How to Create a Business-friendly Facebook Profile

Many folks tend to use their Facebook accounts either for personal or business use, not both. However, those of us in a one-person business can find it effective to combine the two, with a little help from Facebook’s privacy features.

To draw the line between personal and business use, I assign a Limited Profile setting to business contacts to control what they can see in my profile, and bear in mind Nancy’s advice about using social media: “What you get from me online is 100 percent me…but you don’t get 100 percent of me.” When I do anything in Facebook, I remember that a prospect or client might see it, even if they shouldn’t have access to it. You just never know what spills over.

Let’s get to work on creating an effective profile for business and personal use.

1. Use your full name. Mine says “Meryl Kaplan Evans” because some people knew me before I married and I used that name in my earlier writing gigs. If you’ve used other names, try to fit them in somewhere logical, such as your “Info” tab.
2. Fill out your profile as completely as possible. The profile has four sections: “Basic,” “Personal,” “Contact” and “Education and Work.” Fill out the information as completely as you can, but think about a potential client reading the details. Do you want the client to know that about you?
3. Choose the right profile photo. If you have a professional photo, use that. If not, pick a photo that captures you wearing the clothes that fit your style or what you would wear for a typical business meeting. Don’t try to be too dressy or too casual. You can post other photos of yourself under the “Photos” tab and assign privacy settings on a per-album basis.


Profile Info

4. Link to your blog. Facebook has several Applications that can import your blog entries into Facebook. I use Networked Blogs. It’s a great way to find readers of your blog’s content. My local friends never read my blog until I connected it to Facebook.
5. Think twice about linking to Twitter. Originally, I had all my Twitter tweets feeding into Facebook status updates. But then I took it out and now only send relevant tweets to Facebook using Selective Tweets. All I need to do is add the hashtag “#fb” to a tweet and Facebook posts it on my wall. People who don’t use any other social media application (like Mom and long-time friends) will feel confused and overwhelmed by your tweets especially if you use Twitter on a daily basis.
6. Put your most important business information on your profile home page. This is the paragraph that appears below your profile photo. What is the most important thing you want potential clients to know about you? What do they get out of working with you? Mention your industry, client type or other information to give people a hint. (See #6 in Profile Info screenshot, above)
   

   Privacy Settings for Profile

7. Use appropriate privacy settings for your profile information. Some people have their profile settings so high that when someone searches for them, they only see a name. Well, you might not be the only one with that name in the world, which makes it harder for people to tell if they have the right person. I open my profile photos and “Education and Work” to everyone. This helps searchers know if they have the right person while letting them know what I do.
8. Take advantage of privacy settings to limit access on a per-user basis. If I don’t know someone very well or only on a professional level, I give them a “Limited Profile” assignment. Those with this assignment can only see the parts of my profile that I open to them. You can also control who can view each photo album. For more personal photo albums, I customized the privacy settings to “My friends except for those on the Limited Profile list.” (See Privacy Settings screenshot.)

Still not sold on Facebook for business? We list 32 ways to use Facebook for business. You can also check out our tips for making a Facebook page for your business.

What tips do you have for a business Facebook profile?