When it comes to using Facebook for business people most of the time either go all in on using their personal profile or ignore it completely. I always tell people that to truly maximize your efforts on Facebook you truly need to utilize both. Most of the information you find on using Facebook for business focuses on the business page since of course, that is what makes the most sense. You may be surprised however that some simple tweaks to your personal profile can make a big difference in your hard work.

1. Your profile picture – a lot of times I find that if people are using a personal profile and a business page they are using the same picture on both. I am all for consistency in your branding but on your personal profile, you definitely want to seem like a person. I mean it is called “social media” so behaving as you would in a social setting just seems right. I recommend that you keep your profile picture just as a picture of you, but I’m what you would wear on the weekends. If you are a suit and tie all week guy but let loose on the weekends, that may be very appealing to a prospective client. If you take a “professional” looking photo of yourself engaging in one of your favorite activities that may be just the thing that attracts your next big client to you.

2. Complete your profile- This sounds like a no-brainer but many times people are missing out on some of the easiest ways to connect with people from their past or people who have similar interests. There are a few different items here so I will break it down:

     a. Your intro- Your intro is a 101-character mini-bio that displays publicly on your profile. If you have not edited this you may just have a list of your past jobs showing. When crafting a great intro be sure to include who you are as a person and what you enjoy doing. Don’t just use this space to talk about how great you are at what you do. Keep in mind that this is one of the first things people will see about you when visiting your profile page. I recommend adding some emojis to give it a little more flair. (To learn more about creating a great intro check out my full Facebook course!)

     b. Fill in your past- Usually, when I say this I get a raised eyebrow from just about everyone in the room. But think about it… You probably had positive relationships with people you went to school with or worked with in a past job. It is also possible that they have no idea what you now do for work. By filling out this information completely Facebook will suggest you to be “friends” with people you haven’t seen or heard from in years just because you went to the same school at the same time or worked in the same place. You can increase your circle of contacts almost instantly just by leveraging what Facebook has to offer. And don’t worry you have the ability to choose who can see this information: everyone, only friends, or even only you!

3. Posting- We all know that person that hasn’t posted anything on Facebook in years and we all also know someone that we wish would just stop posting altogether. So be in the middle. If you are using Facebook for your business you want people to feel comfortable reaching out to you via messenger in your profile. Now I don’t recommend coming up with some sort of rigorous posting schedule to adhere to but just be present. Post regularly about things that you are involved in.

For more information and specifics on any of the items listed above check out my course “The Ultimate Facebook Sales Generator.”

Categories: Facebook