MUST have, a little harsh, right? But seriously… follow me on this quick little blog and you’ll see what I mean. I have taught social media classes and being in marketing, I have come across all kinds of business owners and thought.. why aren’t you all-in with your business?
And there are other reasons for why people aren’t creating business pages for their business so thought I would debunk those and encourage you (strongly) for why you MUST have a separate business page for your business.
1/2 – All the cool cats are doing it.
Okay, that really isn’t one of the reasons, but I thought, for those who are followers, this is a good (eh, kinda) reason on why to have a business page. It’s exciting and if everyone else is doing it, why not?
So really, why don't you have a FB biz page for your biz? Need help with it, let me know. Click To Tweet1 – You ARE running a business, right?
I think that when you are creating a business page, it is putting you and your business out there and giving it life, so why wouldn’t you create a business page? When I started my business, I started off with business cards and was debating on how many to buy… and thought, this isn’t a hobby, it is a business and I am all in… so I ordered the most I could, 5000. Lol I still have many of those.. but hey, I had faith in me and my business to put it out there. You should too!
2 – Those are the rules
Not all social profiles require you to have a 
business account if you are running a business, Facebook on the other hand, does. “Personal profiles are for non-commercial use and represent individual people”. That’s pretty clear and simple. You CAN share stuff from your business page to your personal account though.
Speaking of, if you are creating content on your business page and share it on your personal account, it links back to your business and you can still get the viral appeal if that post does spread.
3 – You don’t want to go to FB jail
Spinning off #2, if Facebook finds out you are running a business on your personal account, they can shut you down, or send you to FB jail. I hear that is like pausing your account or locking you out for a period of time.
Way I see it is this… what are you willing to risk? If you continue running your business through your personal account and get shut down, will your business suffer? Are you willing to lose all of those contacts, all of that content by not following the rules? I’m not, but think about it.
4 – You can boost posts and run ads
There are perks to having a business page and it’s kind of two fold. Reminder, Facebook was set up by college kids to communicate with other students… and businesses, as they always do, find a way to tap into the market. Great idea, because businesses need to be where their consumers are, and well, they ARE on social media. However, due to the filters on Facebook, they kind of force businesses to ‘pay to play’ meaning, you want to reach new followers or your current ones, you need to pay. You can boost your posts to reach your followers, their friends or a targeted market.
Further, you can run ads to increase your following and reach, promote specials with ads, get sign-ups for your email list (you do know that is where your gold is, right?) and target a specific demographic based on interests in Facebook. This is pretty amazing, something you can’t do with your personal profile.
5 – You don’t want to piss off your friends
Seriously, think about it. The more you post on your personal profile about your business, the more you might be pissing off your friends. While Facebook does filter your personal profile, it isn’t as heavily filtered as your business page so there is a stronger likelihood that your friends who communicate with you on a regular basis may be seeing more of your business stuff, if you are doing this.
This should be the biggie, don't piss off your friends by running your biz on your personal FB acct. Click To TweetHowever, on a side note, if you are truly running your business on social media like you should… you aren’t blasting me me me. When you are running your business, it is about the consumer and ‘what’s in it for them’ so if you are constantly pushing our your products and buy me buy me without motivation, inspiration, self-help, health, fun and more engaging posts… you are likely pissing off your customers too… but that’s another post.. oh, like this one – It’s Not About You!
Anyways, I hope these 5 ½ points help you see the value and need to create your Facebook page, if you haven’t already. Get out there and tackle your business 100%, all-in and the right way. If you are in need of some additional help on the basics of Facebook, I am setting up DIY video series on social media and Facebook. Be sure to sign up for my email list to stay tuned, it’s coming up in the next month.
If you need other help with your social media, please contact me and we can set up a consulting marketing appointment and see where you need to be for your goals.
~Kristen
Very helpful, Kristen! The one I struggle with most is #5–you don’t want to piss off your friends. But I really struggle with this. I have a biz fan page, and an author fan page, and a personal page. The blogs for the first two of course go on their pages, but I find that when I put the author blogs on my personal page, they get a lot more interaction. Still, I often feel hesitant about this. Any advice?
YES! You don’t want to piss off your friends Susan. Of course your personal page is going to get more action.. because it isn’t as highly filtered by Facebook, but that’s the nature of the business.. we have to pay to play and follow the rules. Post to business and SHARE to your personal so your biz can get the juice from those posts and continuously encourage your friends to follow the business and continue to run ads and boost your social.
So agree with you Kristen, explained this to a group of translators the other weekend holding a small workshop. However, it is still not coming through always. To be professional you need to put in a bit of effort. 🙂
It won’t Katarina… for awhile but we can only educate and continue to drill down on the reality!
Agree with Susan’s question/comment. I started sharing 1 post from my page daily to my profile. Gets way more reach & often engagement than when it was on my page. I also started [psting a bit more to my personal as I see things I know friends will like & they dont belong on my page. When starting out, this was confusing.
I think that is great Roz, continue to post on your business page but share over to your personal on occasion and remind them that you are there.. but it also gives the juice to the business page. It’s just part of a biz on FB… have to follow the rules or run the risk of getting shut down, right?
Like Susan and Roslyn, I find I get way more interaction on my personal page on the same posts that I share on my business page. Part of my challenge is that when I started my FB page many years ago now, I set it up as an “author” page and named it Beverley Golden – Writer. Now I do health and wellness consulting as well as writing, and do not want to start another new biz page. I’m still seeking a way to integrate multiple things onto the established page and don’t feel that starting another new page is the best way to go. Yes, we definitely need a FB business page and the key is to find the balance of engagement between our personal and business pages. Quite a conundrum for some of us it seems, Kristen. Any ideas are welcomed.
Of course you are going to get more engagement on your personal than your biz Bev because those are your friends and as they engage with you personally, they will see more of your posts as FB doesn’t filter your personal as heavily as your business because there isn’t money there.
Maybe you could change your business page to a Bev branded type page offering all sorts of things (internal health coaching ish) and integrate them all.
I very rarely share my organizing or small business blogs on my personal page. Everyone knows what I do and I don’t need to share all my ins and outs with them. If they want to know, they follow my Facebook pages. Thanks for sharing these tips.
You never know tho Sabrina, maybe sharing from your biz page over to your personal every so often can’t hurt and could help someone who knows your friends.
Fantastic tips for why it is SO important to have a FB Fan Page for your business, Kristen! As a business owner, it is definately a MUST 🙂 Thanks for sharing your valuable tips!
You are welcome Joan.. glad you understand the value.
It’s always a good idea not to piss peiple off…your friends or otherwise. I agree with the other comments I also get more engagement. Do you think this has to do with how many people “see” the post? And Facebook is wanting a business to pay before people see their posts?
I hear you Christy, I get more engagement there too.. and usually with those who I engage with.. so yes, like you said… you will have more that see it because of the filters.. and just think, short of STL days.. when is your biz engaging with others.. probably not NEAR as much as you are personally, so it just makes sense we get more engagement… but, the nature of the beast. Yes, FB wants businesses to pay to play = pay to reach their current and new followers… or just get more engaging stuff they say.. but we all aren’t Kim Garst, not always that easy. lol
I am on it for sure….the challenge is to keep up with running a business page effectively and with Facebook changes. I have certainly learned alot. Thanks for sharing great tips.
You are right Teresa.. so many changes.. on social media, taxes and business in general.. keep it up!
I warn people about FB jail. All it takes is a complaint by a competitor to FB and you’re screwed. One thing I learned: There is value to your business in sharing from your biz page to your personal page. I’ll do more of that, but not so much as to piss off my friends. 😉
I’m glad you do Jackie, many just don’t get it.. sadly and that’s what I say, it takes one person who sees them as a threat to report them. Agreed, there IS value to sharing from biz to personal.. w/o pissing off your friends. 😉
I”m assuming from what you have said, that it is the actual sales promotion of a product or service that should be limited to the business page, but that informational articles and blog posts can be posted on both the personal and business pages. Is this correct?
If you have a business, Joyce, you need to have a business page, period… and run it there. However, you can share what you are posting on your business and share it to your personal.. which is better than posting to them both separately anyhow.
True story: I met a young woman (in person) last year and we became FB friends. I noticed she was promoting her business on her personal page. So I lovingly (I thought) messaged her and suggested she get a business page. She took offense and said she could say whatever she wanted to on her personal page. I assured her that I was only concerned that her account might be shut down. She responded by unfriending me. What’s the saying, “No good deed goes unpunished?”
That is sad Carol and well, you warned her.. and one day, which I hope it doesn’t happen, she may see the err of her ways… but who knows. Thanks for sharing with her and sorry she didn’t see the value. And.. yes, karma! 😉
I only promote my book on my business page, but for my blog, I post a note that says “Check out my latest blog post” on my personal page. I don’t think this will send me to FB jail. The reason I’ve kept the promotion of my writing to a minimum on my personal page is exactly as you mentioned: to not piss off my friends and relatives! Thanks for the great tips!
I’d still post your business to your business page Joan and then share it to your personal page from your biz. This way you get more juice back to your biz. Glad you are cognizant of not pissing off your friends too. 😉
As always, very helpful Kristen! And with your help, I think I”m getting better at it! 🙂
You are quite welcome and YES, you surely are Lisa!
I sure wish that Facebook pages got better organic reach but regardless you are so right on here. I have known people get banned for abusing that personal account. I have also seen people lose their profitable FB groups too.
The friend thing is such a tricky issue. My work is a HUGE part of my life because I love it so much. Therefore, I wind up talking about it but I do try to limit it.
Great post
Girl.. you know that’s the truth. I am soooo there with you Renee. I wish it were more organic too.. but they are a biz also, so Yea.. blah. Wow.. losing their groups too, had no idea. I completely understand about the fine line between work and biz as many of my friends are clients and fellow biz owners.. but as long as we are doing due diligence ON our biz page. 😉