Facebook Tutorial: How to Set Your Business Page Username

You have reached the magic number of people who like your page and you can now personalize your Facebook Page URL to a user-friendly URL.  That sounds easy until you realize that you don't know where to start.  This tutorial will walk you through the steps necessary to change your Fan Page URL to a user-friendly URL.
First you need to decide on the name you want to use.  Remember that you can’t use spaces. Some people use the "." for their space and some use the "-" or you can just skip it altogether and use your business name as all one word.

Once you decide on a username, log on to Facebook.  Please remember to log on. And please don’t ask how I know to remind you.

Go to this url: http://www.facebook.com/username/ Do NOT replace username with your Facebook username. You want to go to the page that Facebook calls "username".

This is the screen you should see.    See where it reads “Set a username for your Pages” near the bottom center of the page.  Click there.


Click on the drop down menu and you should see a list of the pages on your account.  Choose the page you would like rename.  **Be sure to choose the correct page.  Once you have assigned a name to your page, it can NOT be changed..


Type the username you want in the box to the right of the drop-down menu.

That is all there is to it.

I would like to thank my friends at Uncovered Artistry for the screen shots for this tutorial.

Please contact me if you have any questions or corrections. Click here to read more!

“Oregon or Bust” Sale

I am going to a wedding at the end of August.  It’s going to be in Oregon so Larry and I are planning to have a nice vacation. 

His oldest daughter will be getting married and to celebrate I will be having an “Oregon or Bust” sale in all my shops until August 15th.   I don’t want to have a boring sale where you get the same thing for several weeks.

I am going to change the sale every few days.  I will be having lots of short 2 or 3 day sales on specific items or categories of items.

I have added the Shop Now tab to my new fan page, CherylsPurpleCow-and-MyExtraBeads.  The sale there is going to be 20% off the sales price for fans of the new page.  You will receive the discount as a refund through PayPal unless you contact me for a reserved listing before you buy.

I am also having a contest in this shop.  I need a “user-friendly” url for my new fan page.  I want something short and easy.  I was thinking along the lines of “MyPage”.  The person who suggests the winning url will get a $20.00 gift certificate good for any of my shops.

At Cheryls Purple Cow on Etsy the sale is 25% off of metal free jewelry.  I have moved the stretch awareness bracelets to that section for the sale.

In My Extra Beads on Etsy I have added a clearance section with items at drastically reduced prices.

These particular discounts will only last a few days then I will change to new discounts so hurry over to take advantage of these great prices.
Click here to read more!

New Look for Cheryls Purple Cow

Good Afternoon!

I want to invite everyone to visit my blog and see the new look. If you are like me you don't visit each blog you follow regularly. You read the posts in a reader. The down side of that is that you don't get to see all the pretties.

I was doing the blog walk one day,
that's what I call it when I am on a blog and see a link to a blog that sounds interesting and follow a link on that blog that sounds interesting.... well, you get the idea.

I noticed that a few of the blogs looked real good and they were made by the same designer. So I contacted her and this new look is the result. I will be posting an interview with her when I post this.

I like my new look because I get to have the things I love to see everywhere.  The bracelet is an epilepsy awareness bracelet called the "Mandiye" that I designed for a good friend.  The white cat is Mi Dulcie Corazon, we just called her Dulcie.  Isn't that a pretty heart on her side.  The other 2 cats are the girls I have now, both are her children.  Spaz, the gray, is the only survivor of Dulcie's first litter.  Smokie, the black, is from the next litter.  My step-son adopted her but he made the mistake of leaving her with me when he went on vacation.  I wouldn't give her back.

This new design also brings a cohesiveness to my "branding".  I am using the same header as a banner in my Etsy shops, Cheryls Purple Cow and My Extra Beads and on my Facebook shop. Click on the links to see each one.

I also added a "Grab" button.  Please grab my button to post on your blog and if I don't already have yours on my blog, let me know so I can get it.

I also consolidated the tutorials and put the list on a separate page. Just click on the "Tutorials" to see the list.

I think that I covered the major changes. Let me know what you think in the comments. If you have done a recent redesign, and I know at least 2 or you who have, please leave your link in the comments so we can all come and admire yours too.
Click here to read more!

Tutorial: How to Set Up a FaceBook Store Front

There is a new application that allows you to have a store front on your Facebook page.  I installed the application on my Fan page.  It is easy to use, once you set it up. The initial installation can be a little confusing.
You can check out my Store Front on Cheryls Purple Cow Fan Page.
Here is a list of things to have ready:

• Email account you want to use for this application
• Your PayPal account username
• Your Store Name
• A brief set of store policies
• Your Facebook Fan Page

You must have a Facebook "Fan" page to install the "Shop Now" tab.  Please refer to my tutorial "How to Create a Facebook Fan Page" if you need help creating your Fan Page.
Sign in to Facebook and go to the "Payvment" Fan Page.  http://www.facebook.com/payvment
You may choose to "Like" this page if you want, but it isn't required.  Click on "Go to Application" and you will go directly to a screen that asks if you want to allow this application to have access to your information.  If you want to install the application you must choose "Allow". Note: If you click on install tab on the first page you will be taken to another screen where you click to install the application, adding a step.   Once you allow access you are taken to this screen:  In order to fill in the payvment secret Key you will need to click on payvment dashboard.  The link is right under the box for the secret key.  The link will take you to the payvment registration screen.  Click on Register Now.  Fill out the registration form on the next screen.  Once you fill out the registration you will need to check your email for the activation code. Click on the link in the email to activate your account.  You will be taken to the login screen.  Login to your account.The next screen will have your API key and your Secret Key listed.  You will need this Secret Key in a few minutes.From here you can click on the “Account” tab.  On the next screen click on Retailer Settings to be taken to this screen.  You will need to fill in your retailer settings on this screen:

• Your PayPal username is the email address you use for PayPal
• Name of your storefront
• Email address that you are going to use
• Information concerning your store policies.

Go back to Facebook and paste the secret key into this box.  Fill in the rest of the information and click save.  You have just created your storefront.  The next screen is the dashboard: Click on Attach to Facebook page.  You will be asked to verify that you want to add it.  When you do you are taken to your Fan page.  Click on the “+” tab and click on the “shop now” icon from the drop-down menu.  You have just added the “Shop Now” tab to your page.  If you click on that, you will see a “coming soon” announcement.  Click on Initialize  The button changes to “Go To Store Settings”  click on that.  This is what the next screen looks like: Click on turn store on then click on Yes launch it.  Now you can go to your Facebook page and click on the shop now tab  

This tutorial has taken you through adding the application and the tab to your Fan Page.  I will be working on a tutorial for adding items and other things you can do with your store front.  Look for it soon!

If you use this tutorial and you find errors or omissions, please contact me so that I can make corrections.  If you have any suggestions please contact me with those too. Click here to read more!

Un-Cluttering My House Sale

I am going to have a sale this weekend in my FaceBook Store Front. Before I talk about the sale I want to tell you what initiated the need for a sale.

In the book Zen and the Art of a Clean House the author talks about the relationship between the condition of your home and the condition of your life. "You put a house in order and you put your life in order. All the trash weighs you down. You might as well drag it around on your back, the dirt, the mess." In other words when your home is organized and clean then your life is organized and you things are basically good. But if your house is cluttered and really needs some work then your life is in pretty much the same condition.

I have found that to be very true. I have also found that when I am constantly feeling frustrated about everything, a good house-cleaning does wonders.  I have been very frustrated lately to put it politely.

Some of the clutter that weighs me down is all the crafting supplies I have. They fill all the closets and any free space in my small apartment. My husband has been gently suggesting that I downsize my storage needs.   I finally agree with him.  The box in the picture is the first of about 7 boxes of crafting supplies.



This is a very short list of items:
Foam Shapes
Wood Shapes
Wood Plaques
Wood Boxes
Beads
Basket Making Reed
Small Gifts for Gift Baskets
Baskets
Candle Holders and Votives

I am going to be listing the supplies (and anything else) in my Facebook store. To get to my store, you go to my Facebook Fan Page and click on the Shop Now tab. The pictures you will see when my store opens are the featured items. Click on the drop-down menu on the left-hand side that reads "Browse by Category", choose a category and you will see all the items in that category.

I will be uploading pictures to the photo albums on my Fan Page if you want a sneak peak. I have a lot to get done before Friday so I may not have time to answer questions especially because the info will probably be in the listing.

Did I mention that Facebook Fans get an additional 10% off the sale prices?


Click here to read more!

Survey: Please Read

It is time for me to examine my blog, my Facebook and my shops. I need some input from my fans and followers to help me make some decisions about what to keep, what to get rid of and what to change.

I have created a survey through Survey Monkey and I would love to get as many responses as possible. The survey is completely anonymous so please be honest.

You can visit my blog and click on the link at the top of the right sidebar or you can go to the survey here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FY5QYX3

You don't need to be a fan or a follower to complete the survey. Please share the link with as many people as you can.

Thank-You Click here to read more!

Facebook Store Front

I found a new application that allows you to have a store front on your Facebook page. I have already installed the application on my Fan page.

Setting the application up on my page was a bit confusing. I am in the process of writing a tutorial that covers the steps needed to open your store. This store front does not have the functionality of Etsy. But there are a few advantages to this new application.

If you want to see what my store front looks like on my Fan Page the tab is called "Shop Now" .  The application is called "payvment Ecommerce Storefront". 

I like the fact that I can add pictures and whatever text that I want to my Welcome page.  I can also list almost anything in this shop, as long as the item is within Facebook guidelines.  

I have set-up a discussion on my Fan Page for any comments or opinions here: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=84445958484&topic=15923

If you have already set yours up, you can leave a link to it by commenting on this post.  That way anyone who reads this post can view more than one shop. Click here to read more!

Professional Tips: Your Sites and Links

Trendy Purple Bracelet by WanderlustBling

The way your website, shop, Fan Page or any page that you personalize looks and performs is a direct reflection on your business. In a Treasury Tutorial: How to Prepare Your Item For Treasuries part 3 I suggested that you view your shop as a potential customer. You need to do this for every page or site that you personalize.

Visit all your pages, websites, shops, etc and pretend you are a potential customer. Click on all the links, pictures, anything you can click on, if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for your customer.

Hearts and Flowers Earrings by Zur Designs

Brick and Mortar shop owners do this all the time. When setting up a display, they will step back and try to see what it looks like to a potential customer.

If they post a sign indicating what direction to go for a certain product, the owner makes sure the arrow points the right way. Your link is a sign that directs a potential customer to where the item, information, etc is supposed to be. All it takes is a moment for you to click on the link to make sure that it works properly.


I would like some input from my readers.  How would you answer these questions:

Question:  What action do you take when you are in an Etsy shop or on a blog and you notice something like a link that does not work properly? 

My Answer: I notify the shop or blog owner.  If I see the problem with the link I provide that information also. In my opinion, this is just professional courtesy.

Question: If I notice something in YOUR shop or blog like a link that doesn't work properly, do you want to know? 

My Answer: I sincerely hope that you will. 


I am preparing my next tutorial on how to change the background of your blog to a picture.  I should post it within the next day or two.

I am always looking for topics for my Tutorial and Tips series.  If you have any suggestions, please comment.  I will feature your items in the tutorial if I use your topic. 


I used pictures of items from the following Etsy shops in this post:

WanderlustBling
Zur Designs


Please click on the pictures of the items to be taken to  the listing page.
Click on the shop name to be taken to the shop. Click here to read more!

Facebook Tips: Fan Pages and Fanning

LOVE Big Cocktail Ring by Recreational Art

I have a Facebook Fan Page for my business.  Many of the shops on Etsy and Artfire have Fan Pages too.  We all help each other out and support each other by fanning other Fan Pages and returning the favor to those who fan us.

When you fan someone you do so from your profile page and not your Fan Page.  Why is this tidbit of information important?  Because sometimes it is easy to figure out which fan page belongs to which profile.   In my case, my business name includes my first name.  But sometimes it is difficult to put profile and Fan Page together.  I want to do the right thing.  I want to fan back, but I can't find your business name anywhere.

Purple Grapes Earrings by PurpleMoonDesigns

I like to make sure that I have fanned all my fans and I have a few tips to make "fanning" easier and friendlier.

First, make sure that you include a link to your business and/or Fan page on your profile page.  It is good, passive advertising.  And it helps when I am trying to figure out who you are and what business name you use.

Second, talk to me when you fan me.  I don't need your life story but a simple "I fanned you" along with a link to your Fan Page will suffice.  If I don't want your link on my Fan page, I can remove it.

Third, most Fan pages are taking part in the Link Love discussions.  Leave all of your links in one post in my discussion.  But don't be rude and leave your links if you are not a Fan. 

Beaded Bead Necklace  by cisraydesigns

Fourth, don't fan me if you intend to unfan me next week or month.  If you don't want to see my posts either don't fan me in the first place or "hide" my posts.

If you are fanning other business Fan Pages and you are not being "fanned" in return, make sure that everyone knows what name your Fan Page is using.

I thank Recreational Art, Cisray Designs and Purple Moon Designs for the use of their pictures.  Please visit their shops using the links I have provided.

**Remember that I use pictures from my followers shops in my blog posts.  If you do NOT want your pictures used, please let me know.** Click here to read more!

Facebook Friday

Today I am offering a few tips regarding Facebook applications etiquette.


Remember that not all your friends utilize the games and gift applications and it is not necessary to send invitations out to all your friends to progress past that invitation screen.


Just look for the "Skip" button.  On the screen in the picture I have marked it with a green outline.  It may look different in other applications but it is ALWAYS there.


If you have sent several gifts or invites to someone and they have not responded, they probably don't use the applications and you should honor that.


Many of these applications use adware and spyware to garner personal information from your profile and from your friends profile.


Please respect the fact that many people do not use these applications for that reason.  Personally I have unfriended people who do not respect my wishes regarding applications. Click here to read more!

Friday's Facebook

Welcome to my new feature - Friday's Facebook.

This feature will concentrate on minor tips and setting changes to make your Facebook experience a little less stressful.  I am constantly changing the settings on the websites and networking sites that I frequent.  I realized a few days ago that not everyone knows how to do the minor tweaks when someone complained to me about all the email they got from Facebook. 

Your tip this week is how to turn off all the email notifications that you get from Facebook every time a friend of yours sneezes.

You have to be logged in to Facebook.  First, right click on the word "account" in the upper right of your screen.  You will get a drop-down menu.  choose "Account Settings".  On the next screen look at the tabs across the upper center of the page and click on "Notifications".

There is another way to get to that page.  Once you are logged in to Facebook just use this link:
http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?notifications

You are taken to a page that lists every action that Facebook can send you an email or SMS notification for.  Simply go down the list and uncheck everything that you do NOT want to be notified of by Facebook.

It is that simple. Click here to read more!

What's Going On?

I am pretty sure that if you are following my blog you want to know what is going on.  I have not been posting as often as I like.  And what is with the actual blog page?  Why is it in funcky colors and changing all the time?  Here are some answers.

I am in the process of totally renovating my blog.   My home page was just too busy and that made it hard to focus on any specific thing.   I am also testing different themes and colors to see which will work the best with the other changes that I am making.

If you really like a color I have used or can't read because of the colors, please let me know in the comments.  I moderate all comments so I will be the only one to see them.  Unless it is a comment on the content of a post, then I do publish them.
 
There will be one page for Cheryls Purple Cow and another for My Extra Beads.  That  way if you want to see some of the items in my shops you can navigate to that  shops page. 

I will have a separate page for social networking badges and links.  I am still working out how I can put my Twitter feed and Facebook feed on that.

There is a page for Epilepsy Awareness.  I will have badges and links to Epilepsy Related Materials on that page.

The next page is the one that is giving me the most trouble. It is the Ribbon colors page.  I spend about an hour a day on my Awareness Ribbon Colors and Causes document.  I am trying to format it so that I can have the complete, legible document on this page.  That way anyone can look up the color ribbon for their particular cause.  I have finally been able to publish the document, but it is not legible.  I need to figure a way to format it so that it remains legible when I upload it to the storage site and then embed it in the blog page.

I am trying to devote at least an hour or two a day to this project but life does intrude.  Since last Monday I have had 2 doctors appointments, an EMG test of the nerves in my legs, an MRI of my brain and  a 24 hour sleep deprived EEG.  It takes about 3 days to get back on the sleep cycle after the EEG.  And for those who question whether or not I have a brain, I have pictures to prove that mine exists, do you?  LOL

OH, and last but not least, I am finally working on that blog giveaway.  It is going to be a collaboration with at least one more shop, maybe more.  I should have an announcement ready this weekend. Click here to read more!

Big Plans and Dreams for this Year

I have not been attending to my blog the way I would like to but that is due to the changes I am in the process of implementing.  I decided that I would share my plans with you.  

I started selling some of my destash supplies in my shop but I don't really like the way they look in the shop with my creations.  So I opened a new shop.  I call it MyExtraBeads.  the address is http://MyExtraBeads.etsy.com.  I will be selling quite a few extra beads and other arts and crafts supplies.

I opened a new FB account for my Epilepsy Awareness efforts.  If you are interested you can find that page at MyEpilepsy Page on FB. My personal page has way too much going on.  I have my friends and family, Larrys friends and family, people that I have met and fanned through Etsy, and all my Epilepsy contacts on my personal page.  Some days I have to go through 4 or 5 pages to see an hours worth of posts.  I decided to break off the epilepsy because that is something that needs undivided attention.  I even opened a group page along with it so that others could contribute more to the page.

I have been doing well with the Awareness Treasuries. I have kept them going almost continuously for almost a month now.  


I am also working on a comprehensive list of Awareness Ribbon Colors that shows all the causes for each color.  I am trying to figure out how to add a page to my blog so that the list can be posted here.

I started the Facebook Tutorial on my Tuesdays Tutorials segment of the blog.  I still need to come up with a couple more segments that I can publish weekly.

I am going to announce a blog giveaway as soon as I hammer out the details.  I will be giving away a custom made bracelet from my shop.  I think I know which one, but I'm not sure.

Hmmm, I need a couple new segments.  I need something to promote my blog giveaway.  Maybe I will combine the two.  

Boy, just seeing this list is making me tired.  


Till next time.


I Click here to read more!

New Weekly Feature Tuesday Tutorial How to Create a Facebook Fan Page

Facebook Tutorial  How to Create a Fan Page

I answer many questions about Facebook Fan Pages and decided that I was going to start writing the instructions for others in the form of Tutorials.

The first tutorial is written as if the reader has not played around with Facebook much.  I am going to give basic information that may bore some of you.  Please bear with me while I bring the new to Facebook audience up to speed.

This tutorial is going to walk you through creating your Fan Page.  You should already have a page set up for yourself.  That page is the "Profile" page.

There are a 2 ways to get to the "Create a Fan Page"  and both ways take you to the page below.

1)  If you are on someone else's Fan Page, scroll down to the bottom of the left-most column.  You will see this:

click on "Create a Page for My Business".

2)  You can follow this link: http://facebook.com/pages/create.php

This is a picture of that page.

Choose either "Local",  "Brand, Product or Organization"  or "Artist, Bank, or Public Figure".  When you choose one you will have access to a drop-down menu.  Scroll the menu and choose the selection that best describes your Fan Page.  I have expanded the drop-down menu for the category "Local" so that you can see what choices are available.

Type the name you want for your Fan Page in the "Name of Page" box.

I recommend checking the next box so that you have time to work on your Fan Page before it goes public.

Read the small paragraph above the blue "Create Page" button.  If you need more information read the statements below the button.

If you are ready to set-up your Fan Page click on the blue button.

This next page is your new Fan Page.  I recommend bookmarking the page or saving it as a favorite.  It is not always easy to get back to the page at first.

You need to fan your Fan Page.  This is not automatic, you will go through the steps like anyone else.  Simply click on the "Become a Fan" button.

*I forgot to take notes while I did this step so please send me any corrections you notice*

Next you should add a profile picture.  Click on "Edit Picture" on the left side of the page.  Click on  "upload from computer".  Find the picture you want to use and click on it.  When you are done click on "Go back to your page" to get back to the main page.

If you want to change your settings, change the admins of your page,  get your "Badge" or "FanBox" click on edit page.  There are too many options available on this page to go over them now

Congratulations!!! You have just created a Fan Page.

I am constantly looking for Tutorial suggestions.  If you have a topic to suggest please use the comment  to suggest it or go to my Fan Page and post your suggestion in the Tutorial discussion.

Click here to read more!

Personalized Facebook Landing Page Courtesy of The Curious Pug

I browse through the Etsy forums from time to time looking for a thread that might interest me.  This title certainly caught my eye: "I made a tutorial on how to make a welcome Tab for your Facebook Fan Page".  I loved that concept so I checked out the links provided in the thread.

It seems to be a real simple thing to do.  All I really needed to do was design the graphics for my page, then follow a set of directions.  I can do that.  Well  if you read some of my blog entries you know that I like to outsmart myself.  I designed the graphics for my page and followed the directions.  (this is the part where I outsmart myself).

I could get the graphics loaded but the part about embedding a link in the page to take fans to my Etsy shop took them to the picture in my Picassa web album. I beat my head against the wall for about 4 hours. No matter what I did I couldn't fix it.  I even went back and read the post (instead of just skimming the highlights).   I finally sent The Curious Pug an email.    In the reply she went so far as to type up the exact code so that all I had to do was replace the picture information.  This is where you learn that if you are following a computer code verbatum, it may be a good idea to do just that.

After an hour I had just about decided that my fans would appreciate visiting my web album instead of my store.  The only difference between what I used and What she used was that the Pug used Photobucket,, so I uploaded my Graphics to Photobucket and that fixed it.  I guess it has to do with the way Picassa links back to the picture.  But it works now.  Check it out.  http://www.facebook.com/Cheryls.Purple.Cow?ref=ts

Here is a link to the post in The Curious Pug's Blog:

http://curiouspug.blogspot.com/2009/12/tutorial-1-how-to-add-welcome-tab-to.html

My next blog post will be an interview with The Curious Pug.   I will have information on upcoming tutorials on her blog.  Look for it within the next couple of days. 


Click here to read more!

Busy, Busy, Busy

This past week or two have been real busy for me. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but November is Epilepsy Awareness Month. (LOL, that's all I have done, I mention it constantly). I have been promoting Epilepsy Awareness on my Facebook page and on Twitter. I have also been promoting the Epilepsy Awareness items in my shop.

I also had a goal for Treasuries this month. I was going to have a Treasury going at all times. I did real good until last night. I have been getting Treasuries within about 10 hours of my expiration. But last night I was sleeping on the job. Literally. The Treasury opened up at about 3 am on the West Coast. I didn't sleep much the night before and I stayed up until 11. Oops, I missed it. But there is always another Treasury and that is what I am doing right now. I am watching that number in the other IE window get smaller and smaller.

This Treasury will feature Awareness items from the Etsy team that I just joined. Etsy Texas Crafters. I have spent most of my computer time today at the team site setting up my page and reading all the info they have on their site.

I am also excited because I found the candles I have been looking for so that I can make one of my "Reflections" to sell in my shop. Look for it in a day or two, unless I get sidetracked.

Gotta Go, that number sure is getting close. Click here to read more!