Adjusting to My New Personal and Public Profiles on Facebook: What I’m Doing

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2011 Update:

Because a Facebook presence is increasing key to connecting with current and potential customers, I’ve set up a new blog in 2011 called Using Facebook for Business Marketing.

Facebook often changes its features, and new applications are created by third parties to facilitate your efforts to connect with and engage customers.  On this blog, I aim to create a resource — giving advice, pointing you to new links, and describing new functionality.  Please stop by and contribute your experience with Facebook marketing and promotions.

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The ground shifts as Facebook changes formats for Personal and Public Profiles (formerly Pages.)  Whatever they are called, I went to give mine a spring makeover, in light of new functionality.  I’m no pro, just a struggling user.  Here’s what I’ve figured out and how I’m adjusting.  (If you’re new to Facebook for business, check my earlier post on the Facebook Profile Pages.)

Revamped My Personal Profile:  Peg Corwin on Facebook

Sorted My Friends.

My 236 friends were difficult to deal with.  I was seeing status updates from distant “friends” and missing the activities of my sisters, clients and buddies.  Now you can sort your feeds according to friend lists.  This makes it easier to keep up with key groups.  By clicking the list link, you display only news of those on that list.

Last night I set up “friend lists” and started sorting.  (Wish you could go through the Everyone tab and assign them to a list, but have not figured that one out.)   After you create a list (Friends Tab, then lower left “Make a List”), type names of your friends to add to that list.  For me, this meant opening two browsers, one with the alpha list and the other with the friend list, scrolling through the first and typing appropriate names from the second into various lists. Now I’ve got lists of Family, Friends, Clients, Prospects, SCORE associates, Social Media Whiz people (a prolific lot), and those with whom I’ve had exchanges and am getting to know better.  Plus more distant “friends.”

Put a Message Under my Picture

Not sure when they added this box, but now you can write copy under your pic.  It’s easy to change, too.  I’m using that spot to invite people to come to SCORE Chicago’s Profile and write on our wall.  Suggest you put something there to encourage people to visit your Public Profile.

Opened Up “Information” For More Links

Then I fiddled with the box called Information (which by default shows just your geographic network), two boxes below your pic.  By clicking the edit button, I discovered I had the option to display all links from my Info section.  If you want your Public Profile pages and website/blog links to have more visibility, you must do this immediately.  (You have added these earlier, haven’t you?)

Spruced Up Our Public Profile: SCORE Chicago Pageon Facebook

Selected a New Landing Display

Each Public Profile page now has a new tabbed menu:  wall (with posts of fans and your own activities), info, photos, box (in my case, YouTube, client RSS feeds)  and applications (like Flickr).  You, the administrator, can select one of these as the default when the page is visited.  Click the Settings icon under the blue button to change the default.

Posted in the “Write Something” Box

I wrote in the “Write Something” box, a status update field like Twitter without the length constraint.  This shows up in our Public Profile’s news feed:  “Now you can see good small biz and Web 2.0 tidbits I have bookmarked in Delicious, right on my SCORE Chicago page.”

Added Pics

To spice things up, I uploaded some of SCORE Chicago’s success story photos.  They also show up in your feed  — so on SCORE Chicago, you can now see pretty party dresses from Dress by Nicole, and art works from Modupe Art Gallery.  Be sure to add colorful pics to yours.

Reviewed the News Feed

Facebook notices say that the Public Profile’s news feed will eventually show up in the news feeds of your Fans.  Thus they are eliminating Page Updates.  I’m not clear if this is just for those paying for Facebook ads or for everyone.  Also not clear whether Fans can or will turn off these streams.  In the interim, all this activity makes your Public Profile appear lively to current and new Fans when they visit, at least.

Things I Still Haven’t Figured Out:

• Why Facebook “gets stuck,” or hangs up, so often.  My theory is my Norton Internet Security software.  With this persistent problem, I just do not enjoy using Facebook.  Much prefer Linkedin, which behaves.
• How I delete a friends list I no longer need.
• How I differentiate Public Profile pages created by the profile owner from pages of which that person is merely a fan.
• Why I’m frequently getting an “Oops, something went wrong” message, especially related to pics.  Resolution too high?  Don’t think so.  (Bill Cooey of E-3 Data Solutions says “it’s heavy volume on Facebook servers.”)
• If it is possible, which I doubt, to add events to SCORE Chicago’s Public Profile, not my personal profile.  Facebook needs a much better help section. I created this event, a workshop on new products and inventions, “From Conception to Inception.” It’s hooked to my personal profile, and not visible on SCORE Chicago’s Public Profile.
  

What actions are you taking to reshape your Personal or Public Profile on Facebook? Do you know something I don’t?  Please share in a comment. Give me a good response and I may revise this post to quote you, for the benefit of all.

Peg Corwin on Facebook
SCORE Chicago Page on Facebook

New Facebook Pages: A Guide for Social Media Marketers on Mashable

34 Links on How To Promote Your Small Business On Facebook

my Delicious links on Facebook for business
my Delicious links on Facebook Public Profiles (Pages)

Facebook for Business books on Amazon