Critical Facebooking for the Biz

By Heather Gurewitz
Mendocino Women's Business Center Director

Do you tell all your clients and customers how much you drank last weekend? or about your bad break up with a significant other? or about your favorite passage in the bible? If you are using Facebook to promote your business, you need to present a professional image. Depending on your business, personal, religious, or political views MAY not be appropriate. For example, if you are a Christian book store, quoting bible phrases and talking about your spiritual preferences would be a great way to promote your business. But, if you are a local eatery, a mechanic, or another business that serves customers from all religious points of view, you may be alienating some of your clientele. If they delete your posts or have you as a "do not show" you can no longer market to them through Facebook. This goes for political beliefs as well or anything else considered controversial.


Personally, I have two Facebook pages, one for my personal life and one as the Mendocino WBC Director. If you have two separate emails, you can do the same. I keep my personal stuff personal, and my business profile professional. Occasionally on my WBC Facebook Page I see someone write something that I want to comment on, and every time I have to ask myself: "Is it appropriate?" I use the same guidelines to answer this question as I do for what kind of topics I will discuss with people I meet at chamber mixers or an event where I am attending in my professional capacity. Additionally, if I find that some of my professional contacts are writing things that I feel are inappropriate for my professional Facebook page, I mark them as "do not show."

If you are having trouble keeping your business Facebook separate from your personal Facebook account and need help determining your criteria, you should consider giving West Company a call. We can help you take a holistic look at your marketing and decide whether Facebook is an asset or a liability for your business.

Learn more about marketing your business with free web tools at our Zero Budget Marketing Class in Fort Bragg on October 19th from 5:30-8:30pm. Geared toward the service-based business, we will cover blogs, facebook, video and more!