You are an artist and all of a sudden you have hundreds (or thousands) of people who want to be your friend on Facebook.  Now, you’re starting to worry about posting personal things because all of these new friends can see the info.  What to do? First, you need to know the difference between a page and a profile and why that difference is important.

What is a Page?

A Facebook page is for a commercial or non-profit enterprise.  If you are a professional artist (not a hobbyist), you need a page. Pages also provide some unique tools for managing your brand as an artist–tools you don’t have with your profile.  People then “like” your page to get updates.  You can have an unlimited number of people who like your page.

What is a Profile?

Simply put, a Facebook profile is you, as an individual, on Facebook. It should not be about your business or your brand. It’s about your vacation photos, kid photos, and general status updates.  Can you share an event? Absolutely — share an event from your business page or post a status update about your latest gig.  You can have an unlimited number of people follow your public posts, but you are limited to 5,000 friends.

Knowing the Difference

Facebook has a really good (and short) article to help you decide if you need a page or a profile.  Read it here: https://www.facebook.com/help/203141666415461  It’s also important to know that Facebook terms prohibit the use of profiles to represent anything other than you, as an individual. So, if you’re trying to sell something, you must have a page or you could lose access to the profile permanently.

Converting a Profile to a Page

So, your friend list has exploded and you want to convert this to a page and start over with a fresh profile? You can do that.  Facebook has provided a step-by-step guide to help you do that.