Blogs. Instructions for both methods are below, complete with screen shots.

There are several advantages to using Networked Blog’s application over Notes including the ability to add multiple blogs, more reliable on automatic postings and pulling in pictures on your blog as the thumbnail. It may look more detailed here, but it’s not that hard – just follow the steps!

a

Adding a blog via the Networked Blog application:

• Click on this link to go to the application page.
• You may need to follow someone else’s blog before you can register your own (browse the topics & find one to follow).
• Click the button at the top “Register a Blog”.
  
  • Enter info about your blog (or the blog you want your friends/fans to see). The “Blog Name” is what your friends/fans will see prior to each post. It should be descriptive but not too long.
    
  • Click Next and then click yes to verify that you are the owner of the blog. The quickest way to verify this is to copy the code they will give you (click on “Use widget to verify ownership”) and place it in a sidebar widget of your blog. You can use any html widget to do this and can remove it from your blog once ownership is verified. Once the code is on your site, click the “Verify Widget” button on the Networked Blogs page.
    

  

• Once this process is complete and your blog is added, you will need to set up automatic importing of your posts.
  • In the upper right corner of the application, you’ll see a link for “Syndication”. Click this and then choose your blog in the drop down box.
    
  • Check the box “Personal Facebook Profile” if you want blog posts to be seen on your personal wall & news feed.
    
  • If you are the administrator of any pages, you will see these listed. Click “Configure” for any page(s) you want the feed to appear on. You may need to click the “Install” button to add the application to that page. Then check the box “Auto-Publish blog posts to Page Wall” and you’ll be good to go!
    
    

Adding a blog via the Notes Application

• There are 3 ways to get to the application:
  • Look for it on your tabs in your profile
    
  • Look for it on the left sidebar in the applications area. You may need to click “See More” to see it listed.
    
  • In the search box, type “Notes” and it should come up – click on that link.
    
• Once open, on the left sidebar, look for the text link that says “Edit Import Settings”
  
• Enter your blog’s feed address in the box, check the agreement box and hit the “Start Importing” button. This may import *all* of your past blog posts, so just be aware. If you have a bunch then it could clog up the news feed on your Facebook wall.
  

Aug 19, 2010

Chances are, you have a Facebook account. It’s a great place to keep up with family and friends, or maybe a way to see the more personal side of clients or colleagues. As a business owner (especially if your customers are consumers), you may be realizing the value of having your company on Facebook too and building a following there. So you should probably create a separate Facebook account for your business, right?

Hold on! Before you create a second Facebook account or start using Facebook for business, there are a few very important things to know:

You can only have 1 Facebook Profile

Each individual may have 1 Facebook Profile (i.e. login). You cannot have a Facebook Profile for a business. Check out Facebook’s Terms of Service or FAQ on this subject if you want more information.

So what is a Facebook Profile? This is your main Facebook account, the one where you can accept people as “Friends”, post your vacation pictures, play games, and talk with your friends about… anything that you like. You can set your privacy settings so that only your Friends can view what you write on your wall, the comments you make to friends, the pictures you post, your personal contact information, etc. While many people do indeed post work related items on their profiles (I do frequently), your profile is really a place for you to be personal.

How do you use Facebook for business?

The way to get your business on Facebook is to create a Facebook Page. Although you have to create the page from your personal Profile, those who “Like” your Facebook Page won’t see anything from your personal Profile unless they’re already your Friends.

A Facebook Page is the place for you to talk about business. Anyone can connect with your page without seeing all your personal information and posts. Your connections can grow to unlimited numbers (the limit on your Profile is 5000 friends). Some things you can do on or with your Page:

• Talk about what you do and the services you provide.
• Give readers tips and tricks on your area of expertise.
• Encourage contacts to sign up for your newsletter.
• Run contests.
• Conduct polls.
• Start discussions and interact with those who Like your Page.
• Create a custom landing tab where you educate new visitors about what you do or direct them to a special.
• Update contacts quickly and easily (you can only message 20 people at a time via your personal Profile).
• Create a Specials tab that only those who have “Liked” your Page can see.

A Page is like a website – anyone can visit and get information about your business. Your personal information and posts are protected unless you decide to Friend someone from the Page.

What about Facebook Groups?

Facebook Groups are designed more for groups of people with a common interest.  Things like a church group, participants in a class,  alumni of a college, etc. Groups can be private (only members see group activity) or public and you can choose to restrict/moderate membership. Groups can email up to 5000 members at a time but have limited functionality when it comes to customization and applications.

Here’s a great breakdown from Mari Smith on Pages vs. Groups.

This is a great post by blog guru Denise Wakeman on why you should have a blog even if you’re an avid Facebook user. Great food for thought and a reminder that you need to back up your content, regardless of where it resides!

http://www.buildabetterblog.com/2009/07/why-blog-when-youve-got-facebook.html

Attention, those in charge of online marketing for Media! You need to read this blog post from Steve Pratt:

10 Twitter Tips For Traditional Media

Steve’s first tip hit home – this is exactly what most of the media folks I follow on Twitter are doing! They are using it as an RSS Feed and not as an interaction tool. While there is some value in that, I can easily get that from the traditional RSS feed on their webpage. What I want from the media on Twitter is:

1. Some true breaking news (traffic accident on the Interstate, terroist attack, criminal loose in my area, etc.) – but not every news item that comes across their desk
2. Personal interaction! Ask about our thoughts & ideas, what’s newsworthy to us, what leads we might have for a story you’re doing (like HARO but more locally focused). Slow news day? We’ll have ideas for you! Need a witness to that accident? Bet they’re online.

Rick Sanchez at CNN gets it – he lets us know what stories he’s working on, asks for feedback and opinions, even reads some of the responses on air. There are others that get it too, but they’re few and far between. So, if you’re in media and are in the department responsible for your online presence on Twitter, Facebook, etc. – please move away from just listing what’s on your website already and start interacting with your readers & listeners. I promise you won’t regret it!

A very timely article from Online Marketing guru Donna Gunter. I’ll be talking about this very subject today in a local seminar for business owners. Stay tuned for information on a series of Social Media seminars in the Colorado Springs area!