How to Use the Info Tab on the New Facebook Profile

I have always encouraged authors to use the small box beneath the photo on their Facebook profile to talk about their book. Unfortunately, that box was removed in the recent redesign of the Facebook profile, along with the space below it where website links appeared.

In a recent post I demonstrated how to make your book title appear at the very top of the new profile. Today, let's take a look at the Info tab of the profile.

The tabs that used to be at the top of the profile now appear in the left column. Clicking the Info tab link will take you to your Info page. Here's what the top portion of my Info page looks like:

Beneath the Education and Work section, you can see an area called Activities and Interests. Because I use my Facebook profile primarily for business, I have chosen to leave most of the information in that area blank. The only thing that is visible there is a list of the Facebook Fan Pages that I have "liked."

Limiting the amount of information in the Activities and Interests section of the profile makes my bio and website links appear much higher on the page, so that they are more visible. If you have a lot of activities listed, it is possible to delete some of them.

The screenshot above shows just the top portion of my bio, which I have entered in the About Me area of the Basic Information section. My bio is actually quite a bit longer than what you see here. If you'd like to talk about your personal interests and hobbies, you can include that information in your bio.

Just below the bio is the Contact Information section, which looks like this:
  

This is the place to list links to your book sales page on Amazon.com, website, blog, and other social networks. Unfortunately, this section appears at the very bottom of the page.

If your email address is showing up in this Contact area, you can remove it by clicking on the Account link in the upper right corner of the screen and selecting Privacy Settings. In the Sharing on Facebook area, click on the Customize Settings button. Scroll down to your email address and choose "only me." Look over all of your other privacy settings while you're at it.

Follow these tips to make the most of your presence on Facebook with the new profile design. If you'd like to connect with me on Facebook, you can friend me, like my fan page, and join the Savvy Book Marketing group to connect with other authors and publishing professionals.