It’s 2020! And the quality of your work matters more than a fancy college degree. This is why it’s essential to build a strong personal brand online around your expertise and craft. Doing this will make a dent in the minds of the people who come across your work.
Gone are the days when your resume was a PDF document you sent to employers or used a pen drive to showcase your work to prospective clients. Today, all you need is a cool domain name to brand yourself.
What does a domain name have to do with building a personal brand? As it turns out, a whole lot! Here are five ways to use your domain name to create, maintain, and enhance your brand online:
1. Build A Brandable Online Resume
A great way to build a strong personal brand online is to create a website that hosts your portfolio of work, relevant links, social media handles, contact information, reviews, and testimonials from previous clients or colleagues.
For instance, if you are a finance expert, using your full name on a relevant .bond domain extension (www.seandillon.bond) to host your online resume is a smart decision. The domain name very clearly conveys that the website is owned by Sean Dillion, who is a finance expert, given the domain extension.
This is smart branding, and it goes a long way to build a strong personal brand. Whether you share it with potential employers or prospective clients, an intelligent domain name to host your work comes across as a highly professional and sophisticated way of managing your online presence. It’s a great way to make a lasting first impression.
2. Build A Blog Page And Centralize Your Social Media Links
Most recruiters and employers prefer learning about the personalities of their candidates before hiring them. It’s the same with clients and partners that want to learn more about your thoughts, passions, work culture, and more.
If you have a blog, it’s smart to build your website around it. Ideally, you should also include links to all your social media handles. The idea is to give people a taste of who you are and what they can expect of you.
If you are a finance specialist, then include links to your LinkedIn and Twitter profile or your YouTube channel (if you have one). A simple domain name like www.thestrong.bond or www.catherine.bond is a great way to share your blogs and social media links.
3. Brand Your LinkedIn Or YouTube Profile
As a finance expert, your LinkedIn profile is perhaps the most important social media handle to share as a reference with employers or clients. By sharing a link to your profile, you can inform people about your work experience, awards, endorsements, achievements, and more.
However, sharing a long, awkward, and hard to remember website address isn’t the best way to build your personal brand. What you can do is pick a clean and crisp domain name and use it as a forwarding address to your LinkedIn profile.
Take, for instance, www.michael.bond, which redirects people to Michael’s LinkedIn profile. The hidden advantage here is that you develop your domain name into a website or online resume to showcase your work.
Another effective way to bolster your personal brand in the minds of people is to create a smart forwarding link for your YouTube profile. For instance, if your YouTube channel is targeted towards advising people on how to manage their investments or which stocks are the best to buy, then it makes sense to get www.channelname.bond as a redirect link address.
Sharing a short, memorable domain name will not only help your personal brand become etched in people’s memories, but it will also help you come across as an innovative individual.
4. Rebrand Your Current Online Presence
If you already have a website that sports an awkward domain name, then using a new domain extension like .bond is a great way to rebrand your online presence. For instance, if www.frank-williamsfinace-bonds.com is your current website address, why not use www.frank.bond as a forwarding link.
You can use your .bond domain name as part of social media promotions and mention it in emails and newsletters so that people find it easy to remember your website’s domain name. With a .bond domain name, you can clearly communicate what you do and that you’re a professional in the financial industry.
You can also pick a meaningful domain name to send a message. For instance, if “Let’s Make Stronger Bonds” or “Start Making Bonds” is your motto or a message you wish to share, then www.stronger.bond or www.letsmake.bond or www.startmaking.bond is a smart way to do it.
5. Get A Branded Professional Email Address
Your email id says a lot about your brand and just how professional you are. It’s essential to have a branded professional email address if you want to create a strong first impression and come across as a credible and reliable individual.
By investing in a .bond domain name, you can bundle it with a custom branded email address. For instance, if your website is your full name (www.frankwilliams.bond) then, you can choose frank@frankwilliams.bond as your email address.
Choosing a branded email address can make you come across as a professional, seasoned individual as compared to competitors that may be using free email services for their business.
Final Thoughts
Building a strong personal brand is critical in today’s digital age. With a short, catchy, and brandable domain name, you can catapult your career for the better. And if you are a finance expert looking to further your professional presence online, then a name on .bond is the most relevant and strategically sound option.