Social Networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are changing. Well, if you are using these sites you will have noticed that they are changing on a near-weekly basis. It’s tough keeping up with these changes, unless you’re in the industry or it’s your full-time job or obsession to live and breathe social media.
The most recent trend, that affects independent professionals, bloggers and freelancers, is the upgraded changes to improve privacy in these networks and reduce spamming.
But herein lies the problem…
If you have a “personal” profile Facebook page that you use for business, or you are promoting your personal LinkedIn profile for business, these changes REALLY affect you.
Facebook Example
If you have a button or link on your blog or website that says “Be my friend on Facebook“, now, unless the person clicking is connected to you in some way, they CANNOT even send you a request to become friends on Facebook. And they usually see a locked down version of your personal profile.
This is really bad, as it’s like inviting someone to your house, but not even having a doorbell or front door, so that you can let them in.
It’s the same problem if you have 5,000 friends. This is the limit Facebook sets for friends, so it’s really bad if you’re inviting people to become your friend, and they cannot!
LinkedIn Example
If you have a similar link or button, pointing them to your LinkedIn profile, and you would like to connect with people and professionals on LinkedIn, once they get to your profile, unless you “share a group” or are connected through another connection, or they know your personal email address, the hit a connection brick wall.
The overall effect of offering your profiles for networking and sharing, becomes a closed door for new connections and opportunities.
The Solution!
Treat yourself as a business.
- Set up yourself as a Business Page. Then people can follow you and you can interact with people.
- If you’re not comfortable being set up as a business page, then start your own group on Facebook, and promote that link instead of your personal profile link.
LinkedIn is a bit different and there are few solutions here:
- The first solution would be to join Groups on LinkedIn relevant to your customers and your profession. This would then make it easier for your followers to connect to you.
- Be active in connecting with similar professionals, and also people you know, including your customers to open up your profile and access.
- Set up your own group on LinkedIn, based on the topic in which you are an expert. Then instead of directing followers from your blog or website to your personal profile, you can just forward them to your group. And if they look like a valuable contact, you can then use your group to connect to them personally.
What do you think?
Are Facebook’s and LinkedIn’s changes working for you or against you? Are you using social media networks as well as you can to connect with your peers and your followers?
Feel free to share your thoughts below…
Twitter: seommotips
April 6, 2011 at 6:56 pm | Permalink
Okay! The solution then is to create profile or page as business page. Is there a way to convert the pages into business pages? and what are the differences? Are there any criteria to meet to convert into business page? I’d be really thinkful a bit more insight on this aspect too!
Suresh Khanal@SEO MMO Tips blog´s last [type] ..BlogEngage and BufferApp Small Money for Big
Twitter: fionamceachran
April 7, 2011 at 9:52 am | Permalink
@Suresh Khanal@SEO MMO Tips blog, Hi Suresh
Yes, I think if you are serious about using social media and social networking to build your brand and your business, I believe it is necessary to have a Business Page.
Facebook DID introduce a tool to convert personal profiles into pages, but recently they cancelled the tool. I’m not sure why.
It’s easy enough though just to set up a Business Page, even if you just keep it simple. But I would recommend having a plan – know what you want to achieve from your Business Page, and commit to spending time on it every week. Even if it’s only 20 minutes.
Good luck, and if you do set one up, let me know…
Very good obervations, indeed! However don’t underestimate having a compelling Linked in or Facebook presense as a profile only. I don’t want 5,000 friends because they are not really friends at all. None of them will bail me out oif jail at three in the morning- that’s a true friend.
But providing access to a profile can be a powerful advertisement for those people whose behavioral styles require independent research before decifding wether or not to select you as a provider.
It’s not about the metrics- it’s about building rapport.
Twitter: fionamceachran
April 7, 2011 at 9:48 am | Permalink
@John Hyman, Thanks for your feedback John.
I got the inspiration for this post, when I was on a professional person’s personal blog, and at the top, I saw:
- Be my Friend on Facebook
- Connect on LinkedIn
So I went and had a look and was interested to see that it was actually impossible for me to be their friend on Facebook, or to even connect on LinkedIn. And I thought, oooh, I wonder if they know they’re blocked!
But I do agree with you, I don’t want 5000 friends on Facebook, just for the sake of it. But as building a personal brand, a lot of people, especially authors, speakers and internet marketers really do try to get that many friends.
It IS more about quality than quantity on Facebook, and this should be a part of any professionals social networking marketing strategy.
Twitter: daniellenelson
April 7, 2011 at 12:06 am | Permalink
Doesn’t this depend on your privacy settings, though? Instead of setting yourself up as a business (which may be against the TOS), why not adjust your privacy settings to allow folks outside your network to connect with you?
Twitter: fionamceachran
April 7, 2011 at 9:58 am | Permalink
@Dani, Hi Dani, Thanks for your comment.
Yes, privacy settings do effect what people can and cannot see, so if you are inviting people, especially potential customers to connect with you, these need to be set to allow this.
No, you should not set up a “personal” profile in a business name, as this is against facebook’s TOS. But you should set up a Facebook Business Page, which is completely different.
When it comes to deciding who you want to connect with you on Facebook, and how they will connect with you, you really need a plan and a system for how it will work.
Otherwise if you invite people to connect, and they cannot, they will feel annoyed, and Facebook will work against you.
I hope this makes sense
Twitter: extremejohn
April 7, 2011 at 9:37 am | Permalink
I’ve been really cleaning up my Facebook personal page vs my Facebook Page for my brand. I like to have separation between the two, I just wish that FB would allow me to change a few things about the naming of my personal profile.
Extreme John´s last [type] ..Custom Facebook App Development Peek
Twitter: fionamceachran
April 7, 2011 at 10:31 am | Permalink
@Extreme John, Hi John,
Yes, it is a good idea to have separation between the personal profile and business page. I guess yours is a a bit tricky, because you’re a person, business and a brand!
What would you change in naming your personal profile?
Twitter: azrin619
April 17, 2011 at 2:35 am | Permalink
Some tricks: BE A FB APP DEVELOPER. You circumvent the limits. (20K for now)
Have your own Fan Page too.. EXPORT your friends list and delete those who are not that active every now and then…and send them mailers for seasonal holidays.
And… errm… the other tricks is in my hat.. won’t say till you ask me directly.
Regards
Dr Azrin @
http://www.azrin.info
they don’t award me Worst Blogger of the Year (NON-US) for 3 years running for nothing.. heee