Tweak Your Biz » Marketing » Put it on my Tab

Put it on my Tab

by Greg Fry on July 30th, 2010
49 Comments



With more and more job seekers and business professionals using Facebook to network, build and nurture relationships online. Many of us are concerned about the blurred lines between business and pleasure. I appreciate that many people want to keep their personal life separate from business. However very often our friends (no matter how close they may be) do not fully understand what we do for a living. Without invading our friends personal space, I have an idea that can keep your Facebook page social and non business orientated, while also offering a window into the professional you. The idea? Simple – adding a LinkedIn Tab to your Facebook profile. Here is a quick video how to do it.

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Finally,  for those who want to network on Facebook another application that maybe worth looking at is BranchOut. It allows you to expand your career network through all of your friends on Facebook. You can search by Company Name to see all your friends that work there or did in the past. You can also see all of their friends that work there. However beware this application asks to access a lot of privacy settings and I am sure will have some serious teething problems before it starts to rival the likes of LinkedIn.



Category: Linkedin, Online video, Social media Marketing

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The Author:

Greg qualified from the Marketing Institute of Ireland and is passionate about helping organisations achieve more from their social media efforts. Greg is a Social Media trainer and workshop facilitator with the Digital Marketing Institute. He has also delivered lectures and short courses for leading organisations including SureSkills, Socialmedia.ie and The Michael Smurfit Business School. Greg also works with the Ahain Group as a Social Business Consultant. He believes that in order to make social media work for your business you must have a clear business goal, a clearly defined strategy and make sure that everything you do is measureable. Specialities include: Social Media Training | Personal Branding |Social Business Consultancy | Social Strategy Workshops | Interview Techniques | Psychometric Profiling | LinkedIn Training | Facebook Training | Twitter Training | Blogging | Online Video and You Tube Training | Emerging Social Media (Pinterest, Foursquare, Instagram, Google+ etc.) More information at: www.ahaingroup.com and www.careerscoach.ie http://www.careerscoach.ie

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  • http://twitter.com/fredchannel Fred

    Short and sweet Greg! Thanks, I just “Put it on my Tab” too.
    There’s also a simple Facebook app called “My LinkedIn Profile” that will allow you include a LinkedIn button on the side bar of your profile. It should give you extra professional exposure :)

  • http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

    Hi Greg, Cool vid! thanks for sharing, Branchout looks interesting, I will now be checking it out :-)

  • http://www.writewordseditorial.ie Derbhile

    Thanks Greg. Wouldn’t have thought of that.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for your comments:)
    @Niall – I would been keen to hear your thoughts on BranchOut
    @Fred – I agree that My LinkedIn profile is another good option. I use both.

  • James(Jimmy) Lynch

    Thanks, Greg. Your suggestions are useful, timely and doable. Keep them coming

    Jimmy Lynch -Grandaddy of Handymen – Urban Farmer

  • Anonymous

    Really appreciate your comment Jimmy.

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    Just added my LinkedIn Tab to my Facebook Acc – thanks Greg – great tip!

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

    Hi Anita, Welcome to Bloggertone, I am delighted that you joined us. It’s a great story, if expensive one but congratulations on your honesty! Choosing and deciding on a domain name for a new business, is now such a big challenge but it remain hugely critical in terms of branding. Strange as it sounds, It gives the rest of us hope when we hear someone like you can make mistakes too! Thank you for sharing.

  • http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Facundo

    Compelling story Anita. As always, policy, mental notes, procedures, come after mistakes and not before. That’s probably business :) I guess the good thing about reading other people’s experiences is to (hopefully) avoid some of their mistakes. Definitely some mental notes taken on my side. To your advice I would add for others reading this post that it is very important to also purchase domains which are close to your company name or variations with plurals, typos, regional extensions. Anything you can do to protect the brand & your visibility.

  • http://www.hal9000.ie Jennie Molphy

    That’s a great line “Your business is what develops while youu2019re making plans for a different business”!nnIt’s hard for business start-ups (unless they’ve done it before) to think of brand protection before they’ve built a brand. But, like you say, it’s work to change a domain name down the road, or to obtain one that’s no longer available.

  • http://www.ivanwalsh.com Ivan

    Hi Anita, nnOne mistake I made is use my own name as the domain rather than build a brand, which offers more opportunities.nnChris Brogan made the point that if he was starting out again he may not have used his own name ChrisBrogan.com and developed a site that (if he wanted to) he could sell on at some point. nnThere are exceptions to this of course, for example, if you want to develop a personal brand. nnThe trick when starting in blogging is sometimes to take yourself out of the equation and see whatu2019s best for the busines. nnNeed to follow my own advice more often :) nnIvan

  • Philip O’Rourke

    nGreat piece of work, Anita. You have my admiration and respect for your tenacity. Far too much of the “It’ll do” attitude in society today, and now we are paying the price. Well done.

  • Luc Glasbeek

    Hi Anita, nnGreat post! I’m reminded of the time when I started to think about a venture about 6 months ago. nnI noted down all possible domain names (even the silly ones) and checked whether they’d be available still. I ended up with a long list after some time, and when the ‘right’ name crossed my mind it just felt right. nnIt was a rather extended brain storm (time-wise) but I was glad I did this from the start and didn’t feel like I was under time pressure. The process was helpful in its own right as it made me think about identity etc.nnOne mistake I’ve made on a previous occasion was not thinking through the difference between American / UK spelling……….

  • http://www.stress-solutions4life.com/ Catherine Connors

    Hi Anita,nnWelcome to Bloggertone, great article and a lesson for anyone starting an online presence, whether it’s for business or just a hobby…. I think many of us (myself included) have made some boo-boos like this when starting out, but we live and learn :)

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Catherine, thanks for the welcome. Would that this had been my “only” mistake — but those are posts for another day….. Live and learn is right. Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Luc, It’s good to do things right, from the start, isn’t it? Feels great. Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Phillip, great point! I always say, “perseverance is the #1 secret to success.” I don’t necessarily have brilliance, I just stay with longer than others, and keep working at stuff until getting it right. And fix my mistakes. :-) nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Ivan, that’s a good point about keeping a separation between your personal brand and your business brand. nnI think it works when you’re a consultant to have the two be the same thing. Because often you’re selling your individual expertise.nnBut for other types of businesses, it limits the potential. Like Chris says, it’s hard to sell a business when it is so identified with you, the individual.nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Jennie, yes, and many startups aren’t really sure what business they are actually in, until later on. Things often develop differently than you plan. :-) nn- Anita

  • http://www.abonarconsultants.com/blog ScottK

    Good post. I think this advice is more poignant than ever. With relevant, short domain names becoming so scarce, I think many business owners may be tempted to abandon any hope of a relevant domain. Your posts points out how the confusion this causes is such a huge issue. It was a $3,700 lesson for you, but it could be a five or six figure lesson for someone in the future. Good advice.

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Facundo, you make another wonderful point to remember, about purchasing domains and variations that are close to your brand or main domain. nnI own a lot of domains, but at least half are “defensive domains” — i.e., ones that just protect the main domains.nn- Anitann

  • http://garryowen.biz Garryc

    It seems that all lessons learned in business come from previous mistakes – that I have learned the hard way also. Now before I do anything the affects my business I reach out to my on-line groups and ask first. It has saved me from myself on several ocassions.

  • http://twitter.com/johndglynn John Glynn

    It is also worth buying up side names you might move into OR similar names to deter future competition. I only run 6 sites but own over a hundred domains.

  • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

    So glad you got that domain name Anita! Thanks for your willingness to share from your experience on this. It is worth mentioning that in protecting your brand, get all the TLD’s for your domain as well. Maybe even .org, .biz, .us, .me and any others necessary to prevent online “brand squatting”.nnThanks again for sharing this. Your experience is a great lesson for us all.nn-Travis

  • http://twitter.com/NoIPcom No-IP

    Like real estate agents say, it’s all about location, location, location and this rings true with domain names as well! Great article, hopefully many people will learn from your costly mistake!

  • http://GrowMap.com Gail Gardner

    Ah, if we could all simply see the future. :-) On a similar note, when you’re buying that all-important domain be sure to claim at a minimum your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts and the same username in any communities you frequent. If they’re not available you might even want to consider a different domain name so they can all match. nnIf you’re really serious there is a way to claim your preferred username across hundreds of social networks all at once. Having matching usernames gets you recommended and followed much faster because remembering one is simple but having to remember where you are which username is more work than most busy social savvy folks will do.

  • Stratico

    Having a business strategy is also about allowing strategies to emerge (business happens when making other plans) in a way that adds to the original strategy. Sometimes things evolve dependent on which customers ‘pull’ but generally a good level of initial research togethewr with souns strategic planning will ensure faster more effective and efficient strategic development. A strategic consult at the front end may have been cheaper than the domain purchase down stream.

  • Steve Waterhouse

    What a great and fun article. Technology can be a bit overwhelming at times. It’s great to have advice like yours and to know we aren’t all alone out there trying to figure all this stuff out. Thanks!!

  • Fiona Stolze

    Thanks Anita for sharing this story. I would have had no idea either and may have done exactly the same thing. I love your honesty. It’s given me food for thought about purchasing more domain names to protect my art brand. nn

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Niall, glad to finally join you guys over here. You’ve been such wonderful supporters of BizSugar.nnWell if I can give people hope, I’m glad. I have plenty more mistakes where those came from [grin]. Maybe not ones so easy to quantify, but there are enough of them.nn- Anitann

  • Anonymous

    Welcome to Bloggertone, Anita! nnHearing your story really illustrates how important it is to choose and acquire your desired domain name. You’ve got me thinking about what I might need to evaluate as I go forward. When you’re starting off (or starting something new), it can be easy to overlook something such as our presence online is another important piece of our strategic plan.

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Fred, Yes, the confusion factor is certainly significant. nnIn my case the organization that had the domain (a non-profit organization involved with small biz with a completely different name) didn’t actually do anything useful with the domain. They had it in a strange redirect loop that for years led to one of those “file directory” pages. That was a bit of luck for me, because visitors quickly realized they were in the wrong place. The confusion factor would have been far worse if their organization had had the same name and sent visitors to a site with the same name. nnSo I think it was good foresight on your part to recommend a re-branding.nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Steve, Luckily I like to laugh and keep a sense of humor. If I didn’t I’d sit down and cry like a baby over stuff like this – LOL. nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Fiona, I would say for art that domain names can be especially important, particularly if you have unique names. It’s definitely a good idea to think ahead on those things. ;) nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Gail! That’s a great point about securing your brand for social sites. One service that will check for you is http://knowem.com. There is another service that does that, too — someone else may know the name of that service.nn– Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Travis, yes, indeed, it’s also important to get those other extensions. Great point. At least the key extensions that are popular in your country.nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi John, have you done much with typos and misspellings? I haven’t (other than plurals and singulars). But a very common misspelling might be worth it….nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Garry, I like that: “saved me from myself.” Now if we could all just get saved every single time we were about to step off a cliff or something….. :-) nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Scott, so true on the economics. As domain names go, given some of the numbers I’ve heard through the years, I suppose I actually got off easy.nn- Anita

  • Anonymous

    Hi Anita. As a long time writer on Bloggertone, I’d like to welcome you, on your first post here. Thanks for sharing your story which is a great lesson that we can all learn from.

  • http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairu00e9ad Kelly

    Hi Anita, welcome to Bloggertone. What a very honest and insightful first post. nnWhen I first bought my domain name the .com wasn’t available (owned by a school somewhere in Africa) and became available April 2010, unfortunately I was away at the time and I missed the slot. It was bought by someone who offered it to me for $10,000 and I refused to bite. He badgered me for a month until I told him to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine, that I would NEVER pay more than the normal asking price for it as I had the .ie, .org, .net, .co.uk domains and .com really wasn’t that important to me since most of my business was local.nnLike some of the other replies on here, it has been suggested that I trade as my own name too, however that would be really difficult to sell if I ever wanted to, plus as a generic Irish name is is difficult for the average Irish person to spell, never mind the rest of the world.nnMis-takes are the things we do so that we can learn how to do it correctly the next time – an essential part of life. Unfortunately all too often we beat ourselves up over them unnecessarily.

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Mairead, nnTalk about extortion!!! Good for you for not caving in.nnI also have my name as a domain and used it when I was consulting. Now I have it mainly for reputation management and to make sure my name comes up in search engines. So it’s not a bad strategy to at least have the domain name for your own name, even if you use a company name to conduct business under. nn- Anitan

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Well hello, Frank! Thanks for the welcome. You’re all so friendly here. :-) nn- Anita

  • http://twitter.com/smallbiztrends Anita Campbell

    Hi Elli, nnYes, you’ve got it right — it’s all too easy to overlook something. nnAnd really, it’s that way with a lot of things when you have your own business and you have 30 balls in the air at any given time. At least one thing is bound to fall on the floor — I always hope whatever I drop won’t be TOO critical or TOO expensive. nnThanks for the welcome!nn- Anita

  • http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

    Hi Anita, a hearty welcome to Bloggertone from another Bloggertoner!!nnA great post, and a great reminder for any one managing an online identity, whether personal or professional.nI saw on a programme recently here in Ireland, that expectant parents are now considering the name of their unborn child, depending on whether the domain is available :) – thumbs up for the web savvy parents!!nnI have 2 very different businesses online so far, and very carefully checked the domains and the extensions before naming the businesses (both location dependent).nnTo be honest, I think it will be one of the more obvious “first tasks” to do when looking to start a business. Anyone ignoring online presence these days is naive, in my opinion (even if they really think they will never be online).nnI agree also it’s important to try and keep similar usernames/avatars when signing up to SM sites.

  • http://review-blogger.com pol

    good tips, help me to chose a domain. 

  • http://review-blogger.com pol

    good tips, help me to chose a domain. 

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