Are you looking for creative ways to come up with the best social media handles
for your business? Then you're in the right place. Because in this video,
I'll share more than ten strategies that will help you generate some pretty
cool username ideas.
Make sure to stick around until the end because I'll share a tip or two to
ensure that the username you created is good to use across social media
platforms.
I learned this the hard way with my Souldriven Solopreneur username...
but more about that later. Now, without further ado,
let's get started with strategy #1.
I know this one seems obvious to some of you; for other people,
it might be precisely what they need to hear right now because they went
straight into overthinking this rather than going for the obvious thing.
So the strategy is to use your real name if you are a personal brand,
or if you're a business brand, use your business name. If you say to yourself,
"Duh, I thought I'd need to be super creative..." No, you don't.
Here's your permission slip. Use your business name or real name.
You can even sprinkle in your middle name - if you have one.
If you're thinking right now, "Are you serious, Sabine?
Why do you think I'm here?
My preferred username is already taken by someone else.
That's why I need to get my creative juices flowing with your video." If
you're one of those people or brands,
make sure to leave a comment below this video saying "That's me!" So that we
can send you some virtual hugs and creative vibes from all over the world.
And by the way, you'll love the upcoming strategies.
To make this video more practical,
I'll give you some examples for each strategy.
Let's create professional usernames for an imaginary person called 'Linda Sophia
Brown' and a fictional business brand called 'Skylightviews'.
If they'd apply strategy #1,
they'd jot down the following username ideas.
So Linda could play around with her first name and her last name and note down
usernames like @ lindabrown or @ lindasophiabrown
or @ linda or @ lindasophia or @ brown.
Skylightviews could go with - surprise - @ skylightviews.
To get the most out of this video,
do the exercise for your own business handle after I explain each strategy.
In the end,
you'll have created a list with a myriad of username ideas to choose from.
Pinky promise. Let's get to strategy #2.
This one is all about using your initials. So for Linda,
it could be @ lsb or @ lb or @ ls or
@ l, or maybe be a combination of them like @ lindasbrown. For Skylightviews,
it could be @ slv or @ sv.
The only thing you'd need to be aware of when applying this strategy is that
some online platforms don't allow those super
short usernames that have only one to three characters.
So let's keep brainstorming with strategy #3.
This strategy is all about shortening your name.
Gary Vee is the best example I can give you for this strategy because it's tough
to do it for the imaginary and fictional ones.
Rather than using his unpronounceable last name, he shortened it to Vee,
or you could even just go with one letter.
Think of your name and have a go to see if you can generate something short for
your name or brand. Now over to strategy #4.
Strategy #4 is all about playing around with your nickname (if
you have one),
and if it's appropriate in your industry and your clients call you by your
nickname anyway, use it. The same applies if your brand has a nickname.
Famous examples for this strategy would be the profiles of JLo or The
Rock. Using our previous examples,
Linda could go with @ linbrown or @ lindaphiabrown
or @ linsophia or @ lins. You get the gist.
Skylightviews could go with @ slviews.
Do you want to create more social media name ideas to make your final call?
Let's check out the next strategy - strategy #5.
This one is about sprinkling in your industry, profession, services,
products, et cetera. For example, if Linda is a designer,
she could go with @ lindabrowndesigns or @ lindabrowndesigner
or go with @ lindabrownstudio. If she's a coach,
she could try @ lindabrowncoaching or @ lindabrowncoach.
Suppose she's passionate about candles or shoes. In that case,
she could go after @ lindabrowncandles or @ lindabrownshoes.
Or if you want to add in an official title,
she could go with something like @ lindabrownphd or @ lindabrowngp.
Got it? The same principle applies to the brand usernames.
Skylightviews could go with @ skylightviewsdesign or @ skylightviewsbuilder
or @ skylightviewsgallery or @ skylightviewsrealtor and so on.
You could even tie in your company structure, for example,
@ skylightviewsltd or @ skylightviewsbusiness.
Are you all set for strategy #6?
Then click the 'Like' button below and let's get to it straight away.
Strategy #6...
this is all about adding your location.
This could be your street or city. It could be your state.
It could be the country. It could be the postal code.
We all know the one from Beverly Hills, right? 90210... argh,
did I just reveal how old I am? So have a play.
It could be @ lindabrownny or @ lindabrowncanada or @ lindabrownoncavillave
and so on. For Skylightviews, it could be @ skylightviews90210
or @ skylightviewssydney. By the way,
adding in a location could be great from a search engine optimisation
perspective,
especially if you're a local brand or want to add some of the glam that comes
with your location. Over to the next one, strategy #7.
This one is all about taking it up a notch and adding what I call a
'title' in front of it. For example, Mr, Miss, the, real, original,
authentic, genuine, I am, We are and so on. For Linda,
this means @ thelindabrown or @ iamlindabrown or @
misslindabrown or @ drlindabrown if we're talking about real titles.
Skylightviews can use this strategy too. For them,
handles applying this strategy could be @ officialskylightviews or @
weareskylightviews. You get it.
Let's move on to strategy #8... add your creator tag.
This is similar to the previous one.
Just add in the word "by" or "with" or something similar.
Linda could create usernames such as @ withlindabrown or @ createdbylindabrown.
Or Skylightviews could go with @ byskylightviews or @ madebyskylightviews.
Easy peasy. Buckle up because the next one's coming right up.
Strategy #9... use your domain ending. Yes,
the one you use in your website URL anyway.
Linda has the website lindasophiabrown.com.
So she could go with a username @ lindasophiabrowncom.
By the way,
more about why I didn't include the dot in that example handle later on.
If Skylightviews have the domain ending .cc or .io,
they could go ahead with a handle such as @ skylightvviewscc or @
skylightviewsio. Pretty cool, huh?
Let's keep up the momentum and introduce the next strategy,
which is strategy #10. No,
it's not the last one because I have a bonus strategy for you.
This one is super fun because it gives your handle some personality.
It could be about particular traits you or your brand have,
or maybe a quirky something about you or your brand.
Get a little bit creative here, but also use it with caution.
Let's assume Linda runs a rescue home for cats...
She could use @ catgallindabrown, or if she's a personal trainer,
she could use @ fitlindabrown, or if she's a yoga instructor,
she could use @ chilledlindabrown. For example, for the brand,
let's say it's a techy one,
we could go with @ geekyskylightviews or @ skylightviewsnerds.
Do you need more inspiration? Really? Good.
Let's look at the bonus strategy. Strategy #11...
mix 'em all up. We talked about using initials. We talked about locations.
We talked about titles, right? We spoke about all of those different things.
It's time to mix it up. Use your initials with a title,
match your trait with a nickname,
use your first name/s with a location and the list goes on and on. Get creative.
Now you have all the strategies at your fingertips and your idea list from the
previous exercises in front of you... shake them up.
Create cool combinations and come up with some unique ideas. Brainstorm,
brainstorm, brainstorm, and don't edit anything out of your list.
You can always do that later on.
Just get some cool and creative usernames on paper and then decide.
Pick some of your best username ideas. Yes, more than one.
Because I'm going to share how you can choose a username or handle that is good
to go across many social media platforms.
I learned this the hard way with my Souldriven Solopreneur username.
When I wanted to secure my handles... guess what happened?
Twitter doesn't accept names over 15 characters.
I was a little bit, ah, yeah, annoyed about that.
So I needed to choose a different username for my Twitter account,
even though I would have preferred having consistent handles across platforms.
So the rules when it comes to choosing a username that can be used online
across all major social media platforms - think Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, TikTok, Clubhouse, YouTube,
LinkedIn - would be choosing a username that is between 5 and 15 characters
long, use only letters from A to Z and from 0 to 9,
if you really need to,
I associate numbers always with a handle like catgirl372972,
and use only, and really if you absolutely need, underscores. So no hyphens,
no dots or periods in your username.
Sticking to these rules will ensure that you can use the same handle for most of
your accounts. Hello, handle consistency, memorability,
and brand recognition. And by the way,
if you want to make sure that the username you've just picked is yours to secure
on all key platforms, then watch this video at the top here,
where I'll share with you step-by-step instructions on how you can use specific
tools, entirely for free, to check username availability across channels.
I hope to catch you in this video or in one of my other ones. See ya.