You’re looking for a way to spread the word about a fundraiser and think to yourself, “Hey, I’ll make an Event on my Facebook Profile and all my Friends will see it – I’ll hit 327 pairs of eyeballs in seconds, and their Friends will see it and their Friends, etc.!”  Excellent work, Facebooker – that’s a great use of your Profile.  Then you think to yourself, “Hey, I’m a Fan of SOUPER SALAD and they have tons of Fans, I can post my information to their Page and reach their people, too.”  Hold on there, Facebooker – just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Posting to a Page is just like hanging a poster in a business.  You wouldn’t just walk in and slap up a flyer without asking, would you?  You wouldn’t drop your business cards off on the sales counter of your competitor, would you?  You wouldn’t try to sell your pipe tobacco to people at a homemade lollipop store, would you?  No, you wouldn’t, because that would be rude.  Storefront or Page, the same rules apply – both are professional spaces.

Before posting your information to someone else’s Page, take a moment to consider the audience of the Page you’re posting on – does your information benefit that audience?  If not, then the information most likely doesn’t belong there.

• If you are a Fan of a gourmet cheese store, sharing about an independent cheese tasting event is appropriate, sharing information about your daughter’s Girl Scout cookie sale is not.
• If you are a Fan of a local restaurant, commenting that you enjoy an item the Page’s owner has on it’s menu is appropriate, posting an invitation for their Fans to visit your ice cream shop is not.
• If you are a Fan of a tourism site, posting about the tee time you just scored at a beautiful course in the area is appropriate, posting about your fundraiser car wash at a grocery store in the area is not.
• If you are a Fan of a membership based business organization, posting about a new blog that has great articles on how to help businesses grow is appropriate, posting about the painting services you offer is not.

It’s not about your business, cause or event being important – they are.  It’s about using someone else’s space to promote your own agenda.  It’s about being polite.  I suggest you introduce yourself to the Page’s owner  - offline if at all possible or by email, form a relationship . . . . then ASK if you can share your information, you never know, they may just offer to share it for you!