Should You Connect with Your Prospects and Clients on Facebook?
Posted February 22, 2011 in Marketing, Social Media
If you’ve been a freelancer for a while, you will eventually get a request from a client or prospective client to connect on Facebook.
While normally we encourage freelancers to connect with clients through social media, for many freelancers Facebook is different.
Because Facebook has become mainstream for many, particularly in the U.S., a freelancer may be connected to a wide spectrum of friends and relatives on Facebook who have absolutely nothing to do with their business. For that reason, many freelancers hesitate before accepting that friend request from a prospect.
On the other hand, some freelancers claim that a Facebook connection with a prospective client is much more likely to turn into a business relationship than other types of social media connections.
In this post, we’ll discuss some of the advantages to connecting with clients through Facebook. We’ll also look at some of the disadvantages of connecting with clients through Facebook.
Advantages of Connecting via Facebook
There’s no doubt that Facebook is popular. Exactly how popular it is varies depending on who you are talking to, but at the time that I created this post Facebook’s own press room claimed over 500 million active users–so that’s probably a fairly good figure.
With so many active users, the odds are high that your clients and prospects are already on Facebook. This is particularly true if your target audience is consumers.
Here are some advantages of opening your Facebook account up to clients:
- Expands your audience. Depending on your client’s settings, you may also get exposure to their Facebook friends who may be in similar businesses.
- Allows you the opportunity to make special offers. Many businesses make special deals available only through Facebook and you can do the same.
- Encourages casual interactions. Facebook lets you get to know your clients and prospects better in a more casual environment.
- It’s becoming expected. Let’s face it, in some fields and for some businesses, Facebook interaction with clients is becoming the norm.
- May lead to quicker business relationships. As I mentioned earlier, some of those who connect with prospects through Facebook claim to get better results.
At Freelance Folder, we connect with our readers through our popular Facebook fan page, which now has over 6,000 members. We have discovered that our fan page allows us to get to know our readers better.
Although Facebook definitely offers advantages for client/freelancer relations, there are some disadvantages as well.
Disadvantages of Connecting via Facebook
Before you jump on the bandwagon and invite all your clients and prospective clients to become your Facebook friend, you may wish to also consider some of the disadvantages of using Facebook to connect:
- Changing terms. Facebook is a complex social media platform that changes fairly frequently. It can be hard to keep up with.
- Reputation management. Brand management can be more difficult on Facebook because it is likely that some of your connections are family members who are clueless about branding.
- Privacy issues. Some of the changes that Facebook has undergone over the years have included changes to their privacy policy.
- Interruptions. Because the friend chat feature allows your friends to see when you are online, you may find clients using this to contact you this way when you use it.
- Learning curve. Because Facebook is a complex tool, it can take a long time to learn and fully understand it.
Alternatives to Friending Clients on Facebook
So, you’ve thought it over and you really don’t want your client to see your thirteen year old’s angry rants on your Facebook wall.
Or, perhaps you have an obnoxious “Uncle Pete” whose online rants embarrass everybody–but you can’t unfriend him without causing a family feud.
Yet, there it is in your email inbox. A Facebook friend request from your client. What should you do now?
If you’ve decided not to use Facebook for your freelancing business, you have several options:
- Create a Facebook fan page for your freelancing business. A fan page will allow you to use Facebook to connect with clients without letting them see your entire Facebook account.
- Redirect them to another social media tool. Say something like, “I don’t use Facebook for business, but I’d love it if you’d connect with me on LinkedIn.”
- ‘Fess up. Tell your client something like this, “I really only use my Facebook account to keep track of my teen and connect with my out-of-state relatives.”
Which strategy you use is totally up to you.
Whatever you decide, remember that one of the beauties of freelancing is that how you market your freelancing business is up to you. In the corporate world, some companies make employees divulge their Facebook profiles, but as a freelancer you don’t have to if you don’t want to.
Your Turn
Do you use Facebook to connect with clients? Why, or why not?
Share your answers in the comments.
Image by Johann Larsson
Related posts:
- Connect With Your Creative Writer
- Exposed: Facebook Sends More Traffic Than Twitter
- FreelanceFolder is (Finally) on Facebook!
- How To Reach And Influence Prospects
- Got A FaceBook Profile? You May Find This Interesting
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.
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49 Comments
Rachel Small
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:59 amThanks, Laura! With Facebook, you also have the option when you add someone as a friend to determine what they can see (e.g., you can block your wall or photos). You can also set your chat status to “offline” so people can’t message you that way. The Facebook fan page is a great idea!
Ingrid Schrik
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:04 amI mainly use my personal profile on FB for friends IRL. As a business owner and freelancer I have my company fanpage @ctrlonline, but I still invite and accept business friends/prospects to my personal profile. Because:
- you can put the chat sessions offline so business won’t reach you late at night if you don’t want to
- you can create different levels of friend in your profile and you can define which group can see what. I have the groups: private, general, business. General and business can see less
- The only way at this point to invite more fans to your business fan page without using an ad is to invite friends. So by making a separate group, I’ll invite them to my fan page after a few days. The business relative only have to press the company pic that is send to him.
Yvette
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:44 amI prefer the Fan Page option. I created my fan page so that I wouldn’t have clients request me on my personal page. I’m very strict on keeping my professional life separate from my personal. I also like the fact that I can post on my page, and it shows up on my fans news feed, so that they can share with their friends. I think Facebook has plenty of exposure and you can even create targeted ads for people to see.
dp
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:16 amredirecting them to linked-in is a good idea. No way do I connect with clients on FB.
Ben Plopper
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:23 amAnother great article, Laura. I figured that I wouldn’t want clients to “friend” me on Facebook, but at the same time, I thought it would be a mistake not to have a Facebook presence. So I created a fan page for my business (http://tinyurl.com/4cmyqkf) instead. My Facebook page for me as an individual is for keeping up with friends, forcing pictures of my adorable daughter on said friends, and sharing opinions I wouldn’t necessarily want to share with clients and potential client – no sense losing business because someone doesn’t agree with me politically, esp. when that political belief doesn’t come into play in my work. The new profile setup for the business pages, especially being able to use Facebook as the business page, makes this a great way to have a presence on FB divorced of my personal profile.
Jeff Fisher LogoMotives
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:30 amFacebook has been a very successful marketing tool for my business. I most often direct clients/potential client to my Facebook business page as I keep it design/creative industry specific. My personal page was developed prior to “fan” pages being an option. It has always been a combination of business and personal posts.
Many clients and prospects have connected via my personal Facebook page. Some are clients who’ve become very close friends by way of business relationships of up to 20 years in length. For me, the great advantage of connecting with clients, or future clients, via Facebook is they do know EXACTLY whom they are dealing with as a person and designer. If an individual opts to not use me as a design resource because of something posted on my personal page, they are most likely someone I would not want as a client anyway.
Melissa
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:50 amI have a few clients who are friends on FB, but mostly bc they’ve become friends through our business relationship. I have a fan page as well as a personal page, so for the most part, I direct business relationships there instead.
Laura Spencer
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:54 amHi Rachel & Ingrid, You make great points about Facebook settings. It’s very important to understand them (and use them) if you use Facebook for business.
Yvette & Ben Plopper–I happen to think the Fan Page option is a strong contender.
dp, I think that’s perfectly acceptable. By the way, I said LinkedIn because many businesses have a presence there. I really could be any social media platform where you have a strong presence…
Jeff Fisher, That’s definitely an acceptable option too. As I put in the post, I feel that this is one instance where there is no “right” answer. It’s important for your freelancing business to be involved in social media, but not necessarily all social media…
Wow, I think we have every single view point covered in the comments so far…
Laura Spencer
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:56 amMelissa, I really like the fan page option for Facebook too. I believe it’s really convenient for most freelancers. I’ve seen firsthand how it has helped Freelance Folder.
Christina
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:03 amSince there are different security settings for making lists to say who sees what on your wall and same with photos, I use that feature a lot. But I went in to FB on my personal page knowing I would be using it as a network tool. So I have several of my clients on my personal page who interact with my fairly tame family and friends.
What that has done is convinced a long-time childhood friend I reconnected with to hire me for a HUGE museum project. She’s a library and museum curator and she loved the feedback on design projects I was sharing from my business page.
Just remember on your personal FB page, you have the option of screening and censoring without making it look that way.
BTW….when I feel like ranting about a client (I know based on FB’s TOS they don’t condone it) but I have a ‘personal’ personal page that I do not allow clients to add. And my name is different on it, so they don’t know it’s me.
Great article Laura!
Eli R.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:40 amThere are always those people who you are unsure of where belong. And if they write a personal mail, perhaps saying they are already on the fan page it can be difficult to decide. They feel connected to you but you have no idea who they are.
One alternative is to sort them under “Aquaintances” for example and set your default status update and your personal albums to “All friends except Aqaintances”. Then you shouldn’t make too many mistakes. :-)
Morgan
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:37 pmHi Laura!
Great post! I do connect with clients and fellow freelancers on Facebook because I don’t say or do anything that needs to be kept from them. I don’t really talk about my deep down personal life or complain on my FB. I keep my FB fairly professional.
It didn’t used to be that way, though, but I adapted because I wanted my clients and fellow professionals to be friends with my on my FB page.
Adapting your FB to be more professional isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I still talk about my personal life, posting fun pictures and such and I keep it positive and professional all at the same time.
Very cool post! Brings a lot to the attention of people considering this option.
Laura Spencer
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:53 pmHi Christina, I think your story illustrates why Facebook connections sometimes do have a higher connection rate–they tend to be people who know you well in IRL. On the other hand, privacy settings do change and no one really knows what Facebook will do regarding privacy in the future.
Eli R.–An acquaintances list is definitely an option.
Morgan, Thanks for the compliment. :) I did try to think of all the options (but I may have missed a few). I do think this is a decision that freelancers wrestle with all the time.
Sean Price
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:08 pmI have about 10 or so clients who I have connected with on Facebook – and have set them into an appropriate “Clients” list in my friends list which has been setup with privacy settings that allow me to hide “those weekend photos” or the rants and rave comments between myself and other friends.
Having clients on things such as Facebook especially if you have such a personal connection with them makes everyone feel good – just ensure you hide anything you do not wish them to see which could damage your professional relationship.
Christina
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:30 pmYou are so right about privacy changes on FB Laura, and while I wouldn’t recommend relying on those privacy features for the normal person, I actually teach classes on a regular basis for businesses. So I have to keep up with what FB is doing a lot more than the average person. Although I’d prefer if they didn’t do changes as often as they have been.
I was also fortunate enough to be able to get the new business features that just started this past week on my business page over 3 weeks ago. It allowed me to do advance research on how things work.
:)
Samar
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:46 pmEvery time a client expresses interest in connecting on Facebook, I never say no. I just let them know that they can expect a lot of updates and pictures about my daughter and chatter with family and school chums and that if they’re okay with that, here’s my profile url.
So far, the clients who have added me despite the disclaimers have been the ones who have kids themselves and we end up exchanging antidotes.
Lucy Smith
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:01 pmFacebook for friends, LinkedIn for business. Not that I get up to anything bad in my personal life, but I wouldn’t want to lose a client because they took exception to a group I joined or an off-colour joke I made to my best friend. I know you can lock down parts of your profile, but I don’t really see the point – and on the flip side, I don’t normally want to know more about my clients’ personal lives than I have to, or that comes up in conversation. You risk them crossing the line into becoming a friend – and I don’t do business with friends if I can help it.
That said, my partner sometimes needs to add clients to work on Facebook API stuff, so he just locks down most of his profile. I can see the reasoning there, but I don’t need to have clients on FB, so I don’t.
Sophie McCann
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:01 pmI am new to this blog and love it. Great article!
I accept all friends’ requests from clients on FB. I especially like the fact that they can see a more personal side of me – it really helps with the business relationship I find. My clients know that I am a mother of 3 and I like to share the funny stories about my home life. However, I am always careful about my postings; I never complain that I’m too busy, lost a client, or that I’m having a bad day, etc., and I keep a close eye on what my friends post on my wall or their comments. I am not shy to delete the inappropriate ones if I have to (happened only once so far). Since I don’t work during the summer, I find that FB has helped me stay “top-of-mind” with my clients so that when I come back, they haven’t forgot about me!
Natalia Sylvester
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:11 pmI don’t connect with prospective clients on Facebook, but I enjoy connecting with them on Twitter. Whenever I get a request from a client, I reply saying that I’m rarely on FB and the best way to stay in touch is via Twitter. It’s worked well so far.
Vinh Nguyen
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:44 pmGreat Post, Laura!
A fan page will be better!
I’m sometimes mad with my client and i post thing like http://clientsfromhell.net/
I know any freelancer will encounter client from hell in someday!
And i don’t want to let other good clients read thing like this ;)!
Also, it’s has many personal reason which we don’t want to let them know!
For example, many client just want to work only thier project! Even you make sure you finish by deadline, then you take off a day for a party, example: a wedding of closet friend…Then you take some photos, and clien get mad..
So, i want to keep my facebook profile private ;)! I even protected my tweets too!
I think facebook profile is something about personal which cannot mix up with a a business
Tina Haapala
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:27 pmThe new upgrades for FB pages allow you to comment on other pages as your Page, which is helpful when you are connecting with businesses, especially if you use a business name (instead of your “name” name) for your freelance work.
SEO Reseller
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:10 pmBecause social media channels attract so much attention from internet users especially among the youth, they have become a powerful venue for advertisers to create interest and traffic and attract potential clients as well. Social media marketing now can connect to others who are engaged and active at a time. Facebook is the best example where many businesses are getting fast paced organic growth through their FB profiles. This trend has enormously increased recently and almost encompassed all of the major social media sites.
TLC
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:26 pmI got rid of my business fan page this year when I realized that every one of my business contacts who found me on Facebook found my personal page and friended me that way. Most of my clients aren’t on Facebook, but lots my networking connections are.
I am very, very conscious of my online presence. I never rant about clients. My Facebook is limited to Friends only, so I know who’s looking and who can’t get in.
I love seeing the more personal side of my business friends’ lives. And I’m comfortable sharing information with the people who have friended me. They know I’m on Facebook to keep track of my teenage son, and that his friends have friended me. Most them are on it for the same reason, so they know what to expect.
Marla Markman
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:32 amI’m with Natalia. I tell clients who want to connect on FB that I prefer to keep my personal and business lives separate. If they want to keep in touch with me, the best place is Twitter. I like Twitter better than LinkedIn because people post personal info on Twitter as well as business. Most clients understand my reasoning. I’ve only had one potential client so far who seemed to be offended, but I figured if she can’t understand my rationale, then maybe I don’t want her as a client anyway. Great post, Laura!
angelee
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:34 amI guess I should pay attention to the disadvantages of using Facebook. This social site is more personalized, but the Fan Page is a better idea to maintain the business relationship with the clients.
Tyler
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:11 pmI don’t think I could ever let clients become Facebook friends. Too many of my friends tag me at bars or in party pictures. LinkedIn is a good option but it doesn’t have the same social connection you get from Facebook. I may try a fan page, see how it goes.
Laura Spencer
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:18 pmGreat discussion!
It seems to me that there are as many arguments for opening up your Facebook account to your clients and prospects as there are against…
Web Design Company
February 24th, 2011 at 5:19 amthanks laura , I have about 100 or so clients who I have connected with on Facebook thanks for great idea .
Logo Design
February 24th, 2011 at 6:10 amNice blog, defining the pros and cons of social media.
web design Houston, TX
April 23rd, 2011 at 3:48 amThanks laura , that is good news..facebook is good social networking site……..
We offer high end Site Design and SEO services in New York.
John
November 10th, 2011 at 12:20 pmConnecting with your prospects on facebook can work depending on what industry you are in.
web design
November 30th, 2011 at 6:31 amIn general any type of connection to your clients is a good thing. But as the saying goes “Too much of something is bad for you”. The same goes for Facebook interactions with customers.
Hugh Spall
February 28th, 2012 at 7:27 amI carry on listening to the rumor lecture about receiving boundless online grant applications so I have been looking around for the top site to get one. Could you advise me please, where could i get some?
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