I received a notice from HootSuite which is a tool I use for scheduling social media posts. They are an official Facebook Partner.

HootSuite will no longer allow me to make a post to a personal Facebook profile. So I can make a post and schedule it to any other social media platform. I can schedule to Facebook business pages or groups. But I can’t post to a personal profile.

Why? Facebook is tightening up on people who use personal profiles for business. It has always been against their rules. But since January when the new algorithm came out, they are watching personal profiles more closely. Having HooSuite block personal profile posts is one more step.

PLEASE! Stop making business posts on your personal profile now! Set up a FB business page and use it to promote your business. I know it sometimes seems harder to make a business page work for you. But you need to abide by Facebook’s rules or they will shut down your personal profile. They can turn you off with no notice, with no recourse. You can send complaints and requests to be reinstated but who knows if you’ll get an answer.

If you need help setting up the business page or learning how to use it:
Join my Friday Free-For-All call to ask your questions.
Schedule a one-on-one meeting with me to do the set up together. I can save you time and give you suggestions to make it more beneficial

Check your settings on Facebook to cut down on how Facebook uses your info and how they sell your info.

From your personal profile,

Click the drop-down arrow on the top right corner and select Settings

Go to Apps and Websites on the left side navigation.

On the Active tab,

Select an app then click the Remove button to deactivate it.

These are 3^rd party apps that have access to your Facebook profile, Friends, etc.

Go to Ads > Ad Settings

Click the button at the far right beside Ads based on data from partners

Change to Not allowed

Click the button at the far right beside Ads based on your activity on Facebook Company Products that you see elsewhere

Change to Not Allowed

Click the button at the far right beside Ads that include your social status

Change to No One

Many of you have businesses that would benefit from Facebook Groups. But they are work! How do you grow the group? How do you get people involved? This podcast will give you some real guidance in practical steps.

Facebook has introduced a new feature related to making posts. You can set a targeted audience for a post. Currently, your post goes to a small percentage of your Likes and some other people based on FB’s algorithm. That makes hard to be sure the right people are seeing your posts. Now you can finetune the audience to help you get to the people you need. It doesn’t matter if you reach 1000 if they aren’t interested in your information.

Some examples:
Distributor of pet products: Send your posts to dog owners, cat owners.
Realtor: Send your post to people interested in Adult Living communities.
Web developer: Send your posts to small business owners.

If a post shows up on your Facebook personal profile that you want to share on your Business Page, you can share the post.  This video walks through the steps.

If you can control where the post goes first, put it on your Business Page. Then share if you want to your personal profile. That way the share builds Engagement on your Business Page. Facebook looks at Engagement when they decide how many people to show your posts to. The more Engagement, the more people see your posts.

With the recent changes in Facebook’s algorithm, you may want to re-consider using a group to reach your A-list clients to build community with them. This article from Social Media Examiner details why and how. As Mari Smith says in the article “People love to belong.” A group gives you a tool to create that feeling for your clients.