Monday, January 26, 2015

Social Media Monday—Ditch Professional Facebook Pages by Adding a Follow Button to Your Personal Profile

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

We all know there are big changes with Facebook. Gaining traction on the professional pages is difficult, and becoming harder. If you're not up to date on what's new, here's a post I wrote on Facebook Changes in 2015.

Because of these changes, there’s a movement away from the necessity of having a professional Facebook page. For those of you who have growing and active professional pages, this post does NOT affect you. Keep doing what works. But for those of us who haven’t had much success migrating our professional connections over from our personal profile it’s a gift from Heaven!
Facebook now allows personal profiles to have FOLLOWERS as well as FRIENDS. This means we can utilize the success on our personal profiles in the professional world.

It’s easy to set this up and here’s how:

    Click on the tiny arrow icon on the blue FB bar.
    Click on settings (see screenshot below).


Once you’re there, on the left column, click on FOLLOWERS.
From the menu that appears, check the box for TURN ON FOLLOWERS.


IMPORTANT NOTE: You will NOT be able to see the follow box on your own profile. I know it’s stupid, but it just doesn’t appear. If you’re worried it’s not there, email a friend and ask them to double check. But as long as that box is checked you will have the follower option on your personal profile.

How it works: People will now have the option of sending you a FRIEND REQUEST or FOLLOWING you.

If someone sends you a friend request, and you don’t want to accept them as a friend you don’t have to do anything. Once you have the follower option enabled they will automatically become a follower. You don’t have to do anything.

SECOND IMPORTANT NOTE: Your followers will ONLY have access to the posts that you designate as public, not anything you share privately.

Changes You May Want to Consider
If you’re going to use your personal profile professionally, I recommend you designate your posts as public as the default setting. Here’s how to do that:

    Again click on the cog icon and Account settings.
    Once there, click on PRIVACY.
    Under WHO CAN SEE MY STUFF?, click on EDIT and choose PUBLIC. (see screenshot below)



You always have the option to designate individual FB updates as PRIVATE.
To do that, go to your timeline and compose an update. Click on the small arrow on the bottom of the update window and choose who you want to see the update. (see screenshot below).



People who are following you will be able to comment on your public posts, but they CANNOT post on your wall. Only your friends can post on your wall. If someone is following you and you don’t want them to, you’ll have to BLOCK them. I only do that with creepers and scary people.

Now it’s your turn. If you have any questions about Facebook, post them in the comments section below.

Don't forget to join the conversation!
Blessings
Edie

TWEETABLES
Frustrated by Facebook Pages? Add a Follow Button to Your Personal Profile - via @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

There really are options with Facebook - via #SocialMedia Mentor @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

20 comments:

  1. Hi Edie, Thanks for the post. I tried to follow your directions, but couldn't find a box that said "Turn on followers." Where is that? Thanks.

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    1. Marilyn, I'm sorry for the confusion. Facebook is in a constant state of flux and it's so irritating! When you go to FOLLOWERS, make sure you've chosen EVERYONE fro the drop down menu of Who Can Follow Me. Thanks for the question! Blessings, E

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  2. I did this a while ago and have picked up a lot of followers!

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    Replies
    1. Ane, I did too. It's made a huge difference in my FB interaction.

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  3. Thanks for the Facebook tips, Edie. Facebook is ever-changing so help is most welcome.

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    1. Cindy, it certainly is ever-changing! I'm glad I'm able to help. Thanks for stopping by, blessings, E

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  4. Thanks for the info, Edie. I just did this. While in settings, I saw a question about allowing other search engines to link to my timeline. It's on "no." Should it be on "yes"? Thank you for all the practical tips you provide.

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    1. Johnnie, actually you should click YES. This will allow your Facbook updates that are public show up in a search for you. It will increase your overall presence online. But it's ALWAYS good to ask first! Blessings, E

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    2. Thanks, Edie. I'm off to change it now.

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  5. This is a terrific tip, Edie! (I shared your post on several FB groups this morning!) I didn't even realize I had the Follow button enabled until I went through the steps--I have 104 followers I wasn't even aware of! Ha! Thanks!!

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    1. Jill, I think the new default for Facebook is to enable followers. But that isn't always the case for everyone. Thanks for stopping by, Blessings, E

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  6. Thank you so much! Lots of good scoop, as always. :)

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    1. Glad to help! Thanks for dropping in, blessings, E

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  7. Edie, speaking of Facebook - do you know how to control which pictures post when you share your blog on FB? I used to get a choice of thumbnails, but now I don't know what's going to show up until I actually post.

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    1. Marilyn, that is SUCH an irritating quirk of FB! I get around it by attaching the picture manually. First, save the picture you want to show up to your desktop. Then, when you write your update, check the box that says NO THUMBNAIL. Now click on the camera icon and choose the image from your desktop. It's a major pain to do it this way, so I don't do it very often.

      If you're using hoot suite or a scheduling program, you can schedule the update twice. The first uodate won't give you a thumbnail choice, but the second one will. Then go back and delete the first update. Again, a pain. The reason thus happens has to do with the web site coding and which picture us the most recent.

      Good question! Sorry I didn't have a better answer. Blessings, E

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  8. Thanks for this, Edie! I just set mine up. So, if it's set up and I can't see the Follow button, how do I know how many followers I have and who's following me? :)

    Are there privacy issues I should be aware of now that my profile is public?

    I so appreciate all you share to help us! Your posts are always practical and helpful!

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  9. I'm a little late to this post, but I do have a question (or two).

    I have a small following on my public page(~250). If I add the follow button on my personal page, can I transfer the followers from the public page or do they have to do it themselves? Should I disable my public page?

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    1. Ginger, no you can't transfer people, they must do it themselves. And no, I wouldn't disable your professional page. Just put a post up stating you'll be using you personal profile. Blessings, E

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  10. Edie, speaking of Facebook - do you know how to control which pictures post when you share your blog on FB? I used to get a choice of thumbnails, but now I don't know what's going to show up until I actually postfacebook

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  11. When I open my social page in Chrome, I can see a list to far right of followers indicating how long they have been logged on with a small image thumbnail.
    In Firefox, I can no longer see this list but I can see an empty space at top as though it could be returned with a proper command. Any ideas how to restore this list in FFox?
    Can't find anything under settings or menu bar.
    I thought it had something to do with Followers settings, but nothing works there. thx

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