True, we are hooked on it. Posting and checking out our friends’ status updates, taking quizzes, and sharing news. Here’s the thing, anyone can be on Facebook, which means anyone can view intimate details about our lives. For our own safety, we need to keep in mind not to post certain information on Facebook.

Here are the 5 things should never post on Facebook or in any other social media accounts:

1. You and your family’s full birth dates – Sure, we like seeing “happy birthday” posts on our Facebook wall from our friends but when you list your full birth dates, you are also susceptible to identity theft. It’s best not to list you birth date, but if you still want to, remember to leave the year out.
2. Your relationship status – One of the most updated things in our profile is our relationship status. But it may be best not to publicize it, for the sake of avoiding stalkers. They may even use your relationship status as basis to know if you are alone at home.
3. Your current location – A lot of Facebook users enjoy the location-tagging feature, allowing them to let people know where they are 24/7. The problem here is you are giving out information that you’re on vacation and not at home. If you also post how long you will be gone, thieves will know how much time they have to rob you.
4. The fact that you are home alone – Parents/adults need to remind children never to post on social media that they are home alone. You wouldn’t want strangers knowing your children are home alone. This may endanger them.
5. Pictures of your kids tagged with their names – For the safety of your kids, avoid tagging them with their full names and exact birth date. Strangers may use these information to lure your children.  Just leave out these information when you post photos of your children.
6. 

The post 5 Things You Shouldn’t Post On Facebook appeared first on Ben Francia.

According to a new report from Socialbakers, “the more hashtags a brand uses in a Facebook post, the less engagement it receives.”

Also, when they sampled 200,000 brand posts on Facebook last February 2014, the brands that used one of two hashtags in a post got an average of 593 interactions. Meanwhile, those brands that used three to five hashtags only had 416 interactions.

To get a clearer picture of how this practice can affect a brand’s engagement on Facebook, here’s a chart created by Statista.

The post Too Many Facebook Hashtags Can Hurt Your Brand appeared first on Ben Francia.

Social media has really helped us stay connected. Recently, I stumbled upon Social Caffeine’s list of 37 Facebook pages every smart entrepreneur must follow. Some of these pages I actually follow already. But the others are great resources as well. According to the post, the list is “broken down into what I consider to be the 6 elements of becoming a leader in your niche: Blogging, Social Media, Productivity, News/Trends, Branding/Marketing, and of course, Business/Creativity.”

Such resources can help entrepreneurs learn and improve in their chosen fields. Check out the full list here. See which ones will help you with your business. If you know other great resources, let me know on the comments below.

The post Facebook Pages Every Smart Entrepreneur Must Follow appeared first on Ben Francia.

Let this be a lesson to you, folks. Never EVER forget to log out of your social places when using a public device. Not everyone is like this awesome Apple Guy store!

The post Just For Fun: Always Log Out of Your Facebook Account! appeared first on Ben Francia.

Goes to show you why it’s an absolute must for you to be in Facebook. In any case, with that much time and energy provided in the big blue social network, it goes without saying that you should spend a little more time and effort in engaging with people in your Facebook Page.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section below.

The post Marketing Insight: 1 Out of 7 Minutes is Spent on Facebook appeared first on Ben Francia.

I ran this little challenge in Facebook where I asked you folks why you DON’T need a website to have a successful Internet business. Many gave some valid points, and most of the answers were related to the fact that they can already make use of Facebook and that it’s free.

Allow me to discuss in this video “Why Businesses should still have a Website and not just rely on Facebook”.

Let me know what you think in the comment section below.

The post Why Businesses Should Have Websites and not Facebook Pages appeared first on Ben Francia.