When a person joins Facebook, they have a personal profile. When a business or organization joins Facebook, they have a Fan Page or Group. Many times, I've seen businesses make the mistake of creating a personal profile for their business. Most of the time, it's because they didn't even know that there is a different "spot" for businesses on Facebook.

If you're looking to create a presence on Facebook to begin seeking all the benefits of the interactions, increased website traffic, personal connections, advanced tools, etc., then you need to understand "which type" of page you need to create. Below is an outline of some of the differences between the a Fan Page and a Group:

Fan Page

• Purpose of a fan page is to promote and generate interest and conversation around a business, organization, public figure, celebrity, etc.
• People become "fans" of your page (aka your business).
• Fan's can't necessarily add photos and videos, but they can post on the Wall and in discussions.
• There are thousands of applications that can be added to a Fan Page to increase interactions.
• Content posted on a Fan page shows up in the News Feeds of the fans.
• Administrators of the Fan Page cannot bulk invite people to become fans.
• Administrators can review visitor statistics, interactions and member demographics.

Group

• Purpose of a group is to bring people together to create a community around a specific topic, interest, activities, etc.
• People become "members" of your group.
• Members can add photos, videos, comments, links and more.
• Applications cannot be added to groups.
• Content posted within a group stays inside the group.
• Administrators of the group can bulk invite people to become members.
• There aren't any statistics on interactions or member demographics.

If you are interested to learn more and get a deeper understand of these differences and more, I'd suggest you attend one of our seminars. Go to www.gems-solutions.com/attend-a-seminar to see our list of upcoming seminars.

If you have a difference between a Group and a Fan Page that you'd like to highlight, please post your comments below!