Here are some questions to ask yourself before

setting up your Facebook profile:

Who do I want others to view me as?

What am I all about?

What is my passion?

What would people want to know about me?

Your profile is very important in portraying exactly how you want people to view you. For instance, if you are using Facebook more as a business networking tool you would want to portray a professional look and feel to your profile. The information below is for people who are using Facebook for business and networking.

Here are 7 Keys for the perfect Facebook profile:

1. Profile Picture

If you are using Facebook for business and networking I suggest you put a professional looking photo as your main profile picture. This provides a professional feel and depicts who you are as a business person.

Your profile picture should be centered and close enough to see your pretty face It makes it more personal. People can now feel more connected to you by your picture, given, they have not met you in person.

Some other obvious pointers: Put up sharp clear pictures, crop the shot so you are centered.

An example of a great professional profile picture:

Don’t forget to adjust your thumbnail Facebook picture! The thumbnail is the small picture that shows up every time you write an update. This is an important step because you don’t want your head being cut off beside every post you write.

Here is what you don’t want to happen! Don’t worry I already sent this person a message to this post so he knows

To adjust your thumbnail picture hover over your profile picture in the upper right corner and click ‘Change Picture’

Then click ‘Edit Thumbnail’ under the picture. It will allow you to drag and center your face for the thumbnail.

2. TEXT BOX (Facebook Page Only)

The info box is directly under your Facebook Page picture/logo. This is the first thing most people will view after seeing your picture. It is directly below the ‘Edit Page’ link under your profile picture.

This box is the first thing you will want to concentrate on when setting up a Facebook Page. You should put a summary of what you or your company does. To edit the box click the blue link or if you have content already in the box click the pencil in the upper right corner. Be brief yet informative enough to draw interest and excitement!

3. Info Tab

Fill out as much as you can in the information tab sections. The more that people learn about you the more connected they will feel.  Think about the kinds of information you would have in an initial face-to-face conversation with someone during a first time meeting.  This is the kind of information you’ll want to put here.  Keep it brief, though.  People on the internet have short attention span.

Be sure to mention any websites you have in the websites section. You will want to list your websites below one another if you have more than one.

You will also want the web addresses to be visible on the sidebar’s large information box.  To accomplish this, check the box next to website when you click the edit button in the corner of the large information box.

4. Pages

Join pages of interest.   Keep in mind that the pages you join will become a part of your Facebook identity.  So, make sure that those you join are a good representation of how you want to be portrayed on Facebook. You can also find friends also connected to these pages and people can find you as well. This could lead to some quality business and friend relationships.

If you have a business, I would also recommend starting your own Facebook Business Page.

5. Applications

For the most part, applications just cause clutter to your Facebook profile (Farmville, CityVille,MafiaWars etc..). There are a few useful ones but most are not needed if you are looking for the clean professional look. Just remember you want to portray what YOU are all about and people should be able to see this from a quick glance at your profile. Plus you friends my get annoyed with all those Farmville invites!

6. Key Word Searches

Find people that have the same profile words that you do by clicking on key words in your profile. For example, one of your interests may be entrepreneurship. When you click this word in your profile it will bring up others in the Facebook community with entrepreneurship in their profile as well. At this point you can message them or read more about them if you would like. This could possibly lead to a Facebook friend!

7. Preferences

It is very important to check your profile preferences and settings. There is a lot you can do with your profile that you may not be aware of.

-Adjust your profile preferences by going to account -> privacy settings -> sharing on Facebook

(This is how I have my settings. Click pic to enlarge) Recommended if you would like a more secured profile until you accept someone as your friend…

Adjust your profile search result preferences by going to settings -> privacy settings -> connecting on Facebook
(My preferred settings below. Click pic to enlarge)

Adjust these settings to your liking. You can customize a lot with Facebook privacy settings now, which is great!

Leave feedback in the comments below. We would love to hear your input.

HAVE FUN BUILDING YOUR NETWORK ON FACEBOOK!