Remember back in the day when we all realized the importance of getting just the right domain name? It was like a light bulb moment and if you were like me you went and registered as many as you could think of in relation to your business because “better safe than sorry”.  Now, it seems nothing is left as far as domain names go... 

Well, the race is on again for Facebook user names!  Facebook is now allow users to register a username. 

What is a Facebook Username?

There are two types of usernames. One type is for anyone that has a Facebook account.  The other has to do with those people that have created a Facebook Page.  For more on Facebook Pages, please read my previous blog post. In general a Facebook Page is for a business, group, public figure, etc.  I will be blogging about the username for your Facebook Page next week, as there are some different rules in place for usernames for Facebook pages.

A user name for all Facebook account holders will allow you to use a personalized Facebook URL (web address) by selecting a unique username. For example, www.Facebook.com/SallyRealtor.  So in this case, Sally would have selected SallyRealtor as her username.

Why Do You Need to Set-up Your Facebook Username?

Let’s face it, especially in the Real Estate industry, Facebook and other Social Networking sites ARE here to stay... How long, I won’t get into that debate in this post, but for now, they ARE important.  Currently if you wanted to tell someone to look for you on facebook, you’d have to say, “search for me on facebook” and hope they found you.  With a username you now simply say, “I’m on Facebook, just go to www.facebook.com/sallyrealtor.” It is a direct link to YOUR profile, and the person going there, doesn’t have to be logged in, they will get to your page regardless. Important to note: if they had to “search” for you, they would have had to log in to their Facebook account first and then searched vs. a direct link to your username where you don't have to be logged in.

I’m envisioning all business cards to have social networking sites on the back. In fact, at RealSupport now, our design department is laying out our new business cards to include all our social networking links (when they are not working on our real estate client’s marketing that is).  The fact that we can have a direct link to Facebook is so great, because now we can have it on our card, our email signatures, etc. 

So, just like the domain names in the past, hurry up and GET your user name before your name is gone!!!!

How do you Set-up Your Facebook Username?

As of Saturday, June 13, 2009, anyone with a facebook account was able to select a username at http://www.facebook.com/username.

You can select a username that Facebook suggests or create your own. Select "Check availability" to check for available usernames. If the desired username is available, click "Confirm" in order to confirm your choice.

When you log in, if you have not already chosen a username, you will see this at the top of your page:



Click on “Set-up Username”

Users can only have one username for your personal profile.

Once you have claimed a username by clicking the "Confirm" button after checking for a username's availability, it is not possible to edit it, or to transfer your username to a different account on Facebook. Additionally, when an account is removed from the site, its username will not be made available. Facebook does this for security reasons.

You should make sure it is something you like and that it’s appropriate for friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else who might use it to find you.

Need help setting this up?  Ask your Virtual Assistant.  Don’t have a Virtual Assistant, need one?  Contact RealSupport today!!!

Carrie Gable
President