I was wondering, should I pick my full name as the domain name (as in fullname.tld)? This might be beneficial when building a personal brand, but is not very 'catchy' if the site happens to evolve into a small business. I know Bruce Clay has managed to create a huge personal brand by building a business on top of his name, but hey... We can't all be Bruce Clay.
Any ideas on this?
1. Personal "first name, last name" domain for a personal website.
2. Personal also for a site IF you're a celebrity, movie star, rock star, etc.
You can always link from your personal site to your business site.
My site's primary goal is 'selling' myself; i.e. branding myself in order to obtain a solid position in job interviews. It's about 'becoming wanted' by companies in my industry.
However, I would also like to advertise my services (as a separate business entity that bears my name) on it if things work out well. If such is the case and the site indeed gains some authority, conducting business from it through a 'services'-section seems natural,s ince the site is a trusted entity towards potential customers.
goal is 'selling' myself; i.e. branding myself
I'm not a fan of the "branding yourself" - personal brand - movement, fad, whatever. I don't see brand as what someone contrives, controls, forges, whatever. Why? As the saying goes, "Brand isn't what you think of yourself, your company, your company brand. Brand is what others think of you or your company."
You can create or manage symbols: logos, colors, your clothing, shoes, how you walk - but that's fluff in my book. The same with making your website about "selling yourself" or "your personal branding". Forget that that's the purpose of the site. Don't even make that a purpose. In fact, forget the whole idea of personal brand and selling yourself. Trust me, if you deliver the goods then everything else is handled. Your results will speak volumes. You will be known by your results. Your name is simply something attached to the "wow factor".
My version of "personal branding" is that you do what you do well - preferably better than most - and from that encounter and experience people will form their own judgment, impression - they will brand you - if you insist. Stop mucking about the fluff and let's see some product.
Little story: When I started practicing law my mentor, a very successful trial lawyer, made no bones about what really mattered in the realm of client relations and getting new clients. He said he could sit on a packing crate on the corner of the street, with a cardboard box for his desk, and people would still come asking for his services and assistance. It was an exaggeration but it was true. Why? Because he had a reputation for getting things done, better than most.
Put the emphasis on what really matters. Show you have brains, expertise, keen judgment, you get results - you provide whatever the special sauce is in your market - and everything else will fall in line.
The popular dialogue of the moment, the one about "personal branding", will eventually - soon - be known and shown for what it really is: A fixation on the small stuff of personhood, compensating for an otherwise shallow existence and the lack of big personal mission, big enough to compel you to take your attention off yourself and all that small stuff.
Go forth and start revealing your brilliance by publishing your astounding insights and compelling analysis. Do it on a plain unaltered WordPress blog and that will become your "brand": The brilliant guy who never bothered to make his blog fancy. "He's so out there friggin' brilliant he doesn't give a #@#@ about how his blog looks." The experience is "He doesn't care and why should I care that it's a plain vanilla blog? It's the contents - what he writes - that I care about!"
[edited by: Webwork at 1:29 am (utc) on Jan. 17, 2009]
