Summary: Many small businesses today are creating a Facebook presence. Depending on your business and your social media goals, Facebook can be a smart platform that can allow your business to reach potential and existing customers. It is important that you separate personal and business on Facebook.

Before You Start: You are considering creating an official (business) Facebook page, or you have mixed together your business and personal on Facebook.

Learning Level: 1 | Social Media Basics

Article Last Updated: Thursday, 16 June 2010

Facebook Business Tool

It's important to separate business and personal on Facebook.

Facebook offers three tools, each with a different set of features and intended use.

• Profile. In casual language, most people refer to their personal Facebook presence as their “Facebook page” but actually, Facebook calls it a profile. This is where you connect with your high school friends. Connections are made when both people agree that they are friends.
• Page. Some people call this a “fan page” to separate it from their personal profile. This is the tool Facebook intended for non-personal use for businesses, public figures, authors, and others. Facebook calls this an “official” page. Connections are made when one person decides to like your page (and the business or person it represents) and becomes a fan. Facebook recently stopped using the term “fan” and instead refers to them as people who like your page. Many businesses still call them fans.
• Group. This tool that allows people to link up based on a common interest or cause.  Connections are made when one person decides to become a supporter of the group. You might join a group focused on a sports team or a political cause and interact with other people who support it.

Facebook recommends that you use a page for your business, but doesn’t prevent you from using any of these tools for your business. However, the features of the page are designed to suit the needs of a business, a professional, or public figure. This is the tool you should use for your business presence.

Separate Business And Personal on Facebook

Many people have mixed together their business and personal Facebook use. Their Facebook friends consist of both real life friends, relatives, and customers. As a result, their Facebook profile is a mix of personal and business communication, photos, status updates, and links. This creates a confusing business presence that can be frustrating for you and your audience.

Here are four reasons why you should separate business and personal on Facebook.

• Make a distinction between your business and your personal life. This is especially challenging for small business owners who devote their time and passion to building a business. You need a place where you can chat with friends and let your hair down when you are not working.
• Feel free to talk with your friends without worrying that your customers will overhear you. Nothing you say on social media is truly private. You should never use your personal Facebook presence to talk about your customers or your business.
• Your customers don’t care about your weekend events, the wedding you attended, or your vacation plans. They want to know about events related to your business. If you make them wade through your personal communication to find business information, they are likely to stay away.
• Your friends don’t care about your business promotions or your customer service issues. They want a place to chat with you about your common life experiences without having to read all about your business.

By mixing business and personal, you don’t serve either community well. Determine your personal and business goals for Facebook, and let your goals show you how to interact with each community. By separating your communication, you give each community the information it wants, allowing both communities to grow organically.

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Your turn: Did you start out mixing together business and personal on Facebook? What problems did this cause for you? Share your experience and insights.

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