Why and How to Get Your Vanity URLs

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2 Why and How to Get Your Vanity URLs You started out your business, and you grabbed a Facebook business page. Over time, you ve added a Twitter page, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram. Holy crap do I need to Snapchat now? Oh yeah, and my LinkedIn page. What? I need a LinkedIn Company page now? It s overwhelming, I know it. I want to ease the pain a bit here today and give you permission to pick two or three sites that really resonate with you and with your business, and focus on them. You need not, and should not, be posting on 10 social media sites a day, at least not until you re making enough money to get some help. But that s not why I m here today. When you re an entrepreneur, a small business owner, a sales professional, marketing online can be VERY lucrative when done strategically. So while I don t want you to be posting on each site every day, I do want you to HAVE a presence on each site, and here s why. 2 KarenYankovich.com

3 Snag Your Vanity URLs You never know how your Social Media Brand Strategy is going to evolve. Today your strategy may include Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but as you evolve, you may shift your focus to other sites. In anticipation for that, I want you to snag your branded vanity URLs NOW, wherever you can. I m in several business groups, and typically each group member shares the URLs for their social media sites so that the members can get to know each other. RARE is the occasion when you find someone that has personalized all of their URLs. It s such a simple step to take, and adds serious credibility to the business when it s done. Ideally, you want to use the EXACT SAME handle on each site. Doing so allows seamless cross posting, for example, if someone tags your handle in an Instagram post and shares that post to Twitter, that tag will automatically carry over to YOUR Twitter handle if it s the exact same handle. I on Instagram and Twitter, and I get double the exposure when I share across platforms with one post. So how to you do that? Here are instructions for each of the platforms and then I ve included links to all of MY branded sites, I d love for you to connect with me all over the place! Just a quick note about Google Gmail, Google+ and YouTube should all be connected to the same account. Just doing that does NOT give you a vanity URL, so you still need to take these simple steps. 3 KarenYankovich.com

4 Facebook Business Page Things to keep in mind Create a username that is as close as possible to your public figure or business name (e.g. ElvisPresley, BestBuy). If you own the rights to a given name, make it your username so that others cannot obtain it. Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) or a period (. ). Choose a username you will be happy with for the long term. Usernames are not transferable. Your username must adhere to Facebook s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. Instructions 1. Go to 2. Select Select a Username for your page 3. This brings up a drop down menu, select the page you want to create the username for. 4. Enter your desired username and click on check availability 5. If it s available, you will be shown some final terms if you are happy with your choice click confirm or select cancel to try another one 4 KarenYankovich.com

5 Twitter 1. Log in to Twitter.com and visit your account settings pages from the dropdown menu in the top right corner. 2. On your account settings page, change the username listed in your username field. 3. If the username is taken, you'll be prompted to choose another one. 4. Click Save changes at the bottom of the page. 5 KarenYankovich.com

6 Instagram 1. Go to Edit Your Profile 2. Type in your new name, username, website or bio 3. Tap Done (iphone), Save (Android) or the check mark (Windows Phone) 6 KarenYankovich.com

7 Google+ 1. Sign in to Google+. Place your cursor in the top left corner for the Google + main menu and then click Profile. 2. Click the About tab, and under Links > Google+ URL, click Get URL. 3. You ll see the custom URL you ve been approved for, which you aren t able to change. You may also need to add a few letters or numbers to make it unique to you. 4. Click the box next to I agree to the Terms of Service then click Change URL in the bottom left corner. 5. You may be asked to verify your account using your mobile phone number. To do this, you ll need to: 1. Enter your mobile phone number when prompted, then click Send code in the lower left corner. 2. Check your phone for the code that was sent to you. 3. Enter that code in the box on your screen, then click Verify in the lower left corner. 4. This URL will be linked to your Google+ Page or Profile, so be sure everything is exactly the way you want it. Once your URL has been approved, you cannot request to change it. 5. When you're certain, click Confirm choice. 7 KarenYankovich.com

8 YouTube If you had or have a traditional YouTube username on your channel, then you unfortunately can't add a custom URL or change your URL. Your channel already has a URL associated with your old username, like the following: To add a custom URL, use the following steps: 1. Make sure you're signed into YouTube, and go to your advanced account settings. 2. Under Channel Settings, click Create custom URL. 3. You'll then be able to choose the URL you want. Note that you can't choose a URL that someone's already chosen. Once you've chosen your custom URL, it will appear like this: 8 KarenYankovich.com

9 LinkedIn Things to keep in mind: Your custom URL can have between 5-30 letters or numbers. Do not use spaces, symbols, or special characters. You cannot change your URL more than 3 times in 6 months. If you've already done this, you'll have to wait 6 months before you can change it again Some URLs may be unavailable. If a member uses a URL and then changes it, the URL they first chose will be unavailable for use by another member for several months. We're unable to make these URLs available upon request. If the URL you want isn't available, please select a different one. Instructions You can customize your public profile URL when you edit your public profile. Custom public profile URLs are available on a first come, first served basis. 1. Move your cursor over Profile at the top of your homepage and select Edit Profile. 2. Click Edit next to the URL under your profile photo. 3. In the Your public profile URL box in the bottom right, click "Customize your public profile URL". 4. Type the last part of your new custom URL in the text box. 5. Click Set Custom URL. 9 KarenYankovich.com

10 Pinterest Things to keep in mind: 1. Usernames can only be 3-15 characters long and can't have spaces, symbols or punctuation 2. If the username you picked is already taken, try adding numbers 3. Changing your username won't affect your Pins, boards, followers or any other account settings. It will change the address/url for your Pinterest profile: instead of your account will be found at: Instructions 1. Click your name then click Your Profile & Pins 2. Click the pencil icon on your profile 3. Pick your username then click Save Profile 4. Check your inbox for an from Pinterest asking you to confirm the change 10 KarenYankovich.com

11 Snapchat For security reasons, it is currently not possible to change the username for an existing account. If you wish, you may delete your account and create a new one. 11 KarenYankovich.com

12 You re all done! Now you ll have a list that looks like this: Website: Facebook: Twitter: twitter.com/karenyankovich Instagram: instagram.com/karenyankovich YouTube: Google+: gplus.to/karenyankovich LinkedIn: Create that list for yourself and save it somewhere, it comes in handy! Of course, come connect with me. 12 KarenYankovich.com

13 A Consistent Brand Presence This whole process will take you about half an hour, and will SAVE you a lot more than that over time as you figure out how to find your URLs. You ll be able to easily send people you meet at networking events or at Little League games to your social media sites. Most importantly, you ll be branding yourself, your business, and your social media to establish a consistent presence across all sites. So go ahead. Grab your branded URLs for all of the sites above while it s still available. You don t have to actually be using the site right now, but I want you to be ready when the time comes to add a new social media platform to your strategy. Keep an eye out as new sites are started, grab your name, then file it somewhere and forget about it until you need it. BONUS TIP! If you are not going to be actively using a platform, please don t include a link to it on your website. Promote only what you have a strategy for. I want you to shine as an expert, and a promoted social media site with tumbleweeds on it does not support that expert status. Only share the platforms you are actively participating in. 13 KarenYankovich.com