SHOULD I HAVE A SEPARATE BUSINESS ACCOUNT?

Chances are if you’ve started a company, you began with sharing your business on your personal account. Now that you’ve grown a bit the conflict is starting to set in. “Should I start a new page for just my business? Or can I keep going through my personal one?”.

I’m a firm believer that you should have a completely separate page for your business outside of your personal one – whether that’s facebook, instagram, twitter, or any of the social media platforms. I’m also a firm believer that you don’t shit where you eat – but that’s a bit more forceful of a quote than what I’m getting at. Here are some reasons why you should separate your accounts:

1. You’re business page is for people to find out your product. This is a professional section of your life where you are selling a product or charging for a service. You want to come off as well polished as you can. Remember that this is a place where people will go to learn quickly and then purchase quickly – so make it as simple and efficient for them as you can.  Make it easy to find out what you have to offer so they immediately head to the purchase button (or call to action button). If they can’t find out what you offer in a short period of time, the less likely they are to hit “Add to cart”.
2. I am not your family. I don’t care about your kids, your dog or your social life. Don’t get me wrong and think me too harsh, I think there are  great places to inject your personal life into your social media but I don’t want to see it all the time. If I am following you for your product, I want to see your product. Not a billion photos of your kid eating an ice cream cone or you getting drunk at a club with your friends. If I wanted that I would follow your personal feed.
3. Privacy. For you, your friends and your family. What happens if your account blows up and all of a sudden people know where you live, what your childs name is and where you work? We have all heard about Kim K’s Paris incident. Can you imagine if a pedo went to your kids school and knew what they looked like, their name and then tried to take them home with them? Do you think your kid would say no if the person knew them by name because of a post you put up? I know these are all extreme cases – but they are something to take into account. Also don’t forget that  social media is really taxing – have a safe place to run back to when you don’t want to be on display all the time.

You may still be saying “Chantal, but I have so many followers on my personal account. I don’t want to start from zero again”. To which my response is “Yeah… but how many of them are buying your product and how many are there for your personal life?” People who follow you for your product are going to follow you over to your next feed. No Shit Biz Tips is a perfect example. In the first 24 hours of announcing I would be starting this adventure I had over 500 followers on my new insta and I was scared shitless too. Is this the case with everyone? No, but I was realizing that I was bombarding my knit buyers who weren’t business owners with info they didn’t want to see – which could have taken the risk of them unfollowing because they felt spammed. I promise that it will feel like a gamble in the beginning, but in the end it is 100% worth it. Take the plunge!