The twitter name I want for my business is not available!
So you’re ready to start promoting your business on Twitter…
you hit the Twitter sign up pages only to find the name you want to represent your brand is taken! Drats!
Here are three tips to help you work your way around that problem:
1. Add your industry.
Attach the type of business you have to your name.
@ruleof3copywriter, @ruleof3webcopy, @ruleof3writer. The advantage of doing this is obvious… it makes it very clear to everyone what business you are in.
2. ‘The’ easiest answer!
I can tell you from personal experience this works. I have several accounts of which the personal one was the easiest to register as my personal name is unusual. But when it came to my ruleofthree business account someone had already snaffled that name and ruleof3 as well. But a quick twitter name search uncovered that @theruleof3 was still available.
Adding a definite article worked for my name but if it doesn’t work with yours try some other short words such as:
- My: @myruleof3
- A: @Aruleof3
- Our: @ourruleof3
Or an abbreviation of the country you operate from might be the answer: @ruleof3AU.
You can also abbreviate or ‘slang’ your name i.e. @roolof3 but be careful to make sure itsuits your market. In my case I am branding a business in the writing industry so this was not something I considered.
I did however change the word ‘three’ to the numeral ‘3’. Given that the Twitter messaging system limits you to 140 characters this was a logical abbreviation to make.
3. Are you a real person?
A simple solution could be to just add your name: @CarlaRuleof3 @ruleof3Carla
There are certain advantages to adding your name as it identifies the account as belonging to a real person. Even though you will be representing your brand online there is much argument to say that the best marketing on Twitter comes from individuals who practice engaging on social media platforms. That is interacting with others rather than just sending streams of advertising links.
In the ‘engaging on social platforms stakes’ adding your name might be an immediate bonus because people generally like to know who they are connecting with.
Give yourself a plug! Were you lucky with your Twitter name or did you have to come up with a clever solution?