I wrestled with the idea of creating a Facebook Page for my blog vs. just utilizing
my Facebook Profile to promote. My initial thought was that I didn’t really see myself as being “celebrity” enough to warrant having what was once referred to as a “fan page”. It felt a bit vain to me, but I started to sense that I needed to re-visit the issue as more and more people I did not really know wanted to start connecting with me on Facebook professionally.
After reading a few interesting articles on the issue (see here and here), I decided that the positives outweighed any negatives, and went ahead and created one. In addition I added the Facebook Social Like Box on the right, and intend on running a contest in the next few weeks to drive “likes” up. If anything, it adds another layer of excitement for me regarding increasing my reach.
If you have a personal blog that you contribute to regularly, you should seriously consider the benefits of a Facebook Page of which some are:
- No Limits – Facebook profiles can only have 5,000 friends. Now, that limit may change, and most people never come anywhere near that, but if you have any aspirations of continued professional success, it could become an issue. Facebook pages have no limits.
- SEO – Your Facebook page becomes another feather in your SEO hat. Facebook Pages are indexed by search engines. Just another avenue to increase your reach.
- Stats – You get access to Facebook Insights which provides you useful information on your Facebook Page activity.
- Direct Messaging – You can send messages directly to those that “like” you. (Click Edit Page, Marketing, Send Update)
- Lower Acquisition Barrier – It’s much easier to “like” something on Facebook, then to “friend” someone, which means it’s much more likely that you will gain a larger following through a Facebook Page then through a personal profile. Plus you get the added benefit of separating your personal and professional contacts.
These are just a few of the benefits I see so far. Would love to see examples of others who have done the same and if so, leave your page links in the comments.
/agree with you. I was not jumping up and down to do it either, but that is the way of the market landscape. Also, people kept sending friend requests and I really try to keep Facebook just, friends, family and colleagues.
The Facebook page is a nice way to let the unknowns link to me.
Agreed. Look forward to seeing if it pans out and is manageable.
HI Jason, Thanks for the kick in the pants to get on this. It’s been on the back burner for a while. Boy how I wish there were 48 hours in a day.
I can appreciate how you feel about the word “fan” …
to be honest, I still haven’t gotten my head around the ‘fan page’ benefits but you are prompting me to move forward and do it anyway.
I have separated my profile friends and busienss friends on my list mechanism on my regular FB profile.
I will just have to go forward and do it now… wouldn’t you agree?
lovely to meet you
Jayne
Yea, the jury is still out, but I think it will end up being the right decision. The one thing I have to figure out though is a better sharing plan as I’m sure their will be duplication if i post to my profile and page at the same time.
Hi Jason,
Like you I wrestled with the idea of having a facebook page or not. The two main reasons for me was to connect with more people without needing to use my personal profile and the social proof. I have found the FB page to be a great way to connect with people and another great avenue to share my content. I didn’t even know about the messaging, I will have to give that a try! Thanks!
Stacy
Glad to hear it’s worked out well for you Stacy. I’ll have to check out your page and learn a few things!
Jason, aloha. Congrats on getting your fan page started. While I have one, it needs attention.
Aside from the benefits you mentioned above, another reason to have a fan page is because according to the rules of facebook, you are not supposed to discuss business on your personal page. While you can certainly post some business related items, if you post much re business, fb might cancel your account as they have others. if they do that, Jason, ALL your info is gone. That is by the way, why it is good to back up your fb info periodically.
Another advantage to a fan page is that you can Like other pages and you can choose to interact with people as either your profile or your fan page. When people see your fan page Liking another fan page or interacting as a fan page with others, you are much more apt to have those people go over and become fans of yours. This is a terrific way to increase your fans and engagement.
You have a great blog, Jason, which would be a great asset to your fan page. You can either link it to your fan page or you can post updates.
Will head on over there and Like you, Jason–in fact, I do already. You know why I do? Without a doubt, you are a person of action. You look at something, decide and then to do it! the world needs more people like you, Jason. Until next time, aloha. Janet
Hi Janet and thanks for the thoughtful reply. Great points on the additional benefits. I never knew I was at risk!
Hi Jason,
No wonder you wrestled. I think almost everyone who already has a Facebook profile is having the same thought; should I set up a page? Well I did set up one, but didn’t have the time to develop it properly.
And I am not sure if the “page” thing really pays off. Can anyone share their results of success with FB fan page?
Cheers,
Jane.
I’ll definitely be posting some follow up on what I experience. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Jason,
we definitely need both, a personal profile and a page. I am using my profile professionally as well. Just recently, I have started differentiating the content on them. There are still a lot of overlaps, however.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Take care
Oliver
I’ll have to put some thought into differentiating content. Right now it’s a bit harder with my page not having a larger audience so there’s still value in sharing the same info on my profile as well.
Hi Jason,
Good decision 🙂 I’m going to be working on my Page in the coming weeks and plan to launch with a content gateway approach on the landing tab. So, those results I’ll share openly along with my experience using Facebook Ads to drive more likes and opt-ins to my offer.
I wish you well growing your reach on FB!
Jon
Hi Jon. I was thinking about this approach as well, but figure I’d hold off until I had something I wanted to promote that was worthwhile. Look forward to seeing how yours turns out.
Hi Jason,
Nice article. I would prefer both as both are very useful. I use profile to connect with other people and for general marketing stuff and fan page to connect with my audience.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Devesh. I plan to take the same approach as well, and more so when my page grows to a point where I can avoid duplicating posts on my page and profile.
Hi Jason!
I’m guilty of not having a FB fan page yet. I’ve been focusing on building a community on my blog so that my traffic is coming to me and so that it’s an asset I own. I know the benefits and I do plan to try it eventually…your post is making me want to do it sooner! 🙂
Great post and it’s great to “meet” you! 🙂
Heather
Hi Heather. You’re site is great and impressive you’ve built a nice community. I feel the same way about wanting to “own” your traffic and certainly focus most of my time on that. The jury is still out, but I do think having a page in addition to a profile will end up being a smart move as it’s only another avenue for people to find or connect with me.