Facebook Help! Group or fan page or use my own personal profile???

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I am running a lifestyle business offering support weightloss to mothers using my network of mothers that I already know to building on this. I am a mother myself.


I am not sure if I should keep my own personal facebook name and have other new potential customer link to that. I would then let the customers/friends/etc get to know me, my brand and learn tips about weightloss from me ...my business. They would also be advertised too but not overly as I know this puts people off.

Or should I create a separate group or fan page with the business name? Offering same info as before except less personal stuff about what I am upto.

Martin Lewis, Orpra Winfry have facebook pages that are listed with their real name and I think this works. You get to know what they are upto and also learn about tips and good deals.

I think that this would be good as my lifestyle is part of my business and my personal brand is linked to what I am offering the mothers. I have noticed that you get more facilities with your own page like being suggested new friends & posted according to certain groups & invite to events to certain groups too.

Has anyone used their own personal facebook page to grow members/friends/customers & what advice would you give. How would I then convert these 'friends' into customers?

Could I rename my page "FirstNameme, Surname, BusinessName" so that my facebook name has three names where the last name is my business name?


What would you suggest? Thanks.

serious_saver

My sister has a page for her sports team. The idea being that there is a maximum number of friends you can have on a profile but the number of fans a page can have is unlimited.

Another friend/ collegue of mine has 2 profiles - one for work and another for non-work. It just means he doesn't bore his friends with work related messages and annoy clients with personal stuff/ dodgey language.

Another thing to bare in mind is the impact this has on privacy settings. Facebook changed them this year to make them more customizable. Although a lot of people don't realise it most things were (not sure if they still are) default set to be viewed by 'friends of friends'. This means that things on the profiles of genuine friends, could potentially be visible to your clients or vice versa.

To convert friends into customers simply send them a message stating that you will be changing to a page by a certain date and invite them all to join the page. Send a few reminders over a period of a few weeks and then take them off you profile.