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Create a Facebook Business Page
Here I want to cover something that's not often mentioned when you want to create a Facebook Business Page - creating a Facebook Business Page without a personal profile. All the instructions tell you that you have to start by creating a personal profile, then you create a Facebook Business Page.
But there are many times when you simply don't want to create a personal profile, or don't want to add a business page to your personal profile. Many people are asked by their boss the make a Facebook page, but you're just an employee. You might even be just a temporary employee, or a new employee. There's no way you want, or should, create a Facebook Business site hanging off your own Facebook personal page - after all, you're not permanent, you might be fired later this afternoon!
To be honest, all the rules around Facebook accounts and the rules aren't easy to get your head round at first - and I've known many people who break the rules because they don't know the rules exist, or they simply get in a muddle and it all goes pear-shaped....
Offering Freelance Business Page Services?
Of course, you can set up Facebook business pages for local companies - and, as a freelance business page builder, you can't have all your clients' business pages hanging off your personal profile unless this is your dream business and plan to be in business forever - if you simply find yourself in a position where you can make some money creating a few pages here and there for local businesses, it might be easier for you to keep things separate so you don't have any ongoing obligations to them.
Horses for courses: what is your intention?
In the early days of web development a lot of companies found that they had trouble with their web pages as their original designer had 'disappeared' - having made their money and now moved to the far end of the country to take up a new job.
Do whatever it takes to ensure that you don't leave "a bitter taste" in the mouths of your old clients when you move on with your life!
Keeping Your Privacy: Personal -v- Business
Note: If you are creating a business page as you've a sideline business, then nobody can see that your page is "you" on your profile page. Nor vice versa. For people visiting either, the two are entirely separate.
It is then up to you, having created your business page, to "share" your business page on your personal profile if you wish to alert your family and friends. For those who wish to retain anonymity, you simply don't "share" or "like" your new page! It's that simple.
Create Only a Business Page Account
Technically, there is an option to only create a Business Page on Facebook, without creating a personal profile first. However, you don't get access to a lot of useful information and functionality that you get from a personal account, This account is intended for people who only want to manage Pages and create ad campaigns, so is most often used by large companies.
Therefore, for most people, setting up a Facebook page for a home business, or a sideline, or a small company, it's best in the long run to go down the Personal -> Business Page route.
Although you can 'upgrade' a business account later, it can be trickier to achieve as easily retrospectively.
Note: If you set-up a Business Account you will not be allowed to set up a Personal Profile too. All that can be done with a Business Account is create a Page for the business and/or create paid advertisements on Facebook. To get a Personal Profile you'd need to log into the Business Account and go through the "upgrade" process.
Explain To the Boss
Of course, the simplest route out is to simply explain the situation to the boss. Explain that the Facebook page is best started by setting up a personal profile, then you add a Facebook business page to that - and that it would not be appropriate for your own personal profile to be linked in any way in case you should be "run over by a bus tomorrow".... you don't need to say "Well, I don't expect to be here forever, you know I'm already looking through the Sits Vacs as your pay sucks and .... I don't think you like me ... and may fire me next month!".
Keep it business focussed. Any boss will understand the importance of being in control and ownership of their business page, so this should be easy for you to explain.
Although a business page is created via logging onto your personal Facebook page, after that it has its own login page, username and password. So the issue isn't that anybody would need to know your login details, or would have access to your Facebook account.
But, because they are joined in some way it can cause issues in the future. e.g. what if you fall out of love with Facebook and want to delete your personal profile? You might also be "associated" with all the companies hanging off your personal page in the future, which you might not wish to be.
When you log in to your personal Facebook page, you have access to the pages you have admin access to - you could have hundreds of client pages there. From there you can grant access to the different pages, so that clients, managers or other team members can log into their own personal profile and get the same access to the business page if make them an admin for the page.
But if you're unsure of what the future holds for you - and want to avoid this then it's wise to do so. Maybe you are being asked to set up the only Facebook business page you will ever need to set up and you simply don't want to be associated with it for your own personal reasons.
Set Up Or Use Your Boss' Personal Facebook Profile
This is the easiest route. Simply insist that your manager/boss either give you access to their personal profile, or, if they don't have one, set one up for them.
Facebook Page Types
There are several page types you can choose to set up:
- Local business or Place
- Company, Organisation or Institution
- Brand or Product
- Artist, band or Public Figure
- Entertainment
- Cause or Community
You need to choose a local business or place -or- a company, organisation or institution, depending on who you are setting the page up for.
Setting up a Business Page on Facebook
I won't cover setting up a Facebook personal profile here - for the purposes of creating a business page you don't have to do anything more with a personal profile/Facebook page than set it up and forget it.
This is the process to complete:
- Log onto the personal profile you are going to use
- Go to http://facebook.com/pages
- Down the left hand side, find the section called PAGES, then click on "Create a Page" (see picture).
- Choose which type of business page you want to set up - what you choose here will determine the "apps" you are given access to. Don't choose Community*, but any other type is OK.
- Fill in the basic information you are asked for.
*Community pages: If you set up a community page you have no control over it beyond starting it. You'll be identified as the person who set it up, but beyond that anybody and everybody that joins that community will have rights over the content. This is why a business should never choose their business page to be a community page.
Facebook Styling and Themes
You can stick with the standard styles/themes of Facebook, or you can hire a graphic designer to create a theme for you, maybe your existing website designer if you have one. Or, you can learn how to create themes and looks by reading up and experimenting.
At this stage, some people will already have their design/look sorted, others might wish to stick with the basic offering for now; in time you'll want to change something about the look/feel of your business page, but that's something you can investigate when it's the right time for your business to move in that direction.
What you do will depend on your skills, resources available (time/effort/money) and what size/type of business the business page is for.
Don't feel pressurised to create the best Facebook business page EVER .... on day one!
Adding New Users to the Facebook Business Page
At some point, you might want to grant access for other people to be able to update/change and add posts to the Facebook business page. This is easily done at this point, or at any future point by choosing:
- Edit Page
- Manage Permissions
To add people, you'll need to know their Facebook address.
... And There's More...
Above are the basics to create your own Facebook business page - the process itself is simple. What you need to do before you start is think about who you are, what you are trying to achieve and for who.
- Are you doing this for your sideline?
- Are you a short-term, or new employee?
- Are you the manager/owner of a business and are in control?
There is a LOT to learn about how to use, leverage and work Facebook to your best advantage - something I won't cover here as there's plenty been written already!
Here are some links to some handy pages that do cover these subjects:
- Useful Facebook Tricks People May Not Know About
Learn a few tricks that can help make your Facebook experience a pleasant one. - Sell goods on Facebook – how to sell goods on Soci...
BeeShopy, Payvment, Shop Tab, Wildfire and Storeya all enable selling goods on Facebook, and this hub by Cheeky Girl shows how to sell on Facebook. Learn the different (some free) platforms, build profits and get sales on Facebook. Sell anything and - A Walk Through Guide - How To Edit and Adjust Facebo...
Creating online social media profiles exposes you and your private information. Make sure your Facebook privacy settings are strict and monitored regularly. - Facebook Marketing _
Is Facebook marketing right for your business? Or is it too much effort and too hard and a drain on your time and energy? Take the 10 question Facebook Quiz to discover... - Facebook Pages for Business
If you're in business, or about to start a business, one thing you might have on your To Do List is