Is your Facebook Profile Working for You? The Line Between Privacy & Perception

Facebook is loaded with features that can help you connect with people both personally and professionally. It is arguably the most versatile of all social media websites out there. With all of these advances in technology, you have the ability to cast your personal brand to a much larger audience quickly and with minimal effort. Whether you’re an accountant, firefighter, garbage man, or CEO. You want to ensure your Facebook profile aligns with who and how you want to be perceived.

Are you making the right impression? Put yourself in the position of someone you don’t know viewing your profile for the first time. Here are some considerations when building your Facebook presence:

• A clear profile photo of your face, don’t use logos or similar graphics in place of a professional looking headshot. This is important because it allows users to clearly identify who you are. This is important because when you send friend requests to people you’ve met, you want to give them the best opportunity to recognize you so they don’t flag you as a spammer.
• Add a timeline cover photo, seriously. It completes the look of your profile.

Quick Tip: To make a professional looking timeline photo and edit your pictures for free on picmonkey.com

• Update your employment information in your About section: Simply add the Facebook business page, duration of employment, & current city. Usually this should reflect your current job, set this to the appropriate audience. I have mine set to public so people I’m not friends with can see where I work to establish credibility.
• Classify ALL your friends into smart lists: Taking a few minutes to classify each of your friends into smart lists is easy and takes a few minutes. This will give you full control of who can see your profile, posts, photo albums & videos.
• Update privacy settings: Understanding your privacy settings helps you feel comfortable accepting friend requests from people you don’t know very well. This allows you to deliberately control your message to whom. So if we’re friends on Facebook, when you see one of my posts in your news feed you can bet it was deliberately made for the audience you’re apart of.

Quick Tip: For more information about Facebook’s privacy settings, go to www.facebook.com/privacy

• Make a Vanity URL with your name: This is when you add your name to the backend of your Facebook web address. e.g www.facebook.com/yournamehere. This is a nice touch to add to your business cards. Making a custom URL allows contacts to quickly find you by typing in your direct web address and see your personal profile.

Quick Tip: If your name is already taken, make your URL as close as to your name as possible. This can be a great opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in google search results. Create your vanity URL in the Facebook settings module.

• Photos & Albums: Upload pictures depicting your experiences in life. Take the time to ensure they are tasteful, not blurry, and free of illegal content or conduct. If you have certain albums you’d prefer to not share them with certain people or audiences, you can adjust each photo album’s privacy settings accordingly.
• Understanding how your privacy settings work will prove to be the most valuable piece of knowledge out there. What you’re sharing publically on your profile can open up opportunities you might have never otherwise had. You should have little if any reservations about accepting a friend request from someone you have met in your community.
• You will capitalize on connections by gaining the unique ability to tag these people on photos, posts, your business page photos, inviting them to “like” your business page, and add them to your Facebook groups. These are all things that are made possible only through “friendships” on facebook. You’ll find it difficult to grow your Facebook business page without these connections. Appropriately adjusting your privacy settings to maximize social connections makes all of these things possible.

PERSONAL PROFILE CHECKLIST