If you are one of the over 200 million people with a Facebook account, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard all of the hype over Facebook usernames and vanity URL’s.

These initially became available for both personal profiles and fan pages at 12:01am EST on June 13, 2009. I for one was among those who stayed up late on a Saturday night to get a vanity URL for my own personal profile.

Like many others, however, my fan page was fairly new, and did not meet the initial requirement of having 1,000 fans in order to get a fan page username. That would come later…

The Second Wave = Mass Confusion?

This past weekend, on June 29th, Facebook opened up the second wave of fan page username registration. However, it didn’t come without a bit of controversy and confusion…

First, there was no time listed, just a date. I’m sure I’m not the only one who assumed the second wave would start at 12:01am, just like the initial landrush. Well, you know what happens when you assume something, right? It turns out, the second wave wouldn’t start until 11:59pm that night.

Reports also started floating around in regards to the fan page requirements. Initially, fan pages needed a minimum of 25 fans in order to be eligible for a username. No biggie – I had about 120 at this point, so I was not concerned.

Late Sunday afternoon, however, Facebook changed their tune… the minimum requirement was raised to 100 fans. I’m sure this made for a LOT of unhappy campers – although I realize it is all in the name of preventing cyber squatting.

In addition to this, the Facebook help pages made mention of possibly verifying your account with a mobile phone.

Users will be required to have a verified Facebook account, which may require mobile phone authentication. This decision was made to prevent people from creating new accounts just to take advantage of reserving a username.

Not As Easy As It Sounds

I thought I took care of that earlier in the day by activating Facebook mobile through the Account | Mobile link. It was as simple as sending a text message with the letter “f” to FBOOK, receiving a confirmation code, and entering it into the account settings. I tested this and all was well. Ready to get my username!

Think again! 11:59pm rolled around – I went to the username page, entered my cell phone number to be faced with this:

Sorry, that phone was recently used to verify another Facebook user and is not currently eligible for mobile verification.

WHAT?!?!?! You can imagine my distress! What do they mean my cell phone was used to verify another Facebook user? Yes the number was used – but it was used to verify MY account – an account that I’ve had for well over a year, so why is there question of my identity now?

I tried repeatedly to enter my cell phone number… I even tried in vain to use my Skype and Gizmo numbers in order to get a new confirmation code sent. Heck, I even tried my main phone number forwarded to my cell phone, LOL. Apparently Skype and Gizmo can only send SMS messages – not receive them.

Facebook Bugs and Known Problems

This is apparently either a “Bug” or “Known Problem” – see the screenshot below…

Crazy Hair-Brained Scheme #1

At this point I was desperate to secure my username and was willing to try just about anything to get it. So crazy idea #1 hit – if they won’t verify my real cell phone number, I’ll run to the store in the morning, get a cheapie $19 prepaid phone, activate it, then verify my facebook account with the new number.

Cake, right? NOPE!

Apparently Facebook has a limit – you can only request 5 confirmation codes before it cuts you off. It would have been nice if they notified you of this somewhere on the page, so I wouldn’t have wasted codes on numbers that likely weren’t going to work!

So $19 later, I’m faced with this:

Sorry, we have already tried texting 5 codes and they all seem to have failed. Please click here to get help.

Absolutely nothing that I tried at this point worked, and the help files didn’t do much other than tell you to “click here” again to fill out various support forms and bug reports. And trust me, I filled out as many forms as I could!

To make things worse, in searching for help on the issue, I came across many posts on the Facebook forums with complaints of people waiting months without any response from Facebook support.

NOT the reassurance I was hoping for!

Crazy Hair-Brained Scheme #1 = Success! (sort-of)

While this tactic didn’t work for me, because I had already hit the 5 code limit, I am happy to report that it does work for other people!

A good friend of mine experienced the exact same problem that I did – but lucky for her, she hadn’t reached the 5 code limit on the account she was trying to verify.

She unfortunately had to spend $35 on her cheapie pre-paid phone and plan, but it worked! She was successfully able to secure her Facebook fan page username!

Crazy Hair-Brained Scheme #2

My friend was now set, but it seemed that I was completely out of luck. Then it hit me… I remembered that you could add other people as administrators for your fan page.

I had recently setup a Facebook account for my husband – of course, he’s not a techie like me and could care less about the whole vanity URL thing. And as the universe works, since the usernames were not a big deal for him, he was able to verify his account and secure his username without ANY issues whatsoever!

Well, it’s my husband… his account is verified… I trust him completely… so…

What if I named my husband as an admin, and let him pick the fan page username?

Not the perfect situation, but it would certainly secure the name that I so desperately wanted to have.

So, I logged into my account, assigned him as an admin… logged in as him (with his permission, of course)… proceeded to the username page… held my breath and…

Crazy Hair-Brained Scheme #2 = Success!

Yes, this is a crazy work-around – something only a crazy obsessive compulsive personality could come up with, LOL. And of course you would only want to do this with someone that you completely trust your fan page account with.

But it worked! I was able to register my fan page username while logged into his verified account.

I was also a bit worried what would happen if I removed him as an admin, but I’ve since done so, and the username remains in tact.

Phew!

Few And Far Between?

While it seemed that everyone and their mother were posting their shiny new fan page vanity URL’s, it felt as though I was the only one having problems.

I did see a few tweets of people not being able to verify their account, but I don’t think they went to the lengths that my friend and I did to secure our pages. But, if it happened to at least the two of us – and the mobile number error I received was a “known problem” then I’m sure we were not the only ones.

So, yes, it’s a crazy work-around, but if you run into issues verifying your account and are willing to do whatever it takes to get a username for your fan page – one of these solutions might be right for you!

Smooth Sailing or a Nightmare?

So… did you secure your fan page username? Was it smooth sailing for you, or was it a similar nightmare? I’d love to hear your story, especially if it was a not so fun one like mine!

Fan Me, Please!

Of course, I can’t end this post without linking out to my page!

http://www.facebook.com/idesignstudios

I am not 100% sure what I’ll be using it for, but at the very least, I’ll be streaming blog posts, as well as providing helpful links that I find for designers, developers, freelancers and business owners – with tips on productivity, time management, work-life balance – you name it!

Basically a place to share the type of things I can’t really make a full blog post out of, but are more than worthy of sharing!

So, please join the community – I hope to see you there!

Within the last few months, I have written several guest posts on Freelance Folder that focus on topics relating to web site design and development. As I spread my wings in the blogging world, I’ve recently been approached by Mashable about contributing a WordPress related post to their blog.

Mashable is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news. With more than 6 million monthly pageviews, Mashable is the most prolific blog reviewing new Web sites and services, publishing breaking news on what’s new on the web and offering social media resources and guides.

Given Mashable’s popularity, you can imagine my surprise at the invitation – one that I could not turn down!

Top 10 WordPress Plugins to Promote Your Social Media Profiles

Here’s a brief introduction to the post below:
read the full article here

There’s no escaping social media — whether it’s for the promotion of your product, service or blog, or even just for fun, it is impossible to deny the staying power of this fairly new medium. Because WordPress is such a popular blogging platform and content management system, and has such a healthy developer ecosystem, it should come as no surprise that there are countless plugins available to help integrate your social networking efforts with your WordPress driven site.

While it’s important promote your blog posts with social bookmarking, it is equally important to promote and link to your actual profiles, as well. The following WordPress plugins are just a few of the options available to help you accomplish this. If we haven’t covered your favorite WordPress social media plugins, please leave links to them in the comments.

I hope you’ll head on over to Mashable to read the full article and share your comments.

Welcome Mashable Readers!

If you are here because of the post on Mashable – Welcome!

Thank you for reading the article and coming to check out my own web site and blog. Below are some of the more popular articles that I’ve written that you might find of interest!

• Project Scheduling Advice from 14 Designers
• How To Use WordPress as a CMS
• Essential Web Developer Tools
• 6 Phases of the Web Development Process
• Taking the Freelance Plunge… I Am FREE!

If you’re curious as to just who is behind this blog, you can learn more about me here or through the links on the sidebar. I hope you’ll also check out my web design portfolio.

Thanks again for stopping by – I hope to see you again soon! And if you like what you see, please subscribe to the feed for updates!

A bit overdue, but I’ve been wanting to write a post about social networking for a while now. Casual Friday is as good a day as any to kick back with a little bit of socializing – so I hope you’ll join me!

More Than Just An Online Water Cooler

Let’s face it… participating in social media can be fun. But, if utilized correctly, it can also be a fantastic networking tool that can help grow your blog and bring in new business. Of course, if you aren’t careful to use it productively, it can be a ginormous time-suck, as well – so you also  so you also need to learn when to disconnect.

Wading Through Open Waters

With all of the various sites out there – for professional networking like LinkedIn, micro-blogging like Twitter and Plurk, social bookmarking like Del.ici.ous and StumbleUpon, lifestreaming like FriendFeed and SocialThing and even good old fashioned messageboards and forums – it can be quite overwhelming to figure out exactly what is what.

And if the current number of social services in existence isn’t overwhelming enough, there are constantly new ones popping up – seemingly on a daily basis! The decision as to which sites you should utilize can be a difficult one to make – one I’m still working on myself, though I do have my favorites.

There are of course pros and cons to using one service over another. You can easily search online to find countless articles listing both the benefits and drawbacks of each.

However, I find the best way to figure it out, is to just setup a profile and test it out for yourself. As with any friendship, you’ll see which of the social services you click with more than others. I just say stick with those and go with the flow!

All About Forming Relationships

Pretty obvious, but the point to social media is… well, to be SOCIAL!

The primary goal behind networking online is to help build relationships. One example of the type of crowd you’ll find utilizing these services are bloggers – the same bloggers whose posts you read as soon as they pop up in your RSS feed reader. In many cases the ones that you look up to and admire.

Yes, you might comment on their blogs and get a reply, but you can only take that so far. Through social sites – in my case, especially with Twitter – I’ve been able to have direct conversations with many of writers whose blogs I enjoy. 140 character conversations that have bled over into emails and such.

Yeah, But Can Social Networking Help My Business?

Ok, it’s fun – but is there any true benefit to networking online? To this I have to give a resounding YES!

It might take a while – and what you find might be very indirect. But in my experience – especially within the last month – I have definitely started seeing a business benefit to my efforts.

I’ve “friended” (yes, that’s a word now, LOL) so many great people – from other designers, developers, mompreneurs, bloggers – from computer experts to online newbies – you name it!

Connecting With Your Peers

I’ve been able to connect with so many great web designers, web developers and programmers, as well as a large number of moms (mompreneurs), bloggers and more.

I’ve had lots of fun working late nights on client web sites, during the peak hours where the other tech type are working as well. There’s a sense of oneness when we’re all at work, making the occasional tweet about whatever project we’re currently consumed with.

As a front-end web developer, there are several technical issues that you’ll run into in the course of developing a web site. I can always count on twitter being on my side in one of these snags… I’ve made many a tweet with a “cry for help” about some issue (usually relating to making a site display properly on IE6 – my fellow techies out there know exactly what I’m talking about ).

Anyway, I can always count on tweeting about a particular issue, and getting one or several helpful responses within a matter of minutes. In the same regards, when I hear a “cry for help” myself, I offer a helpful hand if I can, as well.

Often times help comes in the form of a link to a great web site or blog with helpful information on creating Valid XHTML / CSS… some great WordPress tweak or plugin, etc.

Anyway, not to bore the non-technical readers out there, but this is my own experience with Twitter – certainly NOT a time-waster in this regard!

Strictly Professional

Of course, I can’t leave out LinkedIn, which is primarily known as being a business/professional networking site. I initially used LinkedIn to connect with friends from high school and college, but have since been adding my online friends, too.

More importantly, I’ve been able to connect with several of my clients through LinkedIn as well. One of LinkedIn’s features is that you are able to leave recommendations for people (and vice versa). This is especially helpful because it gives real credibility!

Through professional sites like LinkedIn, you are able to post your resume and professional qualifiations. If you have a public recommendation or two, it just helps show your expertise in your given field. In my case I’ve received five glowing recommendations from clients through my LinkedIn profile.

If you are in business for yourself, I highly recommend getting a LinkedIn profile of your own!

Real Life Examples (And Some Link Love)

Just a few examples below of people I follow and who follow me on Twitter (among other sites)… and I hope they don’t mind me linking to them – I’m forever grateful, though, so figured some Link Love wouldn’t hurt!

• Darren Rowse of ProBlogger
  Lets face it – if you are reading this, and have a blog, you know who ProBlogger is! Making a six figure salary on blogging alone, Darren is THE expert when it comes to being a professional blogger. You’d think someone like this is completely out of reach – this is the type of person you look up to in the blog world! But you know what – he’s a very down to earth guy! Very friendly on Twitter and Plurk, always asking thoughtful questions and such. Darren made a few Twitter experiments a few months ago in a “Re-Tweeted” series. He posed a few questions on Twitter, then linked to the responses on his blog. My responses ended up on two of these posts, and I received tons of blog (and Twitter) traffic because of it!
• Jon Phillips of Spyre Studios and Freelance Folder
  Through StumbleUpon and my old blog is where I first “met” Jon. I noticed he gave a “thumbs up” to several of my blog posts. I was quite thrilled at that, and this was actually my first introduction to StumbleUpon, as well. Since moving to this blog, I’ve connected with Jon on more of the bookmarking sites such as Digg and Design Float, as well as Twitter where I’m most active on. He submitted my 6 Phases of Web Design & Development post to several of the bookmarking sites and all I can say is WOW! This is by far my most popular post, and I continue to receive hits to it on a constant basis. Through Jon’s connections and linking, this post ended up in the “Best of March 2008″ link roundups on both Smashing Magazine and Vandelay Design. A huge accomplishment in my book, considering what a new blogger I am (coming up on 1 year soon…). I was even featured on the Spyre Studios blog as having a “Kick-Ass Blog Design” Better yet, though, especially as far as real business is concerned, I was just referred a potential new client because of the relationship that we’ve formed – this prospect is now my newest client (a big one, at that…). So that’s “proof in the pudding” as they say!
• Naomi Dunford of Itty Biz
  I adore Naomi’s writing style – she knows her stuff and is not afraid to speak her mind! When Naomi started offering her Itty Bitty Packages, I knew I had to get in on the action. I immediately hired Naomi for her home business marketing / consulting – this of course involved several phone calls, and emails, etc. We’ve since linked up on several social web sites as well. It’s through continual networking with Naomi that I’ve hired her several times… she’s also hired me to design several banner ads, as well. Through the relationship that we’ve formed, Naomi also wrote a post on her blog featuring me as one of her success stories. I have received quite a bit of traffic from this post, and have received several inquiries as a result, as well. No definite work yet, but several prospects as a result.
• Wendy Piersall of SparkPlugging
  I had been reading Wendy’s original blog network, eMoms at Home for quite some time – I’d always be reading and would occasionally comment. Then she posted links to some of her social networking profiles, and I took the bait, LOL. We’re connected on Twitter and LinkedIn, for example. We’ve had several little but very helpful chats over Twitter, which have led to some full emails (longer than 140 characters!). Aside from the invaluable advice Wendy gave me, she recently asked if she could interview me for SparkPlugging! It’s an honor to have been interviewed, and I’ve received a bit of traffic from the post. Without our prior connection through social media (specifically Twitter), I’m sure this interview never would have happened! Yes, we’ve taken our communications beyond Twitter over to email, but it’s the little 140 character conversations that helped pave the way for something more.

Let’s Connect – Friend Me!

Without further ado, below is my massively long list of social media profiles. There are a LOT here – most of which I am using, although there are a few a few I’ve opened up just to reserve my name… not quite sure yet what I’ll use it for, but all in due time…

Please feel free to friend me! I’d love to connect with you!

Most Active On…

• Del.ici.ous – social bookmarking
• LinkedIn – business networking
• Facebook – social networking community
• FriendFeed – lifestreaming
• Twitter – micro-blogging and chit-chat

The Complete List…

• Behance -business networking for designers
• Biznik -business networking
• Blog Catalog -blogging community
• Del.ici.ous – social bookmarking
• Design Float -social bookmarking for designers
• Digg -social bookmarking
• Hybrid Mom -networking for mom entrepreneurs
• Facebook – social networking community
• Flickr – photo sharing
• FriendFeed – lifestreaming
• Last.fm -music
• LinkedIn – business networking
• Mom Bloggers Club – networking for mom bloggers
• MyBlogLog -blogging community
• Plurk – micro-blogging and chit-chat
• StumbleUpon – social bookmarking
• Tumblr -micro-blogging
• Twitter – micro-blogging and chit-chat
• Technorati -blog search
• Work It, Mom! - networking for mom entrepreneurs

Easy Status Updates – Ping.fm

I can’t link to a billion social services and not recommend Ping.fm – this site is still in beta, but you can request an account by using the beta code: dreamofping

With all of the social sites – in particular the micro-blogging ones – the thought of going to each one and individually posting a status update is almost too much to bear…

Enter Ping.fm! You’re able to link many of your existing social media accounts to Ping.fm – just log in, post an update and all of your social accounts will be updated in one shot. A major time saver! I find it incredibly helpful, and I use it all the time now.

Their list of supported media sites is constantly growing, but at the moment you can make updates to 19 social services (including Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn, My Space, Plurk, Pownce, Tumblr, Twitter and more) via 7 tools (such as AOL, GTalk, Yahoo Instant Messenger, Mobile Applications, Email, and more).

Anyway, I clearly can’t say enough good things about Ping.fm, so you might want to give it a shot!

Life Streaming, Too!

The only downside to Ping.fm, is that this isn’t used for the conversational aspects of social networking. You can post your updates – but this isn’t meant for you to view your friends updates, receive responses or respond directly to your friends, etc.

For something like that – Life Streaming, as they call it – you might want to check out SocialThing (still in beta – I have 1 beta invitation left if anyone wants it…), or FriendFeed might be a better option for you.

I kind of feel that there’s still nothing like getting right into each individual site to converse directly with your friends, though. Twitter is good for replies and direct messages, for example -  but I do find Plurk’s conversation mode to be quite interesting! Much better organized in that individual conversations are grouped together, rather than Twitter’s general timeline.

Anyway, this post has gone on long enough, LOL, so…

Now I Want To Hear From YOU!

Which of the social media sites do you like the best? Why do you use that one over another? Which micro-blogging platform to you like the best? Which social bookmarking site brings you the most traffic (StumbleUpon by far brings me the most traffic, btw).

Please feel free to contact me with a link to your social site(s) of choice, or if you don’t mind it being “out there” go ahead and post the link(s) in your comment below. I’d love to get to know my readers better, and what better way than through social networking!