But it’s my personal profile - why can’t my friends say what they want there?
Here is another article on questions I commonly get asked. For those of you new to this series or who don’t know me, I am Helene Berren, marketing coach extraordinaire. I thrive on helping businesses grow.
I do this by demystifying marketing and explaining how you can do it yourself, offering training, or I’ll do it for you, if you do not have the time nor interest in doing it yourself.
But it’s my personal profile - why can’t my friends say what they want there?
So today’s topic is your online persona and specifically how your Facebook Personal Profile comes into play if you own a business.
Note that I said if you own a business. I did not say if you are using Facebook for business. I didn’t even say if you have a website, or use Google Ads. I said, today, if you own a business, you need to be careful with everything you post online, business-wise or personal, and also what other’s post or comments they leave on your profiles, posts, and pages.
Things Are Different Now
It used to be, before the popularity of the internet, that your personal life could be pretty separate from your business life. If people met you faceto-face through your business, unless you told them, they had no idea that you rode motorcycles in your spare time, or were a JIF Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter Junkie, eating it out of the jar with a spoon.
This has all changed now. Even if you do not use the internet to market your business, even if you do not even have a website, today, the way your customers operate is that the first thing they do is look you up online.
And I don’t even mean they look up your business, although they do this too, and read all of the reviews… but what we are talking about here is that they look you up, the owner of the business.
People still do business with people - people they like and trust - and so they will look you up online, because they can, and see what they find.
Your Profile Needs To Be Squeaky Clean
And yes, they will find your Facebook personal profile, and even though you didn’t personally post everything that’s there, even though you didn’t write all of those biased comments, they will judge you, and hold you personally responsible for them. Maybe it goes back to judging you by the company you keep???
So What To Do?
Bottom line you need to monitor every online profile and page you have. You probably already do this for less than wonderful reviews. Well now I am telling you that you need to monitor every post and comment on your personal profiles. And you need to get rid of, delete or block, anything that might be even a little offensive to a potential customer. End of Story!
Because if someone posts on your profile something that could offend a potential customer, people will automatically assume this is your view as well… and they will not do business with you - and worse than this, might even bad mouth you for a view that is not even yours.
Now it's up to you!
This is the 11th article in this Questions Series of articles where I answer the most commonly asked questions I get from customers and workshop attendees.
The previous articles in this series, in case you’d like to take a look at them are:
1. I Don’t Need a Website; Can’t I Just Use Facebook?
2. Can I Copy Stuff Off The Web and Use It On My Blog?
3. Should My Business Posts Go On My Personal Profile Too?
4. OK - I Posted a Blog Article; How Come My Business Hasn’t Grown?
5. I Don’t Like Social Media - Why Do I Have To Use It For My Business?
6. Can I just use my logo online rather than a headshot?
7. Why Do I Need To Spend Time Online Chatting And Building Relationships?
8. With ½ hour a day to dedicate to social media, what should I do with that time?
9. If I post my videos to YouTube, is it good?
10. Ok, I posted an article on social media. Where’s all the traffiic?
Please let me know your thoughts and if you have questions you’d like to see addressed in this series of articles, please feel free to email me at info@ampurbiz.com
Tags: social media marketing, Facebook, personal profile, marketing, traffic, leads, business growth, posting, articles
Filed under: Questions Series