Free “Brand” Insurance. Just One Mandatory “Must-do” Whether You’re Using Social Media or Not.

June 30, 2012

Social Media may not be a priority right now or never will be…

By Maureen McCabe

My mom used to say, “Maureen if everyone jumped into the lake would you follow them?” And with her finger pointing at me stabbing in the air, she would continue, “No. Be a leader – not a follower!” Now to be honest I grew up on Lake Superior and it’s very cold… so it was easy to follow my mother’s advice.

This blog has one message which applies to all business owners – whether you are a social media leader, follower, or have no plans to use it. Why does your business need to leverage what I refer to as – free social media insurance? The advice is easy to implement.

As Canadian business owners we know the value of owning both domain names also known as URLs (the .ca and .com) – it’s important for brand identity and protection. The same concept applies to social media. You don’t have to read any further – set-up social media profiles before someone or another business takes your company name.

Social media may not be a priority right now and may never be. Even if you don’t see social media as a priority – you should still set up your free accounts on the top social media platforms. I was fortunate to get my business name – McCabe Marketing on all three: Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Why is reserving your company or brand name important? When you are ready to start “tweeting” your business name may already have been taken. This has happened to three clients. Unlike domain names where you can buy the name from the owner – you can’t with social media.

Even if you can convince that teenager from Idaho to stop using your business name on Facebook (although your name or brand has nothing to do with his real name or the one he chose) you cannot start using it once it has been deleted. Why? Facebook will always keep it in their database.

TIP: Secure your brand identity now before someone takes your business name!

Did you know that today you can use your business name in the URL for Google Places/Google Plus business pages, and company pages on LinkedIn? However, once you are in the “setting up profiles mode” it would be a good time to create these ones too. Your prospects and customers are likely searching on these sites to learn more about you. Another advantage is when these free tools enable businesses to choose their domain name, you won’t be left scrambling to create the profile – you will only need to reserve your company name.

Did you know that you can your name which is known as a vanity URL for your LinkedIn profile – as I did? Most LinkedIn users aren’t aware of this, and it’s not easily found in their “help”. If you would like the link to set one up, please email me.

The Bottom Line

Make the time to set up your profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube before that kid from Idaho takes your business name – or worse yet – a competitor!

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