Tips for Creating an Effective Facebook Profile for Business Use

If you’re thinking of sharing about your business via Facebook, creating an effective profile is important. It’s easy to go into Facebook and set up a profile that doesn’t do much to reflect what your business is all about. A few tips can improve that. Here are some tips for using for Facebook profile effectively for your business.

1. Be careful – It’s wise to exercise care when you set up your profile for business use. Facebook terms of service says that your profile cannot be used for business purposes. However, you should be fine as long as you are actively using the profile for personal purposes as well. You may or may not already be on Facebook to socialize, but it’s a good idea to consider how to keep your business and personal information separate. It’s also a good idea to limit who reads your status updates so that your personal news does not conflict with your professional news.

You can use Facebook’s privacy settings to control who sees your updates. You can also specify who sees an individual update as long as you use the Facebook lists feature. And remember, privacy settings aren’t perfect; some cross-over is possible, so take care what you post. Some things you don’t need to share!

2. Your name – Most business people suggest using your real, full name in your profile – another good reason to pay attention to privacy settings. But you’re a business, so you want your name out there so make sure to list your business information on the “About” page of your profile. Using your real name makes it a lot easier for people to find you.

3. Your avatar – You will need to choose an avatar. Some successful business people suggest using a professional picture of yourself, but it’s entirely possible to get a good photo with your home camera. Let your “look” reflect the mood of your business (you don’t want to be pictured in overalls, for example, if your business is a professional marketer; but overalls would be an excellent look for a landscape design business). If you have some photo software on your computer, you can adjust the background and so forth to construct a good avatar.

You do not want to use your business logo as your avatar. This is a clear violation of Facebook policy and could get your account suspended. Whatever your choice for your avatar, make sure it is one you’re comfortable with. Consider your avatar’s look, colors and branding message to see if it makes an effective business-like message or not.

4. Think like a client – If you were a prospective client of your business, what would you like to see on a profile? Be thorough and truthful, but keep your prospects in mind. There are some things your clients don’t need to know, and other things they should know – remember, this is a personal profile being used to help your business. Include those aspects of yourself that coincide with your business intent.