As business owners, it’s important that we’re active on social media. It gets our name out there and lets prospective clients more easily find us. But there are a few guidelines that every business should follow — especially when it comes to photographers and videographers and their business presence on the world’s largest social network.

Post political opinions

Before the 2016 election, one of my local pizza joints posted heavily on its Facebook page about how it was “all for” a certain political candidate. The business trashed the opposing candidate, and they posted a large sign on top of the business.

There may or may not be a building in this photograph that’s owned by a sitting president.

Now, we all have political opinions. But these do not belong on your business page. If you absolutely have to talk about politics on Facebook, save it for your personal profile, but even then, be careful. Many companies will look at your personal profile to vet you, in addition to your business page.

In the case of that pizza joint, it was part of a larger local chain. Several of the other owners (who were related) chose to “focus on pizza” instead. For that location, it got weeks of bad press because of it, and quite a few negative comments and poor reviews on — you guessed it — Facebook.

Post personal content on your business page

Just like politics, save your personal content for your personal profile. While you might love the inspirational quotes you post and talking about your weight loss journey, posting these items on a business page just isn’t appropriate. Instead, post relevant content related to your business (like past client work) that clients and prospective clients will find useful and enjoyable.

Promote others

It’s your business page. Why on earth would you promote other businesses (especially competitors), unless it in some way could benefit your business? Again, if you absolutely must promote your competition, save it for your personal profile.

Levi’s a great guy and all, but why would I promote him on my business page?

Engage in conflict

Remember my post earlier this year about being attacked on social media, after a user had stolen a photo I took, bashing a client of mine? Well, here it was important to not engage in conflict. If you argue back and forth, it won’t look good to other users — even if you might be in the right. If you must engage in conflict, save it for private conversations, not for a public setting.

In my case, I had other users (clients and friends) stand up for me. After my initial engagement explaining copyright, I chose not to respond to any other attacks. By doing this, I took something that could’ve really hurt my reputation and instead turned it into a positive. The lesson here — be professional on Facebook and other social networks.

Not engaging other users

This is a big one. If you’re stagnant on Facebook and only post things to your business profile, you might be seen as not caring about the rest of the community. Take the time once or twice a day and comment on other posts in the community — but post as your business page if you can. By doing so, it gets your name out there to other Facebook users who might not have heard about you.