One mistake I see businesses making is posting very personal and/or inappropriate information on their Facebook pages. Before you post something to your business page, take a moment to think: "Would I - or should I - share this same information in a face-to-face business meeting with my clients?" If the answer is "no" - then you might want to re-think about posting it on Facebook. Stay professional and don't offend your customers or tarnish your business reputation.

Ellie, so disagree about separate professional and personal pages. I have no interest in having all of my biz contacts on my personal page, nor do I want to be on theirs. What I do appreciate about the biz fb page is having a place to share and discuss industry info - stuff my other friends don't care about. It's ok for me to have a private life and biz life AND it's two totally different conversations. I think the comment that we should "absolutely NOT make these mistakes" is a little dramatic. We are all adults, and we can make those decisions on our own.

fascinating to me that even though facebook's official policy is 'one profile per person', that folks here still want to have two.  
 
To make that kind of "mistake" means that you accept the inevitable banning from the service. Of course, if you're an adult, you've already got that covered.

Instead of running two Facebook profiles, I'd recommend those folks that want a "professional" profile on Facebook to push their network to connect with them on LinkedIn. 
 
You're still able to run a Facebook page for your company through your "personal" account, and the only connections between the two will be hidden behind the scenes.

Great article John, sometimes it's stating the obvious that gets the most attention. I really think all the points you made in this article will hit home to a lot of people which will allow them to run a much better operation. Keep up the good work.

Great tips, Ellie! As someone who's just crossing the line from the college world into business, I know exactly what you mean about wanting to maintain two separate "identities" but I agree that it can lead to some tough decisions, especially when all of your coworkers are your friends! Taking advantage of privacy settings and pushing your LinkedIn profiles are great ways to remedy that issue

Suzanne - Ellie does not say you should not have separate personal and business pages; She says don't have separate and personal accounts. A page and an account are 2 completely different things. You should NOT have any need for 2 separate accounts if you understand how to properly use pages. Facebook allows you to have as many pages as you want but limits you to one (personal or business) account.  
 
Maybe facebook does not actually enforce their rule yet, but if/when they choose to enforce the 1 account rule in the future, those who have multiple accounts will have multiple loss.  
 
As an adult, you should ABSOLUTELY NOT make any of these rookie mistakes.  
 
Great tips Ellie.

yikes why do I find these great sources of info after the accident,lol great stuff, tom 
 
independent Watkins products associate

Great title, but I was very disappointed in the list. "Not being on Facebook"? Isn't that a no brainer? The other 4 are okay, but mostly common sense in my opinion.

Another problem I see is that some businesses have two pages. It seems that sometimes an organzation will give Facebook a try, and then forget about their page or decide they don't like it. After a while somebody says, "hey, we should be on Facebook." And voila, two pages exist. Then only one of the pages is updated with new content, but people could still be looking at the old page. That's almost as bad as not being on Facebook in the first place.

I have two fb accts. I had no idea you weren't "allowed" to have more than one. I have one for work & one for personal, BUT as one person suggested Linkedin as an alternate, I have that also. My work fb is more of a "fun" page. Not a "work" page. But, I still keep work & personal seperate... and I want it to stay that way!!

Nicely written article. I agree with all points but #2 really strikes a chord in me. I see it happen too often. 
I really appreciate the concise explanation you offered on all 5 points and will definitely share often.  
Thanks!

One "don't" that I didn't see: Don't simply sell, sell, sell on your business page.  
 
Someone suggested that Facebook is like a cocktail party and I thought that made such a great analogy. You wouldn't want anyone coming up to you at a cocktail party who pushed their business card under your nose and then talked non-stop about their business and why you should shop there, use their services, etc.  
 
The same thing applies on Facebook. It's a social network and definitely not the place behave obnoxiously "salesy." Instead, mix up your posts with helpful information with no direct sales intent at all. Add some humor (if appropriate), share some customer stories, etc.  
 
Periodically add news about the big sale or new merchandise, but don't make those kinds of posts the only kind you write. Interactivity, personality, and a helpful perspective is what will develop relationships -- which ultimately become sales.

@Charlie - Indeed, a lot of these items seem like "common sense" to folks familiar with HubSpot. Of course, as we see in the comments, there are folks who still don't agree! These really are the rookie mistakes (don't feel bad if you've made them, but correct them if you do!) and avoiding them will make you that much more effective on Facebook. 
 
@Hannah & Karen - Great added suggestions! Multiple pages (more work with one page usually falling by the wayside) and only talking about yourself are big, big mistakes way too many people make!

With todays privacy setting son FB, I can choose which people get to see which albums, posts etc. Though I am guilty of not updating my Fan Page, its only because I have a few, 1 for each business and FB only allows one to be connected to your cell.  
 
 
 
If you don't want your friends knowing about your "business" that's fine with me, because they WILL DO business with me. :) My FB profile generates more listings than my Fan Page and web site combined. But again, please don't follow this advice. I am enjoying watching my business grow in a collapsing economy by simply sharing my business with my friends.

Great Post! Thanks for sharing.

Great suggestion, Kim. To clarify: 
 
Profile = Presence for individuals to share information and interact with friends and organizations on Facebook. You can have only 1 profile per account on Facebook. Some people (wrongly) decide to create 2 accounts (with 2 different email addresses) so they can have a separate profile to connect with personal friends and another profile to connect with professional colleagues. This is against Facebook's terms and also against Facebook best practices. 
 
Page = Official presence for public figures or businesses to share information and interact with users on Facebook. You must have an account already in order to create a page. You can set up multiple pages, perhaps 1 for each business you run, and be the behind-the-scenes administrator for each page.

With the amount of traffic on Facebook you would have to be crazy not to have a business profile. Spend some time on it, promote it and then check your Google Analytics for facebook referrals. =)

Is there a place on facebook for businesses whose main activity is b2b as opposed to b2c?

Thanks for clarifying about profile and business page. I can tell by the comments that some people still don't understand. The "fans" of your business page do not see your personal information. You are really missing a bet, though if you don't let the friends on you personal profile know about your business. I have received a lot of business from referrals from friends. I also have business from my business page. I do think you should be somewhat personal on your business page. Think of the family pictures you would have on your desk. Those can be appropriate for your business page.

Still on the "not have two profiles" rule, I totaly agree and have some thoughts to add to the discussion. 
 
First, mixing personal and professional friends can be good, if you know how to mix it. It's good for people to see you're a human being, and even better if they see you're so balanced in private life as they see you in your business. It's a good oportunity to advertise yourself in a loose (and subliminal) way. 
 
And secondly, c'mon, if you're in some sort of business that your image is important, then you should definetly NOT publish anything that can maculate this image, in any social network, no matter about privacy settings. A second "personal" profile where you show off what you don't want people from your business to know is still a big risk. Just don't show. You don't need to. 
 
 
 
To the list I would add one more topic: don't invite your friends deliberately to your business page. Tell about it (unpersonaly) and let they come spontaneously. I feel so bad to "like" a page of some sort of business I have nothing to do with just because a friend invited.

Agree with all of this. We wrote a similar post a few weeks ago (leaning a little more towards humor) about the sketchy behaviors people practice on Facebook and how it effects their reputation. (http://bit.ly/egRLZ9) 
Similar to how your post addresses the negative impact on a brand. Individuals must be concerned about their personal brand on Facebook. You are what you post!

Totally agree and Karen has pointed out the one thing that was missing, don't SELL..SELL..SELL all the time.

There is just one point I disagree with. It's your last line in point 2: 
 
"If you think that a profile has something you want for your business that a page doesn't have, you're wrong." One thing my profile has which my business page doesn't have (shockingly so, in my opinion) is the ability to easily Share an article I find on the internet by just clicking the Share button found on the article's page! Why aren't there Share buttons to Share articles on business pages too? I use Hootsuite to share articles about real estate with all of my fans, but it would be so much easier to do it straight off an article like I can do for my profile. 
 
 
 

I understand your point on the business (aka fan) Page about not allowing others to post on it, however I do know a celebrity who had fans posting things about knowing the celebrity when they didn't and also personal things, so she disallowed fans to write on her wall. I agreed with this decision, as she basically wanted to use the page as a way to update her fans on what she's doing. In this instance, the "fan" page was not interactive.

I do think a business should refrain from using a personal profile and use a business page only. But, Susana brings up a good point; the ability to "Share" an article on a business page would be a great tool for Facebook to add. 
 
The whole point of Social Media is engagement with your customers, so why would you disable posts? You can still establish guidelines (no profanity, etc.).

Ellie, Like others I am mixed on #1. That's what lists are for, right? To keep your professional and personal separate.. but I'm not sure I'd consider their privacy settings amazing. ;-) Per your follow up, I get the difference between a personal account and a business page, but the need for that will depend on the business. #2-4 are right on the money. I've warned many a business about trying to treat the business as a "person" and it doesn't work for business marketing. Nor does a dead FB wall, or one that's all hype and marketing. 
 
But I disagree with #5. I'm not convinced EVERYONE's audience is on FB and even if they are, they're playing games and posting pictures.. and doing whatever they can to avoid your marketing and advertising. I'm a naysayer as I know more people NOT on FB, who don't read/comment on blogs. I know more people who are NOT social than are. At best, you'll find these consumers Googling and surfing YouTube.. and clicking off the ads as fast as they can. FWIW.

How about #6 Pace yourself?! 
 
The fastest way to get "unliked", "unfriended" or simply ignored is to flood FB w/ too many posts. If you are a business, a couple a day is more than enough barring some big event. 
 

The problem with Facebook is that they do not let you interact B2B. Therefore you are forced to use your personal profile to follow a business page. So when you have a Business page with a bunch of personal profiles following you, you don't know which business they represent which makes it difficult to get to know them and interact with them.

Here's 2 more: 
 
1- No image. What is the point of "face"book without a face? 
 
2- Nobody home. What's the point of stepping out to have a facebook presence if you are never present?

This is an ok "beginners guide" but no real substance. And let me be one of the many to agree that my business contacts are not appropriate for FB. I've tried to keep that on LinkedIn but as a marketing professional I am forced onto Facebook and unwilling to open up my personal profile. Don't talk to me about privacy settings; they're not easily managed and too "all or nothing." Thus, I have two accounts. Please don't report me to the Facebook police.

Some good points here for sure but the problem with one profile is that as an admin for a business page you cannot post or comment as a person, only as the company. That is why many people open a second profile.

I have a fan page, a business account and personal account. I am guilty of most of what the author has stated, even #4! 
It is a pain..however I can not count on facebook to keep my information and pictures where I want it. Facebook is constantly changing it's privacy policies and site structures. I am a business woman and I am also a mommy with a huge network of friends and family. I live in Hawaii and we are always at the beach in bathing suits. I don't need my business contacts seeing this entire aspect of my life.  
 
Another point is that business pages lack the ability to interact the way you would on a account. Many of the above comments point out the flaws with Facebook and this blog article. So I don't need to go on.  
 
The bottom line is that Facebook really does not meet the needs of personal and business persona.  
 
FYI- I have read that if you do have a business page do not make both your personal and business accounts your page administrator choose one. You should be in the safe zone for keeping two accounts!

For those who were asking about B2B companies using Facebook, here are a few examples of successful B2B Facebook pages: http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-ebook/b2b-marketing-guide-for-great-facebook-pages

Wrong. Just wrong. Facebook will NOT do a single thing to anyone who has both a personal and a fan page, and doing so is not just a good idea, it makes perfect sense. 
 
Honestly, if juggling a massive total of two facebook accounts is too much of a challenge, you are probably too thick to be online without some sort of supervision.

I have to say, I could not disagree more with #1. A page may be fine for businesses, but as a published author, I am different from a business. I have two accounts - one for myself as an author which has it's own following, and one for myself as a person. While I am certianly not a celebrity, I do have some fans and sometimes they dont know where to draw the line. I have found too much of my personal page photos, info and posts that I had thought was shared with a select few, wandering out to the general FB population. If FB wants me to keep one account, then they need MUCH better privacy than they play at giving you.

I won't consider using Facebook until they treat customer data with more respect. Right now their business model seems to be 1. Expose/sell customer's data. 2. Get caught, have it blow up in the media. 3. Apologize. 4. Dust dies down. 5. Do the same thing again.

Generally, I would agree with the "no 2 profiles" rule, but as the administrator for our company's social media presence, it makes things a little tricky. I'm sure I'm not the only one in that position.

I have to say that I completely disagree with FB's stance of only one account per person, and the reasons given above for not having two accounts. 
Everybodys business is different - so 'best practice' will not always fit. 
The biggest limitation of a page IMHO is the main reason I had to have two accounts - the only way to get notification of comments on images on a page is if you tagged yourself in the photo. Because of that - I get 10's of people adding me every week.... which in itself is useful because then usually I have their email address from their profile (ensuring redundancy should the page be closed for any reason. 
Also yes, I have known people loose their pages - but always for semi nudity... easy to accidentally do for models/photographers. 
There is no way that FB could categorically know when someone has two accounts if they have different names.... how would they differentiate from two people in the same house having accounts? 
 
Aside from the dual account thing... awesome article, many thanks.

Now that Facebook has "places," many business pages look "empty" because FB created them for check-in. How should a company manage their physical check-in page with their content-driven Page?

Nice post Elli. I have a doubt that's been nagging me for a while now. Should brands have a tone of voice on fb while posting etc? If so how does one determine this? How does it change if the brand has existing presence and tone of voice on other media, or if it doesn't? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the great tips. I agree with everything you said. Are there any other good resources you would recommend for further tips? There is so much information out there and a lot of it says the same things.  
 
Thanks, 
Colleen

Some of the other comments about interactions as a person vs. a business or brand, that's what drives the 2 accounts. I'd like to see more controls so I could comment on "personal" liked pages w/ out business contacts seeing it; and discuss as a person, business topics on biz pages I've liked, as a professional.. but not have my high school friends annoyed by that biz stuff in my FB stream. B/c it's unknown or open to anyone whatever, I hardly mix it up on FB more than the "like."

I also totally disagree about having a professional and a personal facebook page. I get your message about the business page, but I don't see anything wrong with separation of the two. I also am not aware that FB has a policy that states you allowed one account and one account only. That, I believe, may be a myth or perhaps just your opinion about how you think they should operate. Personally, I believe you are wrong. They would get upset if you were impersonating someone or some business ... but not if you have two separate accounts that you maintain for different purposes ... just make sure they're legal purposes.

Is Ellie implying that a 70-year-old grandfather would not be using Facebook???? Shame on you, Ellie! I'm 69 and using it (my husband is 75). We have a small business and find it beneficial to have a presence on FB.

Great article! I know many people have issues with having only one profile. What many don't realize is that your profile and your business page are two separate things. For your business posts to be seen by your personal friends, they have to be a fan of your page.  
 
Regarding profiles being banned from FaceBook, Yes -it does happen!

@Peggi - Glad to hear that you and your husband on Facebook! I only mean to say that it the majority of users are not in your demographic. It's very true that all ages are on Facebook!

Hi Ellie, some great stuff here. well done.  
 
Perhaps another thing NOT to do is for a business owner to out-source the work of setting up and maintaining their facebook business profile to some marketing person, not understanding or caring what the marketing person did, not knowing what needs to be done to make it work, and not using facebook themselves - but thinking they are not pretty cool and groovy and can tick that box in their marketing plan like it's now done and needs no further thought or work. And then, sacking the marketing person when they cant see immediate results.  
 
What do you think? I reckon there are a few no-nos in my little rant there - but it happens a lot.  
 
cheers 
Richard Keeves

It seems the overwhelming majority of the posts above are against FB's 'best practice' of having two accounts, something that is also echoed in forum after forum online. It appears the writer has been sucked into Mark Zuckerberg's fantasy world in which everyone behaves exactly the same with their family, close friends, bare acquaintances, work colleagues, boss, and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. The reality is that most normal people adjust their behaviour to suit the situation and audience, and neither allow nor want their work and personal lives to be meshed together (even though they may sometimes overlap). I've never understood why Zuckerberg et al find this such a problem - surely it can only be a good thing if FB seems to have two or several times the number of 'real' users it actually has?

I'm now terrified about the ramifications of #1. I'm a journalist...I have two accounts (one clearly labeled as My Name from My Publication) because I am the admin for my publications' FB pages. That profile has now grown to include a few business contacts. (And yes, I'm on LinedIn, too...but that isn't enough anymore.) While I am still very careful about what I post on my personal profile and don't post controversial things, I want to be free to be myself on it. I can't do that if I'm constantly worried about how my publication is going to be perceived 24/7. 
Wondering now if I should just cancel my business account, add my personal account as the Admin for my publications' pages, and then reject any friend requests from business folks/readers. I'm nervous now that both accounts are going to be deleted.

With all the concerns about wether F/B will allow 2 accounts or not why not get in contact with someone in charge of F/B and ask them what their policy is.

Here's what Facebook posts on their Help section: 
 
If I already have a user profile, can I create a business account? 
Maintaining multiple accounts, regardless of the purpose, is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Use. If you already have a personal account, then we cannot allow you to create business accounts for any reason. You can manage all the Pages and Facebook Ads that you create on your personal account. 
 
Please keep in mind that the fans of any of the Pages you administer will not have visibility or access to your personal account or profile. Any actions that you take as a Page administrator on your Page will show the Page’s name as the actor and not your personal name. 
 
If you wish to manage ads for multiple clients, you will need to do so from one account. We suggest you restrict all ads for each client to separate campaigns. Unfortunately it is not currently possible to designate separate credit cards for each campaign or to have multiple administrators for the same ad account. 
 
 
I have two accounts. Is it possible to merge them? 
Facebook does not allow you to merge accounts. You will need to add your more active account as an admin for any Groups or Pages you manage. You will also need to copy your profile content (e.g. photos, notes, etc.) and add it manually to your more active account. To make this process easier, you can download your information from Facebook. 
 
Once you have moved all information onto a single account, please delete your duplicate account. Afterward you can add email addresses and networks to your remaining account from the Account Settings page located in the Account drop-down menu at the top of any Facebook page. 
 
You can find this info at http://www.facebook.com/help/ by searching for "multiple"

I'm an author who writers under a pseudonym. By personal account includes friends, family and work colleagues. I do not want certain people I have friended to know what I write (hence the pseudonym). After some internal debate I set up a second personal account, as i wasnt sure if tgere was any way to set up a page that wouldn't in some way link my personal profile to my pseudonym. I know I'm running a risk, but its a lesser risk than I would were my current employers to find out what I write.

totally disagree about having a business profile page. It is one of the only work-arounds for your business page. For example, if you manage your business page and want to post something on another group or profile -- say a retial alliance page in your community-- the post comes up from you, not your business.

KEY ISSUE: Limitation on # of Fans! 
Using a Personal account rather than a Business (fan) page limits the number of fans to just 5,000. Business (fan) pages have no limit. This is BIG issue. Can't move to Business page once you set up Personal page. Also, as noted more functionality overall with Business (fan) pages.

Great points. Be careful what you say about the older people though. I've heard that the fastest adoption of social networking sites is with adults aged 74 years & above. Their use quadrupled in two years to 16%! 
 
One mistake you didn't mention is the business page/person using FB to just sell, sell, sell, instead of providing valuable contents to educate the audience. Those will be subject for Unlike/Unfriend. (Or defriend?)

Wow, this post has certainly generated some great feedback. I think the five points of the original post are all very valid, but I have also gained some good information from the comments. 
I have been running two Facebook profiles but am now away to delete one of them.

Interesting read. I can't tell you how many times I have to tell clients to move their business information from a profile to a page. I don't know where people get this idea from. It's way more common than one would think. 
Thanks again for the post!

The post if great and very interesting to read with good feedback. Thanks for sharing us your tips on not to do with facebook page.

Ellie, 
 
Thanks for a great post. Although some have claimed it to be very basic, obviously, there are still many more who just don't understand how Facebook works, especially in regard to how to set up a personal account with one or more fan pages for businesses. 
 
Online privacy is an issue regardless of where you're posting information. Unfortunately if you choose to put information online in any site or forum, you risk people actually seeing it. A simple rule to follow when posting or sharing, choose wisely.

@Kartik - Yes, you should absolutely express your company's voice on Facebook. People use social media to get to know people - including the people behind your brand. Think about what you want to communicate about your brand's personality. 
 
@Colleen - Facebook is constantly changing, so it can be hard to keep up with what's going on there! We've put together a marketing hub with a bunch of resources here: http://www.hubspot.com/facebook-for-business-marketing-hub/ - if you don't know where to start on this page, I recommend starting with the ebooks (right hand side)

Well I set up an account with that is the admin of the biz page. Why? What if I leave the company? The next person can use this account to manage the page. 
 
I had to create an account and begin friending people who were interested in the business and encourage them to like the biz page. The people in my personal life have very little interest in the company I work for and the products it sells. Bottom line is I would lose more "real" friends posting info to lead them to the biz page. 
 
On the other hand, on my personal account I created several pages, one which I use as an online portfolio that I will send any prospecting employer if they ask instead onf giving them access to my regular account. 
 
BTW, Hubspot only lets me connect the made up biz account and not the biz page, hence another reason to have 2 accounts

Yes thank you! I agree with this post 100%. You cannot be successful on Facebook if you don't get on it. Thanks for the post once again.

Facebook is great to get in touch with friends and even to find old friends. But I wouldn't use it to increase sales or promote my business. 
Even though you make two profiles: professional and personal, customers will go from your professional account to your personal account to know more about you.

New to facebook, I wasn't sure how to create a business page so ended up creating two profiles by accident. Is there a way to combine my business page to my personal page? I did notice that when I make a post it goes to my personal page...probably because my personal is a friend on my business page!!???! I would do a much better job of managing my business page if they were combined.

Interesting post, and the comments even more so. I am now completely convinced that I need to keep both of my fb accounts! I'm in the category of the authors and journalists. I'm an interior designer and I AM my business! When I first created a business page from my personal profile, there was just way too much information that I could not add and too much that I couldn't do with that page. And most important is that I want business contacts to use my business email, not my personal email.  
 
What I have learned is that I also need a Fan page so people can "like" me. I will create this page from my business account. But then how do I have my personal friends also "Like" this page? I am not personally a friend of my business account, so that solves any of those overlap issues.

Thanks for the tips Ellie! We use our business page to share our blog posts and news stories with our fans. It’s important to make sure to update your page frequently AND engage with your fans. You’re your point in number 3. Every time someone interacts with your page, it gets posted to their profile and shared with their network, thus increasing the reach/awareness about your company. Why would you want to prevent that?? Word of mouth is extremely powerful and Facebook is a great avenue to help spread the word about your company.

Hmmm .. #5 - NOT being on FB? I did just fine "Before FB", now that I have a page I don't see my quality of life jumping to new, never reached levels. Lots of chit-chat of which about 0.1% is even worth reading.

I'm 'late to the party', but all the same, great article! I found it interesting reading through the comments that some of the complaints described about business/fan pages have since been addressed in the most recent FB changes. One can now share from a business page, and now the owner can even 'Promote' from a page posting, using the posted photo, video, etc as a business ad on FB. And I'm really liking that a Page now can be used as a 'profile' when visiting and commenting on other pages. Way to go Facebook, good changes!

What I'm reading here, (not in the OP) is that many people are confusing profiles and fan pages.  
 
What Ellie is saying is not to have two PROFILES (what many of your seem to be calling "pages") or, FB will ban you! You can have as many Fan Pages (for biz or, whatever) as you want! 
 
Good stuff Ellie. 
 
Revvell 
 

Great effort Elle, keep up the good work.

Hope I didn't overlook something obvious in the above.  
 
What about non-profit orgs that may be tied to an individual in the beginning, but not forever. Should that be a separate email account and page?  
 
Thanks for the education.

Good article. I've discussed this same topic on my on blog. I've even sent private emails to friends when I see them putting their account at risk. Thanks for confirming my thoughts.

I had my first Facebook profile. Then, when needed to create a "Facebook Page" for my business, I created new Facebook account with business email and a different name. Later, I changed the name to the same name as my first account but still different email.  
 
OK, I didn't know any better. 
 
Is it possible to fix the problem - can I move my current biz facebook page to original account without loosing content and followers? 
 
Thanks.

Kanti, 
 
You should be able to add your original email address as an admin to your facebook page. Then you can go in and delete the admin for the email address you don't want to use.

Hi Ellie! 
Great article, can't agree with you more. 
 
And, Phew! I am not doing any of these 5 things. ;-)

I had a Facebook account at one time but I had two problems, 1. friends and family kept wanting me to play games with them on Facebook and 2. I got my account hacked on 3 different occasions.