How to create a business Facebook page... and a few of the rules that you may not know about!

I have been working on Facebook page's for over 2 years now, but I still get confused about what you can and cannot do on Facebook!

Here are just a few tips on how and why you should create a Business Facebook Page...

Let's start by looking the different Facebook Pages:

Facebook Profile - this is where people ask to be your friend and you have to accept them as a friend.
Profiles (timelines) are for personal, non-commercial use only. They represent individuals and must be held under an individual name. 

Facebook Groups - This is where people ask to join a group.
A Facebook group is a page created for an organization or business to promote activities. Users can join the group and post their thoughts on a wall and interact through discussion threads. 

Facebook Business Pages - this is where people can 'like' a page.
Pages are for professional or official use, and allow an organization, business, celebrity or band to maintain a presence on Facebook. You may only create Facebook Pages to represent real organizations of which you are an authorized representative. 

A business, must use the business Facebook page option, but many people have mistakingly set up a business profile on a personal Facebook profile - you can easily convert your personal account to a business Facebook page, I have added a link here - Facebook Link, this link gives further explanation as to why you should convert your personal account if you are using it to promote your business and how to do it.

I recently felt that I was probably breaking a few Facebook rules with my personal Facebook page, advertising courses and promoting DVD's, so instead of waiting to be told off or even worse having my page removed by those lovely folk at Facebook, I decided to create my own business Facebook Page, still called Sue Bowler as I use my name to trade under. 

Here are my 2 Facebook pages, the first is my personal Facebook profile and the second one is my Business Facebook Page.

This is my personal Facebook profile.

This is my business Facebook Page

So now I am trying to use each of my Facebook accounts correctly, however trying to get my 'friends' to move over and 'like' my new page is a hard task... if I find any great tips or techniques I'll let you know! But I know that I can now successfully run a professional business page as well as a friends page!

I really do not want to make this a long and hard to understand blog, so I'll will just give you a few tips on what you can and cannot do on your Business Facebook Page:

1. Make sure that your business profile photo is professional, use your logo or another picture that people associate with your business.

Here is Coca-Cola's business profile photo -

2. Chose a cover photo that represents your brand and showcases your products or services, it is the first thing people see - again I have use Cola-Colas to give you an idea on a good clear cover photo.

What you can NOT include in your cover photo (these are the Facebook cover guidelines as stated in the Facebook help centre)

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

Basically the cover image is provided to inspire and connect with your fans. It is not meant for blatant self promotion or hard sales.

Make sure you have legal copyrights to all images and content.

You can Highlight Posts. 

You can set any post to be highlighted which means it will take up both sides of the page.  This feature enables you to bring special attention to a particular post within your timeline.

I had a look around a few of the more prominent business pages and some of use the highlight feature a lot and others don't use it at all? Check out Pepsi's page to see how they use this feature:

 

Pinned Posts.

You can set a post to be pinned to the top of your page (if you look at the Starbucks pinned picture above you will see a little gold pin in the top right corner). Pinned posts will stay on top of your timeline for up to 7 days. If possible, try not to wait the full 7 days before you change out the post unless you have a very important message to share. Chances are you have repeat visitors coming to your page throughout the week. Give them something new and fresh to check out. When I was looking for an example of a 'pinned post', some companies use this feature and other don't, so you will need to work out what will work for you and your business, but everything is worth trying at least once!

I think this is enough to get you started, but if you need any help you can always email me at sue@suebowler.com, I may not know the answer, but I will certainly try and point you in the right direction :)

I am now going to try and work out how PINTEREST works? I have read some great things about it, I have even set up an account and pinned some pictures, but I have no idea what I am doing!!

Happy Ballooning and have a great summer!

Sue

www.suebowler.com