Every week I present 2 – 3 small business marketing seminars. One of my most popular seminars is Social Media Marketing Made Simple. I love doing this seminar because I get to help real people learn how to use Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to promote their business.
Although that seminar is pretty much focused on strategy, questions always seem to take us down the “Facebook Rabbithole.” The number one question I get is: Do I really need a Facebook Page (used to be called a Fan Page)?
This is an important question for many independent professionals. Real Estate agents, consultants, sales professionals, etc. all fall into a similar category. Their friends and their business associates all tend to mush together. For that reason, many people try to use a regular Facebook (personal) profile to promote their business.
The first think I advise them is Facebook’s rules dictate that a personal profile is not to be used for business. I know people who have had their Facebook account shut down and we all want to avoid that!
But the people who really get fixated on using their regular Facebook profile for business are people who “kindof-sortof” use Facebook for marketing. They tell me that it is okay because all their friends know they sell real estate (or whatever else it is they do).
That is where a critical mistake is made. People think social media is a great way to connect with people they know. That is true for their personal world. But for business, the key to social media is to connect with the people that you don’t know (yet)! For business, you don’t want to connect with just Aunt Susie. You want Aunt Susie to share your great information will all her friends (who are strangers to you) and have them connect with you too!
When you have a goal of connecting with strangers, it becomes very clear that you need to keep your personal and professional interests separate on Facebook! Once I explain that to Constant Contact seminar attendees, it becomes crystal clear!
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