By Mikal E. Belicove|For Entrepreneur.com|March 23, 2010

When your business establishes a presence on Facebook, you make a commitment to be a good neighbor, a trusted Facebook friend. The emphasis is on being a friend, not a store, a business, or even a customer service help desk (although these days, your customers are just as likely to ask you a product support-related question via Facebook as they are through your website, but that’s really a topic for another blog post). As my co-author Joe Kraynak and I point out in our forthcoming book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, if you are not careful, social-media marketing, particularly on Facebook, can do more harm to your business or brand than good. To improve your chances of success, adhere to the following rules of business etiquette when launching and managing a business-related page on Facebook.

Avoid “I” statements

Unless you are your business, speak about your business in the third person (they) or second person (we). For example, to announce that your company is exhibiting at a conference or trade show, post “[Your Company Name] will be exhibiting at such-and-such show later this week,” rather than “I will be….” Using “We will be…” would also be appropriate. The same holds true for responses to fans’ comments… never respond with “I” or “me” (e.g., “I’m on it, email me that info right away.”).

Focus on quality, not quantity

You might not agree but I wholeheartedly believe that the…

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