Facebook has three main ways that you can choose to participate:

1. Create a profile
2. Create a group
3. Create a fan page

The question we often get is which one(s) are the best for our business and how should we operate them? The first answer is to create a profile, without a profile, you can’t use any of the other facebook services. Once you have created a personal profile, you need to decide between keeping your personal profile private or public – and if you are going to keep it public, you also need to decide whether you want to connect with business contacts or keep it to personal friends and family only? This can be a difficult decision, as we often blend the lines between work and friends. My best recommendation? To combine business with personal – but to only add business contacts whom you have started to build a personal relationship with. This allows you to keep it fairly personal, but also allows you to build closer personal relationships with some of your business contacts. If  you choose to keep it private, and to personal friends only, then next step is to create a small email that you will send to anyone who requests a connection that is a business person. This email should thank them for the connection, but that you keep your personal profile private (this is where the fan page or group comes in) and then you offer them to be a part of your other profile (fan page or group). The email should be personal, and should make the person understand that you value their connection but that you keep business separate.

Okay, so onto group vs fan page. In their own words, “Facebook created Pages when we noticed that people were trying to connect with brands and famous artists in ways that didn’t quite work on Facebook…Not only can you connect with your favorite artists and businesses, but now you also can show your friends what you care about and recommend by adding Pages to your personal profile”. Groups on the other hand, are more like “clubs” in real life…groups have managers that approve new members, and it is more of a social conversation than a corporate one.

So how do you choose? I believe Mashable did a great job explaining the difference and when to choose which:

“Groups are great for organizing on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause. Pages are better for brands, businesses, bands, movies, or celebrities who want to interact with their fans or customers without having them connected to a personal account, and have a need to exceed Facebook’s 5,000 friend cap.”

Which do you use? Do you have all 3?