Welcome to my new blog.
Yes, my blog just had a makeover – to make it more hospitable. And now it also has a new home: www.jaculynnpeterson.com.
A couple of months ago, I decided to take the plunge and upgrade from my free-hosted blog at http://diablogue.wordpress.com. Of course, the Diablogue domain name was already taken.
I thought: “So now what?”
Naturally, I turned to Twitter and asked for advice. Four people immediately responded with great suggestions and food for thought: Kim Woodbridge, Ari Herzog, Angela Recchia, and Kevin Grandia.
However, it was this reply that caught me off guard:
ariherzog @diablogue_chat For instance, why not jaculynnpeterson.com? 7:06 PM Nov 6th, 2008 from TweetDeck in reply to diablogue_chat
I never considered my own name as a domain for my business. Not once. Then I became curious as to why I never considered it. Why not?
Because I didn’t write a best-selling book? Because I’m not on the international speaking circuit? Because I wasn’t profiled in the New York Times? Because I didn’t make millions on my last IPO? Because, I thought, I’m not a rockstar?
I’ve always given advice to others about the importance of name domains as they relate to personal branding. I also made it a point to tell parents and grandparents to (secure and) buy name domains as gifts to bestow on children when they reach Internet age.
So why wasn’t I following my own advice?
What was stopping me from using my own name as a domain for my business? Frankly, it felt pretty comfortable safe hanging out hiding behind a separate blog domain name like Diablogue. That was less work scary than defining, refining, and sharing the evolution of me. Besides I was am having a great deal of fun exploring and sampling different paths, challenges, endeavors, industries, clients and projects. Why try to bundle all those mostly discrete elements into one personal brand? Was it even possible without a laser focus?
Why did I think that I had to bundle them? I didn’t.
Why the desire to create an identity package and a laser focus? I’m not a corporation for Pete’s sake. I’m a person.
And then I thought: Just like corporate brands are determined by their customers, your “personal brand” is determined by those who know and interact with you. And the only way they can get to know the real you, to interface with you, and get a true sense of you, is to be you – not a brand identity. By default, you will develop an associated reputation. That’s because people have reputations. Companies have brands.
So what do I really think about personal branding? It’s an industry – and as long as someone can make a buck off of it, we will always hear about “personal branding.”
There you have it: www.jaculynnpeterson.com is my new domain name name domain for my business. I chose it – among all the excellent suggestions from my Twitter friends – not to develop my personal brand, but for the freedom to be me.
Thanks all.
NOTE: Extra special thanks goes out to Mark Hayward for his ongoing inspiration!
[Update: Clarification highlighted in green. Thanks for your comments!]
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Well done and congratulations JP… or should that be Jaculynn
It’s easy to navigate, looks clean, love the colors and it has your name on it. Very cool!
Ange Recchia’s last blog post..15 Top Posts from Angesbiz
Hi – I think the redesign and your new domain is great!
I bought my name as my domain years ago. I didn’t even think about branding or anything like that – I didn’t know what else to get. One problem that I’ve run into is that businesses that use Websense tend to block all domains that are names regardless of what the site is about. Mine is blocked, Chris Brogan’s is blocked and I bet when I get to work, yours will be blocked too.
People who are into “flipping” websites don’t like named ones either but, personally, I’ve never been interested in building up a site with the intention of selling it.
Kim Woodbridge’s last blog post..How to Make a Post Sticky in WordPress 2.7
Thanks Kim! The great thing about having your name as a domain, too, is that it affords flexibility.
That is an interesting bit of info about Websense. I’m thinking about pinging them about it…see what else I can learn. Curious.
I don’t understand the web site flipping thing either. It’d be akin to parting with a baby (ok, not exactly – but you know what I mean).
I bought my own name as a domain years ago. (Mainly because that skank ho Joni Mitchell has a hammerlock on joni.com!)
My friends cautioned me against it, since it’s hard to be invisible on the web when your domain is your name. Still, it hasn’t impacted my life negatively. All my friends know where to find me.
Looking forward to reading more here. And love what you’ve done with The Brat’s (but I mean this in a loving way!) Thesis theme.
Joni’s last blog post..Daily Twitter Diary
Joni, You are too much! I just TechFaved your blog, which is EXCEPTIONAL. Truly. Thanks for stopping by – I’m envisioning all sorts of colorful convos already. I can’t wait. Following you on Twitter too.
I worked for 20 years marketing, promoting and publicizing company brands; it still feels odd to turn the focus toward me and my biz. But I guess I’m getting the hang of it now. Anyway, it’s either that or eat cat food for dinner.
Thanks again!
Hi Jaculynn, interesting take on registering your blog under your own name. I wrote a post about this very thing a few weeks ago http://blog.brendanmitchell.com/2009/01/06/your-identity-matters/
Dealing with branding on a daily basis, I’m always keen to advise people not only to build their personal brand, but more importantly to protect the one they already have! (usually something over looked). With regard to your old blog, I found a video you had on there which I linked to today, as it was relevant to an old post I had on my nopaper blog. http://blog.nopaper.com/2008/12/18/shift-happens-are-you-ready/
Brendan – What a pleasant surprise to see you here!
Yes, I agree about securing personal domains asap. As I mentioned in the post, I advise people to buy name domains for their “children” as well. My point in the post about not considering my own name domain was in reference to my business (not whether or not to have your name as a domain)…I’d never thought to have my blog/website point to my name. I thought only “rockstars” did that. Heh. Needless to say, I am glad my Twitter buddies set me straight. I am so very glad you came by! Thanks for your comment and the link love, too. Now I need to see about that video functionality on this “new” blog and add some clarification to this post as well. Best to you.
p.s. I also don’t really care for the term “personal branding.” I understand what the intent is; however, I strongly believe that companies have brands and people have reputations. The concept of personal branding has been in my thoughts a great deal lately…mostly because of this post. While writing it, I realized that people cannot be branded. We are complex, interconnected, organic fluid beings – not brand packages.
Here’s an excerpt from the post too:
“Just like corporate brands are determined by their customers, your “personal brand” is determined by those who know and interact with you. And the only way they can get to know the real you, to interface with you, and get a true sense of you, is to be you – not a brand identity. By default, you will develop an associated reputation. That’s because people have reputations. Companies have brands.”
I also like this piece, too, over at Communication Overtones – which talks about the difference between messages and messaging. Besides being a great post, the piece also reminded me of personal reputation v. corporate branding.
http://overtonecomm.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-can-we-get-message.html