I recently successfully transferred ownership of a Facebook Business Page in Meta Business Manager to a former client! This was no small feat as it had been lingering on our to-do list for quite some time. Each time we'd go in to transfer, there would be a stumbling block. Even checking Meta's instructions (because, you know, RTFM) wasn't helpful. It seems Meta issues information on how to do something, then changes the user interface, but neglects to update the original instructions.

Or vital information is at the end, rather than the outset. For example, one of the instructions for transferring ownership is only for pages that have over 5,000 followers.

Or they keep changing product names: Facebook Business Manager > Meta Business Manager > Meta Business Profile. For our purposes here, I will refer to it as Meta Business Manager.

If you're a marketer, you know the ubiquitous narrative about how Meta / Facebook lacks in customer service. Well, yesterday I stumbled upon a chat option. Lo and behold, a real person helped me and even got me on the phone. (Thank you Camille! You are a godsend.)

My first tip is to save the help number in your phone contacts so the call will ring through to you. Otherwise the phone carrier determines it to be a spam call and sends the call directly to voicemail. Luckily, Meta called me again ten minutes later as promised.

Here's a summary of our three-hour phone call so you don't have to go through what we did.

First of all, use the desktop version. I used Firefox browser, so Chrome and Safari might show a slightly different user interface. Secondly, it is important to note there are two types of administrators for a Business Page: one who's been assigned through the Page, and one who's been assigned through Business Manager. Third, the party receiving ownership of the Page must have a Meta Business Manager account.

1. Assign admin permissions to personal profile of person to own page at Pages level. This is the way most of us know how to assign an Admin. On desktop you will want to use "New Pages Experience", then Page Access, then "add new" next to  "People With Facebook Access".
2. Then log into business.facebook.com. Navigate to Business Settings. It might be a little cog at the bottom of the left-hand side of the screen. That is the way it was on February 20, 2024, so this could change by the time you're reading this.
3. Verify you are working from the correct Business Manager account by checking the drop-down list in the upper left-hand corner.
4. Go to Users > People.
5. Click Invite People to add an individual’s personal profile to your Meta Business Account. Invite them using the email they associate with logging into Facebook.
6. Select individual page you’d like to transfer to them and give full permission. 
7. Next, go to Accounts > Pages.
8. Click Assign Partners and add/invite Business Manager account.
9. Click Assign People and verify individual is shown under Assign People. You might need to refresh your browser.
   
   In the diagram below, I have step one as assigning BM account, but here in the written instructions, step one is to assign the person. Either way will work.
   
   
10. Click Remove to remove page from your business account.
11. After removal, both parties should refresh browser.
12. The remaining admin will see it is “owned by individuals” followed by a long-ass account number. "Long-ass" is defined as more than ten digits.
13. Only the person you are transferring the account to should be admin at Business Account Level otherwise it cannot be owned.
14. If it still shows “owned by individuals” after removing all other admins except for one, wait a day and check again. 
    
    If this helped you or you found an error, please send me a note. I accept Venmo if you're inclined to support my work.

Users > People

Accounts > Pages

Always great to see a client who appreciates the work. Thank you!

What an awesome day. I volunteered at the Portland Veterans Stand Down, an event by Transition Projects, Inc. I was told I had “The Stank” (which was a compliment), saw a guy freak out about a camel-shaped cookie, was hugged by a couple homeless veteran women, complimented a veteran on his FDNY cap (he said, “Yeah, I thought today was an appropriate day for it.”), found out one veteran had $10,000 in fines waived by a judge, met a couple transgender veterans, and heard complaints about the VA, but mostly, I was given an even deeper insight into what happens to many of our veterans after they have served our country. I was never doubtful many veterans are neglected after doing their service, but now I have experienced it first-hand. The Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the event was held, is a glaring metaphor for leaving our heroes in disrepair. If you have been there, you know what I’m talking about. If you have not, think: missing tiles in the fountain, pink mold emanating from the ceiling sprinklers, and dust-crusted vents, for starters.

The paranoia some had was founded on past experience. Attendees were asked to check their bags. One woman went off to the side to rearrange her belongings. She mentioned something about her “medicine.” I, of course, made mention of it being legal in Oregon. She said, “Well, if I were in Texas, I’d lose my VA benefits, but here in Oregon I know I can have it. I can’t risk them searching my bag after I check it. I just don’t want to have to use Oxy for my knee pain anymore.” Later on, another gentleman said, “I’ve been to one of these events before. A lot of us were pretty skeptical about the legal clinic, but after we saw it wasn’t an entrapment operation, more of us started coming.”

There was a resources area where organizations and businesses could offer services to the veterans. The job fair area was filled to the brim with local employers: Nike being one of them. The medical area provided Hepatitis C and rapid HIV screenings, among other medical services. The Banfield area outside offered pet care services and resources. Oh and by the way? Comfort/PTSD Animals are for real. Many dogs, and even a cat, were with their human companions. Sally the pit bull was especially precious. Bishops provided free haircuts. There was a She/Her/Hers Women’s Lounge, with Dress For Success and other organizations representing. The legal clinic was presided by a judge and attorney to hear cases and waive fees and/or judgments. Another room provided dress clothes: suits, ties, leather shoes, and cravats. Yes, cravats. Someone asked me what those were, and I said, something you tie at the neck and wear with your tweed blazer while smoking a pipe.

I worked at the Surplus Table, signing people up for Danner boots, assault packs (which we learned are backpacks – one woman jokingly asked if they came with live ammo), sleeping bags, sleeping pads, pouches, and t-shirts. You would have never guessed some of the veterans were homeless. We had codes for identifying the people who were, so they could be more quickly connected with a housing case worker. One guy was probably 35, very handsome, looked like he worked at the Nike store, Arabic name, and had slept outside last night. An African American woman who was very well dressed, well groomed, and had a reserved demeanor also slept outside last night. Perceptions can be tricky.

Thank you, Digital One team, for signing up and putting this event on my radar. The veterans thanked me for volunteering. I didn’t know how to say, it’s literally the least I could do, so I said, you’re welcome. September 11th is normally a painful day for many, myself included. I’m not saying I never held back tears today, and the day isn’t over yet, but I will say it felt good to be able to give back, even if it was just for a day.

If you sell frequently on eBay like I do, you will eventually look for ways to print labels more efficiently. Here are instructions for printing on a 2-up label from Avery 8126 on a Canon printer. 

1. Launch printer dialog box2. Uncheck “Ignore Scaling and Shrink To Fit Page Width”
3. Page headers and footers: Select “Blank” if desired
4. Go to Layout option
    - Orientation is vertical (portrait)
    - Pages per sheet: 2
    - Layout Direction: Z
5. Place label face down, head first in tray.