It has always been against the (Facebook) rules to set up a profile page for your business just the same as it is not allowed for one person to have two profile pages - problem is, a lot of people don't fully understand the intricacies of packages such as Facebook and Twitter and just know that they need to be up there!

Profile pages are for individuals and contain all your personal details etc. Fan Pages (which are linked to your personal page) are specifically for businesses who want a presence on Facebook – you can run a Fan Page in pretty much the same way as a personal profile page, with the notable exception of personal messages.

You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.

You will not create more than one personal profile.

If we disable your account, you will not create another one without our permission.

You will not use your personal profile for your own commercial gain (such as selling your status update to an advertiser).

SO WHAT! You might be saying, well, if you value your presence in Facebook and have built up a bit of a following, you could literally be switched off overnight and many people already have – this could be quite damaging to your business.

YOU WON’T KNOW WHERE – YOU WON’T KNOW WHEN … BUT YOU WILL KNOW WHY!

There’s no discussion or reversal – you will simply have your business profile removed and right now Facebook are on a purge to remove business profiles – the same goes for multiple profile pages for the same user.
Furthermore - once removed you are obliged to seek permission from Facebook before adding a new page!

At least Facebook has now acknowledged that a lot of people, through ignorance rather than contempt for the rules, have got their business up as a profile. A while back they released a migration tool which allows you to convert your Business Facebook Page into a business Fan Page.

Some more information about migrating from Profile to Fan Page here and also here.

So… don’t wait to be rumbled and lose everything your built up over the past year or so ..... take some time out this weekend and get yourself ‘Legit’!

Looking for help and perhaps hands on training on how to get the most from Social Media?

Then get in touch with Guildford's Queen of Twitter - Nicky Kriel