Did you know…you can get a custom URL on Facebook. Just go to http://facebook.com/username and sign up for your username before someone else does. It’s one more way to keep your brand consistent and own your name on a major service.
Why should you do this?
First, it’s easier to remember, especially if you have a hard to spell last name. Instead of saying “look me up on Facebook” you could make this a key place for your personal brand to live at.
Second, you can put it on a business card. http://facebook.com/philgerb is WAY more memorable than http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=682195131 isn’t it?
Third, don’t get stuck with http://facebook.com/phil.gerbyshak53202, like back in the days when AOL email addresses were all the rage.
Fourth, it’s consistent. My URL on Twitter is http://twitter.com/philgerb. Now I am http://facebook.com/philgerb. I can remember that (and so can you) 
Last, it’s free. It doesn’t cost you anything to register your name RIGHT NOW. Why not go do it, just on the off-chance you might want it in the future.
And one more reason:
So someone doesn’t steal your brand name – Bad form? Yep. Illegal? Probably not.
A few interesting tidbits:
Facebook doesn’t allow you to transfer your custom URL to anyone, so folks who are thinking they will be squatting on all the “good names” are out of luck.
Also, unless you have more than 1000 “fans,” you can’t get a custom URL for your fan pages.
Last but not least, if you are a big shot journalist, you didn’t have to wait in line for a custom URL, which is pretty lame, in my humble opinion, but whatever. I’m not a Facebook owner. I might have done the same thing
If you want to be my “Facebook friend,” you can find me at http://facebook.com/philgerb. Just please tell me how you know me, and I will gladly accept your request.
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Thanks for the info!
I got my name as the username.
You don’t need 1,000 Fans to get your own username.
Your Facebook account must be registered before June 9 as the only criteria.
Mike
Mike – Glad you got what you wanted. That’s great!
You need 1000 fans to have your own username for a fan page. For your normal Facebook URL, you just need to have started on FB before 6/9. Happy Facebooking!
Hey Phil!
I agree that it’s smart to get your username early. It’s so much easier to put in your email signature or business card, etc.
I was eagerly watching the countdown last night to snag mine. I was hoping to just get “andrew”. No such luck. Some dude from Ireland got it. But, like you, I decided to go with consistency: aflusche. It’s my name just about everywhere.
“phil” is too short (gotta be 5 or more unless you’re Mike Arrington) or I’d have tried for that. Doubtful if someone else would squat “philgerb” but who knows. Glad you got “aflusche” If you ever think you’re going to want to branch out, you’re silly not to take 3 minutes to secure your name or a close variation.
Hi Phil .. I got my name too .. so that’s good – not sure if I shouldn’t have taken my blog name though .. positiveletters? too late!
Thanks – Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters
Question: I’m trying to get my URL for my business on Facebook. Facebook says to go to “Profile” and copy the URL. However, a business does not have a profile and, at least for me, I don’t know how to Link my business URL to emails. What can I do right to find my URL – and I don’t care if it’s vanity or not. Thanks.
Hilary – getting any name is better than none. Easier to share and to say.
Brian – Not sure what you mean by “a business.” If you mean a “fan page” then you’ll be able to do that if you have over 100 folks as fans. If you have a business listing, I am not sure this is possible yet. I’ll see if I can find anything for you.
You do in fact need to have 100 fans on a Facebook page in order to get a custom URL – not 1,000 — but 100
Thanks Julie. That is great to know. Now we all have a chance to get a custom URL for our fan page.
Last month Wisconsinmade.com set up a “business account” on Facebook. This is very different from a personal FB page – there is no profile. Most small companies have a personal FB account to which they add a business page. This is not what we are doiong. We have registered with FB as a company.
When working on our page, we have to be very careful not to click on “Profile” or the page will automatically convert to a personal account. We have investigated this thorougly and know this information is correct. In fact, two months prior we actually made a mistake and converted the account to a personal account. With Facebook help we had to start all over again, delete that account and set up a new one.
We would like to get a custom URL for our company. We know other companies have done this. Lands’End’s FB page is one example. However, when we go to change the username under the Settings menu, we are asked to verify the account. What does “verifying” the account mean? Could this convert our business account into a personal one?
So you see, we are stuck at the step prior to going to http://www.facebook.com/username. Do you have any suggestions for how we can get a custom URL?
Cristie – I don’t know the answer to your question. I’ll see what I can find however and post an update when I do.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks so much for looking into it for us. This issue is driving me and my employer bananas!!!! We very much appreciate any help you can give us. Thanks!