FYI… Facebook is starting to take down Profiles that are business oriented, when this happens you lose all access to your page and all of your friends and customers who friended you and there is no way to recover the lost information, if you already use a profile for your business I suggest you start a business page (Fan Page) and invite all of your friends from your business profile to like your new fan page and if you are considering starting a profile page for your business DON’T it will be a big mistake!
Rick

@donpurdum They won’t post it on profiles because it is in their Terms Of Service and everyone who signs up for Facebook is supposed to read it.

The difference between a Profile and a Business Page, Fan Page) is that a
Profile page is for individuals to socialize with friends & family and no business is to be conducted at all on a profile page

A like page, (a business or fan page) is used for and by businesses to market their business and stay in contact with their customers.

Do you know of accounts where this has happened, @rlmosca?  Or did they make any formal announcement?  

Good to know @rlmosca!  Thanks!

I hope they don’t get too aggressive.  I know for some of my clients, they cross between the profile page and the fan page all the time.  They struggle getting some of their followers off their profile page and onto their fan page and have just given up.

@blogsbyheather  Glad I could help you out!

Rick

That’s good to know! I didn’t know that was happening. Can you imagine losing all that data and having to rebuild it? That’s a real “TimeFine.” I’ll share that news with my clients.

I don’t know how we are going to handle my husband’s profiles: one is with his legal name (which is used to socialize with family and church group), the other with his “on air” stage name. Almost all people he met and befriended in the last 20 years through the radio and DJ world only know him by his stage name.

I did create a couple of business pages for him and he definitely only uses his profile to socialize…if he had to choose, it would probably be his stage name profile.
@rlmosca thanks for the heads up!

@rlmosca, Do you mind if I use your info here as a post on my FB timeline? There are quite a few “friends” that follow me as businesses, that I’ve been encouraging to change – I’d hope that their info would help them make that step faster…

@phyllis-khare, Do you mind if I share your info to help them figure it out?

I’d like to give a shout out to both of you on FB when I do…

It’s funny! I really do not like Facebook and I had nothing but problem after problem with the social giant:( They even closed my account several years ago so now with my current account I must breathe very carefully. Just a few days ago I encountered a new unpleasant experience with the unfriendly social giant. For security reasons they locked my account, and it goes something like this: For security reasons your account is temporarily locked
Your computer appears to be infected with a malware.

How you might have been infected
Often, users who are infected with malware are tricked into running a malicious program or a browser plugin. Remember, you should never run programs from sources that you don’t trust.

Facebook © 2011 • English (US)
Mobile • Find Friends • Badges • People • Pages • About • Advertising • Create a Page • Developers • Careers • Privacy • Terms • Help

Run Anti-Virus Software
Your computer has been infected with a virus or with malware. You should run anti-virus software to remove these harmful programs and keep your information secure.
 For Microsoft: click here, or here
 For Apple: click here
I certify that I have run the Anti-Virus software and that my computer no longer has any malware.

Facebook © 2011 • English (US)
Mobile • Find Friends • Badges • People • Pages • About • Advertising • Create a Page • Developers • Careers • Privacy • Terms • Help
Limited access
As a security precaution, for the next 24 hours, your account will not be able to post on facebook. You can now log in.

Facebook © 2011 • English (US)
Mobile • Find Friends • Badges • People • Pages • About • Advertising • Create a Page • Developers • Careers • Privacy • Terms • Help

I was then able to have my wife log in here Facebook account from my same computer with no problem. I think Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t like me:) I have no virus in my computer. I am the only one who uses this computer.

@rlmosca Yes Rick you have got that right. It’s a shame and not a fair policy because you can not challenge as Facebook always says their decision is final.

@Caroline Chen-Whatley If people give up using their FB biz page because they are not able to get their friends to cross over – then perhaps they need to look at who those people are and if they are in fact the right target audience for their business and if so then what can they do to engage with them via their biz page instead of their personal profile.   Saying I cant get people to my biz page, give up and go back to using their personal profile for business is like saying I cant get customers to visit my shop so I am going to sell everything from my house instead…. people wouldn’t do it, they would look at their marketing and what is and isn’t working and make changes to attract more clients –

Ajarn Donald  that sounds like you may have had a virus/phishing email sent to you and not like an email from Facebook  - if you could get into your account via your wifes login then your account was not locked and it is probably something to do with your computer not Facebook (it has happened to several people)

If you get an email saying it is from Facebook – the best way to check is to actually go to your Facebook account and see if it is all ok and working – you can also view the header of the email to see where it has really come from (most look like an official Facebook email but when you view the headers you can see they have come from someone completely different)

I tell all of you someone at Facebook doesn’t LIKE me:(I think they should make a New buttod that says Don’t LIKE LoL!   

So by turning on subscribe you can at the same time exceed the 50000 frien dlimit and create a brand name – as long as it doesn’t appear to be a mixture of personal and business?

I do hope they sort it out, it is so frustrating to tell clients that they have to have a business page and so cannot communicate directly with people who have already liked them other than through the wall or ads/sponsored stories… and then to see their competitors chatting away with clients who are ‘friends’ on a personal profile.  

I have taken to PMing the offenders and telling them about Facebook’s terms and conditions but until closed accounts become more than an apocryphal story, businesses will continue to take advantage of what seems a much easier way to use this social media platform.

@carolinechen-whatley I agree with @caroldodsley that every business should make their Fanpage their main focus. As far as direct messaging, if it is not taking place on the wall than it should be done through email. A good fanpage will offer an incentive to capture email or a contact me form.As a DJ who doesn’t use a stage name I am my own brand and have both a personal profile and Fanpage. But even though I have more friends on my personal profile I have been developing and putting more effort into my Fanpage because I understand it’s importance and functionality.

I figured that this would be coming and was a violation of Facebook’s TOS.  I know a lot of businesses that I work with that only have profile accounts and not pages.  I will definitely let them know that these types of profiles are starting to be removed.  Thanks for the heads up!

@beckycortino One of the reasons for the big push in 2012 is the launch of Google+ Business pages, Facebook likes to deal with competition and feels they need all businesses to be on a business page, plus do not discount the fact that they will be going public!

I believe one of the main reasons Facebook is cracking down on Businesses using profile for doing business is last year they had n increase on members voluntarily closing down their accounts and the main reason was they were being constantly hit with sales pitches, a majority of people who join Facebook do it to socialize and not to be dealing with salespeople.

@Jordin Hill   no there is no way to unlink your personal profile form your business page – and as long as your personal profile is setup as a “real” person (ie YOU) and you are now using it for personal communications and conversations and your biz page for your business then you have no need to worry that facebook will delete your personal profile.

If a lot of your 5000 friends on your personal profile are business associates then you could start to trim down your friends list and ask those business related friends to join your fanpage (put some updates out on your personal profile to advise people you are going to be purely focussed on using your business page for everything so please would they come and join you over there??)

and any who you are not keeping in touch with via your personal profile and have no engagement with – simply unfriend them and clear the way for some new friends who are interested in engaging with you

I certainly agree Facebook can be a bear to keep up with, but “Pages” was created explicitly for doing business on FB, so vow to create yours today, if you haven’t already. 

@kristinawing Great reply, contrary to what some may believe there have been warnings issued about tos and violations.

I’m glad they’re finally doing this. Too many people — usually solopreneurs and micro businesses — use their personal profile to promote their services and products. Then they reach the 5,000 friend limit and panic because they can’t get their friends to transfer their allegiance to their Facebook business/fan page.

If they would have started with a fan page in the first place they wouldn’t experience this problem.

I understand why many folks don’t start with a fan page, as it’s easier and more convenient to interact via a personal profile. But that still doesn’t mean it’s ethical to violate Facebook’s terms of service and promote your business via your personal page. I’m interested to hear others’ opinions on this.

@ajarndonald

Boo hoo, that’s just terrible. I hope you can get help for this fast. Sorry I couldn’t offer any.

Robin

While the switch will be difficult for those who have already built up personal profies, ultimately I think it will be better for the business, since pages have so many features that profiles do not.

Not sure why a business would want a profile page since the number of friends is limited and pages are not.

I found this out recently as well.  There was Facebook profile page that was created by a current employee at my business. It was a listed personal page and used the company name and logo.  He was a bit set back and offended that I asked him to take it down.  But I informed him that it was a request from higher up, my boss, the General Manager of the company, to have it removed.  My GM wanted only one official Facebook page for our business. Which is totally understandable.       He finally deactivated it after a few days.  

Hi all I haven’t read all comments but wanted to point out that if your business has over 500 friends, facebook will convert it automatically into a fan page and you will not lose anyone, you will need to contact them directly

@laurachristianson I am with you. I will be glad if they are finally getting around to it. Kind of irritates me when businesses are effectively gaming the system. But while I have heard of isolated cases over the last couple years, I am not seeing any big murmurs in the blogosphere that the pace is picking up.

Thanks for the info on this, I was actually looking at adding an additional personal page to draw traffic to a business page I do work for.  I guess this effort would have been wasted.  Thanks for saving me some time

@rlmosca ok so the point i was making was go to facebook admit your mistake and they change it over for you

@rlmosca i have done this several times with the aid of people at FB to clarify there are 2 soloutions, 

if a business has been running on a standard profile page and mirroring to a fan page and wants to merge the two without losing friends then you send an email along the lines of “i have a FB profile page (url) with over 500 friends (give actual number) and I have been informed I can request these friends to be transferred to my Fan page (url).  As a small business (?) I would like to ensure those interested in my service go to the correct FB page and also ensure I am using facebook according to your guidelines, please let me know when this can be done”

or if you simply want to convert your standard profile into a fan page and then use this http://www.mashable.com/2011/03/31/facebook-profile-to-page-migration/ you do not have to invite anyone over in this case the only downside is that you will lose the content on your page so make sure you strip it down before you convert

hope this helps everyone

I know to this day I see it in other forums with different venues and such…people have a hard time in understanding the profile personal page, and their business fan page. Some are upset when they put something to their business fan page it still comes over to their personal pages…which they do not want. They get frustrated trying to understand it, and making it work that they figure it is easier with their profile page, so they keep doing it.

Do they have a facebook 101, or facebook for dummies, or something like that?:) I have been with facebook long enough, but some days still get frustrated with it trying to understand it, and make things work too. I like to go in, and socialize a bit, then go to my fan page and make a note there too….not always about products either. But, to say Hi, wishing everyone a good day, asking how others are doing, etc.

thanks for bringing this to light… I have always mentioned to people when I noticed they had set up company as personal profile, however they went ahead regardless as there didn’t seem to be much threat of removal – so will let them know again.

Hi,I haven’t read all the comments in detail. But I have read on a Facebook help page that this is against the T&Cs of Facebook. However I have also seen a Facebook help page (probably the same) showing how you transfer a profile to a Facebook Page. Facebook stated explicitly that all friends will be transferred to the new Facebook Page as Fans. I have been looking for these Facebook help pages but can’t find them.Many business owners who are using a Profile to run their business have some awareness about this but have no clue how easy it is to transfer their profile to a page. They are also not aware that they will not lose their friends. Once you can provide them with solutions to their problems they will gladly ask for your help. In-bound marketing in a nutshell.I see this as a HUGE opportunity. I have ‘liked’ a lot of business Profiles from my profile account and now and them I let some of them know about the upcoming changes.The result has been that some businesses have contacted me and asked me to help them make the transfer. When you have done it once it’s easy money. But it also gets you a foot in the door and the opportunity to speak to them about their Social Media strategy in general and to get some income from training them in how to use Facebook Pages, customising the Page with new logo, landing pages, gateways, free apps etc. etc. My guess is that I will get a few long term agreements to mange their Page once they know that you can add value.If I could only find the couple of Facebook help pages then it would simply be a matter of walking into the business and speak to the business owner and show them the print. When you then describe in detail the limitations of using a Profile instead of a Page then they are pretty much sold.No I don’t sell in Social Media and never have. Proving them with information that they could risk having their profile shut down and backing it up with a copy of Facebook T&Cs can only be considered valuable content.With the T&Sc in hand and the Facebook help page which says they won’t lose any of their fans it really becomes a no brainer for the business owner to engage you as he doesn’t want to deal with it himself.If anybody has the couple of Facebook help pages readily available then it would be great to receive a link to them as I always love potential clients that are easy to convert.Jorgen

so confusing sometimes. I have a profile page with my name and a separate business page but most people find me via my name and friend me on my profile. should I send a message to those who want to “friend me” that they can do so through my business page and not my personal profile?

How will this affect FB storefront apps (eg. Etsy)? Does this mean people can’t sell their crafts through their personal page but have to set up a fan page? What about, eg. Oodle’s marketplace app — I was able to install that on my personal page so that my FB friends get notified when I’m selling an item through Oodle. 

@rick mosca Any idea how Oodle manages it? When I post to Oodle (online classifieds), I can choose to have my post appear on my personal FB wall. 

Does anyone have experience converting your personal FB friends to Fan page “likes”? I understand that the migration tool will move your profile pics and friends to the page, nothing more, but that seems a fair compromise for someone who is already using FB mainly for business.

I’m not too concerned about the technical aspects. What’s interesting to know in advance is the number of friends who defected or “unliked” the page after conversion. Can anyone share some insight?

@rlmosca Thanks. Just to clarify, my client has about 2000 friends on his profile page and 400 likes on his fan page. He’s an ex-professional athlete and has accepted many friend requests from people he doesn’t know well. We discussed some of the pros and cons of switching and he is willing to take the risk. I would feel more comfortable having some data first.

@ericaetelson I did some more research and using an app such as Oodle is allowed when using the timeline feature, this is not considered selling as you are only sharing your activity!,

Here is a great article on apps being used in combination with the Timeline Feature…  http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/tech/social-media/facebook-actions-apps/index.html  

@phyllis-khare I like that idea and still want to get more people to his fan page. We are likely to share much more content there including promotions.

Similar question as before – do you/we have data that supports this tactic to grow business opportunities? Thanks again.

@davidwalizer I think the best person to ask is Mari Smith — she talks a lot about how it took her just a few weeks to get the Subscribers numbers that equaled her Fan numbers — that took four years to get. Subscribers are the same thing as a fan — it’s just a different word — the function is exactly the same.

@PhyllisKhare you advice is on point!