Make an easy url for your facebook page

If you've just set up a Facebook page for your business or product you will find that the link to your page (the url people have to type in to the internet browser) is quite long and not at all memorable. It will be something like www.facebook.com/pages/yourpagename/1234567891234567 but you are able to change this to something easier like www.facebook.com/yourpagename

Make sure you are logged in to Facebook then visit www.facebook.com/username
Here you can set a username for your personal page (the one you see all your friends posts), and your facebook business page.

First, choose your business page from the drop down menu.
Type the name you would like your page to be found as.



Press the Check Availability button, this will check if anyone else already has the url you would like to be found for. As there are millions of profiles and business pages you may find you don't get your ideal username (I couldn't get FeralArt for example as someone already has it), so you may have to brainstorm a bit to find something appropriate and memorable.

Once you've found a name available you will get a popup window, this lets you know you can't take someone elses trademark, you can't sell usernames etc. But it's also worth noting if you choose to change the username/url of your page in the future you can only do this once.

Once confirmed your username is set up.

Adding a comment to a scheduled post on Facebook

There's a theory going around that Facebook shows your posts to more people if you don't put a link in it. So a lot of people are writing their post and putting the link in the comments. Now this is easy if you're typing up your post and posting it straight away, but what if you've scheduled your post and won't be (or are unsure if you will be) near a computer when it automatically posts? You don't want people having to wait for you to return and remember to add the link for them.

So I figured out a way to add comments to scheduled posts, there's a bit of clicking around but it is do-able, see below for a walkthrough with screenshots of the process.

First schedule your post as you would normally (See Scheduled posts on Facebook if you need help with doing this).

Once you've scheduled your post you will get the 'Your Post Has Been Scheduled' popup confirmation. Click on the 'View Activity Log' button. (If you accidentally click on close you can get to your activity log by going to the top admin panel of your Facebook page and clicking on 'Edit Page > Use activity Log').

You will be taken to your Activity Log where all your scheduled posts are at the top of the page. Find the post you want to add your comment to and click on the date the post is scheduled for.

This will open up a page with your scheduled post by itself, and have an area where you can comment. Type in the link or comment you want to go with that post and press enter. You comment is now scheduled to appear when your post appears on your Facebook page.

If you want to double check and make sure your comment/link will appear with your post go back to your Activity Log. Your scheduled post will show the comment underneath it in the Scheduled Posts area.

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Yes, FeralArt is on Facebook too!
Come join me, and don't forget to introduce yourself: www.facebook.com/FeralArtDesign

Scheduled posts on Facebook

Scheduling posts on Facebook can be a huge time saver as we all know going on Facebook for 5 minutes to check your page and create one post often turns into a distraction that lasts an hour. We also might want to post something at a particular time (when a sale starts, reminder of an event etc) and either don't want to forget or know we won't be near a computer at that particular time. So you can schedule posts and photo/video from your business page (not poll questions) and know they will appear when you want them to without having to set yourself a reminder.

First, click in the box where you will be typing your post. At the bottom left corner a little clock appears (circled in the image below). Once you click on the clock you will be able to choose the year, month, day, hour and minute you would like your post to appear. Your ‘Post’ button will change to a ‘Schedule’ button.

Once you have scheduled your post you will get a message saying when it will be published. If you would like to edit or cancel the post before it appears on your timeline, you can through your admin panel by clicking on ‘Edit Page > Use Activity Log’.

Your scheduled posts will be at the very top of this screen and gives you the option to change the scheduled time, post now or cancel the post.

A few things to note:

• Scheduling does take into account where you are in the world, so if you are posting from Victoria, Australia and ask your post to appear at 2pm, it will appear at 2pm Victoria, Australian time.
• You can only schedule posts up to six months in advance. 

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Yes, FeralArt is on Facebook too!
Come join me, and don't forget to introduce yourself: www.facebook.com/FeralArtDesign

{ Inspiration List } Facebook Posts

It's good to post once or twice a day on Facebook, but the dreaded 'posting block' often means when we know we haven't posted anything for a few days we still can't think of anything!
So I've put together an inspiration list of things you can post that don't take long to write, don't require much planning and can be used as inspiration more than once.

• Change your banner image, this gets listed as a post (people can like and comment) and you can promote or spotlight a product/service without needing to write any persuasive text.
• Photo/information of your newest product.
• Photo/information of your best seller.
• Details of an upcoming market or event you will be at.
• Details of a retail outlet where your product is sold.
• A photo of where you work, for example your current shop window or workshop bench.
• A photo of a work in progress.
• Updates of your work in progress.
• Link to your latest blog post.
• Link to a past blog post that still has some great useful information.
• Link/photo to another business you're collaborating with on a project.
• Introduce your work helpers, be it employees, kids or pets.
• Testimonial photos/comments (ask first if you can post them on Facebook).
• Photo of parcels ready to be posted to their new homes.
• Welcome message when you have a few new followers.
• Thank you message to all your followers.
• Reminder before you send out your newsletter encouraging people to sign up.
• Any special offers or promotions you have running, and a reminder just before they're about to end.
• Celebrate milestones, eg # years in business, # of Facebook likes, getting through a huge amount of custom orders, you/employee finishing a course to further their career.
• Tips for your clients/customers to get the most out of the products you sell.

Hopefully this gives you some inspiration for the next time you have a posting block when updating your Facebook page.
Don't forget when you have some time to brainstorm a few post ideas, once you've started writing some down more will come! 
Are there any other points you would add to this list?

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Yes, FeralArt is on Facebook too!
Come join me, and don't forget to introduce yourself: www.facebook.com/FeralArtDesign