Facebook is such an easy way to connect and keep in touch, it’s not surprising many people use it to keep in touch with their families. You can post photos, audios, maps to the family reunion – all with the click of a button.
But what if you are trying to use Facebook to promote your business? How do you keep your professional side, well, professional when your niece is posting pictures of you in your pajamas from last summer’s camping trip?
A simple solution can be to create a family group on Facebook.
To create a group, go to Applications on the right side of your Facebook home page. Click on the Groups link and follow directions for setting up a group. And you can create more than one group so creating one for your family doesn’t preclude creating one for your business too.
The great thing about Facebook groups is you can set the access level. An open group means anyone can see the group in a search and anyone can join and invite others to join. A closed group means everyone can see the group description but only members can read discussions, see the wall or look at the embarrassing family photos. New members must be approved by the Admin before joining. A secret group means it doesn’t even show up in a search of groups. Unless you are invited to join, you won’t even know the group exists.
Another great thing about creating a family group is you can now send mass messages to all members: reminders about the changed location for Thanksgiving dinner, requests for carpooling to the family reunion, updates on a sick relative’s status.
And don’t think you have to be stuck as the family’s official announcer and group manager. You can make other trusted family members Admins of the group as well. Then they can also invite people to join the group, send emails to everyone and help monitor what happens.
With a little encouragement and training, you can get your wilder relatives to post the embarrassing photos of you from Uncle Ted’s annual barbeque to the group instead of on your wall. This way you can have fun and keep in touch with your family without spoiling the professional image you’ve worked so hard to create.
Andrea J. Stenberg
