After walking down the aisle in September, I’ve just started the massive task of changing my name everywhere. I’m sure most women (like me) don’t realise how big this task will be until they actually start the process. Bank accounts, phone, electricity, drivers licence….the list goes on.

But, these days we also have social media to deal with. How on earth do you change your name on Facebook and LinkedIn? I’ve just figured a couple of these things out and have some basic steps below. [Although...these sites do tend to change frequently so to future readers of this post, apologies if the steps aren’t quite right.]

FACEBOOK

Once you have logged into your Facebook page, on the menu in the far right you will see a small down arrow. If you click this you will see a number of options, one of which is ‘Account Settings’. Click this.

Within ‘Account Settings’ you can update things like Name, Username and Email.

Change your name

To start, change your last name by editing the ‘Name’ field. Change your last name to your new married name then add your maiden name to the ‘alternative name’ field. This will ensure that people from your past can still find you even if they don’t know your new married name. If you’d like your maiden name to appear in your profile, tick the box.

On my profile page my name now appears as Angela Logovik (Brown).

Change your username [or Vanity URL]

A Username in Facebook will make it easier for people to find you. This URL is also sometimes referred to as a Vanity URL.

Type in your preferred username and Facebook will let you know whether it is available.

If you already have a username and need to update it, Facebook will allow you to update your username once only. Type in your new username and save changes.

Change your email

If your main email address has changed update the information by adding another email to your account and updating your primary email address. The primary address that you choose will be the email you use to login to Facebook with (unless you have created a separate username).

Facebook does give you the option to include multiple email addresses in your account so you can add in your new address but also keep your old address for a while.

Remember to use the correct email the next time you try to login!

LINKEDIN

You may need to change a few things in LinkedIn, or at least I did.

Change your email

To change your primary email go to settings. There is a drop down list when you hover over your name in the top right hand corner of the page. Select ‘Settings’.

Towards the bottom of this page there are four tabs [Profile / Email Preferences / Groups, Companies & Applications / Account]. Select ‘Account’.

Under ‘Email & Password’ select ‘Add & change email addresses’.

A lightbox will appear where you can add and/or remove email addresses from LinkedIn. Add your new email address and update your primary address. Your primary address will be the email you use to login to LinkedIn with.

Remember to use the correct email the next time you try to login!

Change your name

Go to the profile tab (next to Home on the main navigation) and select ‘Edit Profile’.

This screen shows your entire profile and gives you the chance to edit various information. Select  ‘edit’ next to your name.

Complete your new details on this page. Change your last name, add your maiden name to the appropriate field and select how your name should be displayed.

Next to the ‘Former/Maiden Name’ field there is a lock icon that will allow you to set the visibility of your former name.

Change your Public Profile URL [or Vanity URL]

If you don’t already have one, you can follow these steps to create one.

If you have created a Vanity URL you may need to change it. For example, my URL used to be http://au.linkedin.com/in/angelabrownbluewire. For me it didn’t make sense to keep using this URL as I am no longer Angela Brown.

Go to the ‘Edit Profile’ page. If you have just changed your name you are already here. If not go to ‘Profile’ then ‘Edit Profile’.

At the top of the page you will see all of your personal information listed including name, current position, education, connections etc. At the bottom of this list is ‘Public Profile’.

Select ‘edit’ next to the URL at ‘Public Profile’ and this will show you your Public Profile page. This is the profile that people see when they search for you.

On the right hand side of this screen at the top you will see ‘Customise Your Public Profile’ and below that ‘Your Public Profile URL’.

To edit or create your URL, select ‘Customise your public profile URL’ (it’s a blue link).  A lightbox will appear where you can add setup your URL. Don’t worry it’s easy.

My new Public Profile URL now looks like this http://au.linkedin.com/in/angelalogovik.

Finally…

Don’t forget to update these details in your email signature. You don’t want people trying to click through to links that no longer exist!

Facebook has recently launched the “Facebook for Business” website which is aimed at providing a step-by-step guide to help small businesses use and make the most of the social networking site. If you’re struggling with the basics or even just after some new ideas to improve how your using it at the moment, I suggest you check it out.

Facebook joins Twitter who has had a “Twitter for Business” resource for a little while now. Both websites are a handy resource for how you can make the most of your foray into Social Media Marketing.

The timing of Facebook’s release is also interesting as it comes in the same week Google has copped a lot of flack over deleting business profiles from the new Google Plus.

Rest assured Google Plus business pages/profiles are coming soon and I’m sure I’ll be able to update this post with a link to Google own version of “Google Plus for Business“.

It’s interesting times indeed.

How are you as a business owner finding the social networking landscape at the moment?

Do resources like these help and make it easy enough for you to get involved? Or is it still a bit overwhelming?

Seeing the below in my profile screen inside Google + has made the little +1 button make a whole lot more sense and seem that much more of an important addition to your website. All your +1′s while not only having an impact on search results*, will show up in the streams and profiles of everyone using Google +.

So, how do I add it to my website?

It’s super simple, visit the +1 Webmaster’s page and follow the simple instructions. Basically you’ll need to add some code (a script tag and another custom tag where you want it displayed) to your websites html.
NB. You’ll need to be able to edit a page’s html source so if you need some help, contact your website developers (or us) for some help.

For more info about the +1 Button – Watch the intro

The Interactive Tour is also quite cool and worth a look.

* From the +1 FAQ

The +1 button and search results

+1 helps people discover relevant content—a website, a Google search result, or an ad—from the people they already know and trust. Adding the +1 button to your pages lets users recommend your content, knowing that their friends and contacts will see their recommendation when it’s most relevant—in the context of Google search results.

When a signed-in Google user is searching, your Google search result snippet may be annotated with the names of the user’s connections who’ve +1′d your page. If none of a user’s connections has +1′d your page, your snippet may display the aggregate number of +1′s your page has received.

More FAQ’s

What do you think, do you think Google has come up with a decent answer to Facebook? Will you add the +1 button alongside the Facebook Like & Tweet buttons?

P.S I’m out of invites so sorry, you’ll have to wait or find someone else….

P.P.S – I know, we haven’t even added the +1 button to our own blog yet but it’s coming don’t worry… be sure to +1 our home page though…

Reading further into the story online, journalists at Herald Sun started to place the blame on social media, particularly Facebook.

This is of course not the first time that social media has had to wear the blame for society’s unruly behavior.

Earlier this year ABCNews.com reported on Flash Robberies and Violent Flash Mobs who orchestrated their anti-social behavior using Twitter.

Last year, the UK’s The Telegraph reported that teachers were blaming social media for an increase in poor grades amongst school children.

Blaming social media is like blaming a murder on the knife.

So with social media in the center of these issues, we should all be pointing the finger at Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, and Twitter creator Jack Dorsey!

These two men are to blame for school yard violence and mass anti-social demonstrations… Or that’s what it sounds like in the media!

Social media is a tool, a powerful tool which is used by millions with good intentions.

A knife is also a tool, used my millions to cut carrots, skillet fish or the unlikely scenario of saving a damsel in distress who has been tied up on train tracks.

However with evil intentions a knife can be used to harm, inflict pain and kill.

It is highly unlikely that when I open my Sunday Mail I would read the headlines: “Wiltshire knife to blame for death”.

We can’t shift the blame to the tool when it’s the person using it who should be taking the responsibility.

Do you think we should be blaming social media or is it still the responsibility of the user?

On the weekend, he bought a pair of jeans from a popular chain store. The sales assistant handed Shanon his jeans, and then encouraged him to “Like” them on Facebook. Just a click on their page, a symbol of support for their business, and Shanon would go into the draw for a $500 gift voucher.

This is not unusual. Several friends of mine use Facebook to promote their businesses. They run competitions on their walls and host giveaways for Facebook friends who give them the thumbs up. I’ve become a fan of numerous businesses, organisations and causes.

Shanon is a savvy shopper and a smart dresser. But Shanon is also a savvy internet guy. It turns out that however frequently we see promotions like the one he was encouraged to participate in, they are not allowed within Facebook’s promotions guidelines.

Getting it right

Promoters are not allowed to use a page’s “Likes” as a promotion’s voting mechanism. The number of Likes for a page cannot determine a winner. Nor can a contest require users to tag themselves in an uploaded photo. A prize cannot be given to someone simply for mentioning a company’s name in a status update. Facebook continues to require competitions to be administered with a Facebook app. And you can’t even—this happens a lot—announce a winner on a profile page.

Good news for people who like cheese

Although these rules look like they’re here to stay, on 11^th May, Facebook revealed a “relaxation” of other, key advertising guidelines. Industries that took note were those previously excluded from Facebook (including “alcohol, dairy, gambling and gasoline”.) Alcohol can now be offered as a prize. Or cheese. Or a jerrycan, full to the brim.

The guidelines shift more of the responsibility for running a lawful promotion onto the marketers themselves. Companies must uncover for themselves whether it’s legal to promote alcohol in Sweden, or India, or Australia. Or to give Shanon that matching double denim jacket he wants.

Need help with your own social marketing vision? Contact us at Bluewire Media.

Photo: Suat Eman

I’ll note that these instructions are current as of the 10th of March, 2011 – but the process does change every now and then, so apologies if you’re viewing this from the future and it’s no help.

First of all, to be an administrator for a Facebook page, you have to have a Facebook account yourself. If you don’t yet have an account, just go to www.facebook.com and follow the instructions.

Once you’re logged in to Facebook, on the left hand side of your home page you’ll see a menu under your profile picture. This menu can be different for everyone (and changes every time Facebook gets an overhaul), but for me I need to click on More then I see the Ads and Pages option.

Select 'More', then 'Ads and Pages' to Create a Page

Of course, the way to get there may have changed by the time you read this post, so if you can’t find it in the menu, try clicking here.

The “Create a Page” page currently looks like this:

The "Create a Page" page as of March 10, 2011

Choose the option that best describes what you want to advertise, then add your details to the form that pops up. Congratulations! Your Facebook page now exists, but there are still a couple more steps that you should complete.

1. Click on “Edit Info” (you’ll find it near the top of the page), and fill in everything you can.
2. Go back to your page by clicking on “View Page”, then add an image for your page by hovering over the big question mark in the top left corner and clicking on “Change Picture”. This would usually be your logo, but don’t be afraid to be creative with the space you have, check out these three examples.

That’s it! Now you can start posting status updates, invite all your friends, promote your page elsewhere etc.

As a bonus, here are some more tips:

• Add a “Like Box” to your website or blog to help convert your website visitors into Facebook fans.
• Sync your blog to your Facebook page so that your fans get notified when you publish a new blog post.
• Create a custom landing page for non-fans with content that urges them to click the “Like” button.
• Check out these other tips I wrote about a while ago.
• Consider these other ideas from Adam Franklin’s post…
• And check out Paul Goldston’s article on the strategy side of things on Reload Media’s Search Strategy Blog.

Got any other tips? Share them in the comments!

Prior to a trip to Toronto and then to New York, Jack updated his facebook status.  Big deal, you say?

Watch the video to find out how this simple Facebook status update triggered messages and enquiries that led to Jack booking 4 speaking gigs in one week!

Sometimes Facebook’s basic features like status updates are dismissed as being inappropriate for ‘work’  and often overlooked entirely.

Yet as you can see from Jack Daly they incredibly powerful communication tool! Thanks again to Business Connect for bringing Jack out to Brisbane.

How do you use Facebook to communicate with professional colleagues?

Using social media for business just got easier, with Facebook’s announcement this morning that they have added a new function called “Deals”.

With 200 million people now using Facebook on mobile platforms, “Deals” allows business people to log in, add specials or incentives for their customers and come up on the radar of passersby, made possible by the use of “Places”.

The customer can see what’s available close to them and “claim” the deal with the press of a button (or touch screen). When they go into the local coffee shop, bar or retail outlet, they can then show that they have claimed the deal – and can redeem that 20% off their meal, their second coffee free, whatever.

The new function works with the assistance of Loopt, Yelp, Foursquare, and others, and is an exciting new part of the mobile landscape. It means now not only can customers “check in” and engage with local business, but businesses can reach out to people in their local community via Facebook in a new way.

There are different kinds of deals – those based on the individual, on a group of friends, loyalty deals, charity incentives and giveaways. Customer engagement just took a big step forward.

“Deals” will be rolled out in stages, starting with 20,000 businesses, and then stretching to include anyone with a page.

I’m excited to see how we might be able to use this functionality to provide incentives to our loyal customers, and how we also might be able to help you bring in new business, through social media.

Best quote of the announcement goes to Zuckerberg:

“You can rethink any product area, rethink it to be social.”

How could use “deals” for your business?

Sadly there’s no magic rubric for deciding whether an in-house social media workforce, a social media consultant, or an agency will best be able to meet your particular business needs. Like almost every business decision, it depends on your business’s goals, budget and particular situation.

There are, however, definite pros and cons to each approach. We’ve highlighted some of the most important factors to consider for each style of social media team. Read More…

Calendaring Your Social Media Marketing Content – Hubspot
From the many Website Optimization Webinars I’ve done over the past six months, I’ve signed up for many Facebook company pages, and I follow tons of people on Twitter. I realize there are those companies – or people – that overkill on the posting and those that I never hear from. The over-killers tend to post information about themselves, and to be honest, after a while I don’t even read their content. Then there are those whose information is consistently valuable. I may not have time to read everything they send, but whenever I do, I’m rewarded. Read More…

5 New Ways to Market Your Brand on Facebook – Mashable
With 500 million members and growing, Facebook offers brands and marketers direct contact to the largest pool of online users on the web. After all, social media is fast becoming more popular than e-mail on mobile devices and more convenient for news consumption than the daily paper.

In recent weeks and months, Facebook has introduced and improved a number of on-site tools that sage brands and businesses can use to better market themselves. Even the simplest of tools such as “Likes” and photos could serve as a catalyst for a viral network effect. Of course, there’s also opportunity to be had with more calculated efforts around Place Pages, Questions and the New Groups. Read More…

Should Your Content Aim for Traffic or Conversion? – Copyblogger
Which articles attract reader attention, bringing you more traffic, more tweets and Stumbles, more eyeballs on the page?

Which articles convert, bringing you more subscribers and sales?

And how do you roll out a strategy that maximizes the twin impact of attraction and conversion? Read More…

7 Deadly Assumptions of Online Marketing Success – Open Forum
It’s not really enough to have a website. These days you must create a total web presence, but you’ve also got to create strategy based on overall objectives.

This is another way of saying unless your online activity ends in a sale you’ve failed in the game of online marketing. There are countless ways to fail on the quest to convert a pair of peering eyes into a paying client. Read More…

Page

• When you, as the administrator of the group, post messages on the wall your profile picture will be your official logo, rather than your personal profile picture,
• Google indexes Facebook pages, meaning someone may find the page by using a search engine,
• A page gives users the option to “like” its content, meaning a link to your page will show up in their ‘interests’ section,
• Messages sent by administrators will come up as updates; and
• Anyone can “like” a page.

Group

• Even as administrator, your own personal profile picture will be included when you post to the group’s wall,
• Google doesn’t index groups, they are seen as more of an interactive platform, and are perhaps less official,
• Rather than “liking” the page, you become a member of the group,
• Groups under 5000 can send emails that will land in users’ Facebook inboxes; and
• You can approve or disapprove members.

Both

• You can enable and disable who can and can’t post at any time,
• You can choose whether people can put links up, pictures, and wall posts; and
• You can also add and remove administrators.

Questions to consider

• As administrator, do you want your messages to be an extension of yourself, and be associated with your personal image?
• Do you want an official style?
• Do you see your audience as members or fans?
• How do you hope to deliver messages?

Social media strategy Brisbane: There’s more to a successful Facebook strategy than a set-and-forget. If you want to develop your status as a trusted advisor and communicate rather than advertise, call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.