… do not live on my shelf.
They were largely borrowed and returned or loaned out never to be seen again.
Or my cat ate them.
“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. ”
~Mark Twain
The Pros and Cons of a Vanity URL
In an “I Facebook, therefore I am,” era, your online presence matters. Why not take control of it?
You Are Not Anonymous
Whether or not you want to admit it, if you are online, you are leaving a trail. Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter and LinkedIn are all high-ranking sites with search engines and as a result, so are member profiles. It might be deeply buried (yes, I’m looking at you, John Smith) but it still exists!
Even if someone has never used a computer, he or she is probably online somewhere. Noone is safe from various online directories, such as whitepages.com, spoke.com or classmates.com. (They like to publish your information without your consent to build numbers and attract users.)
Is it safe?
My grandma, who has never touched a computer in her life* beyond dusting one, was very worried about my purchase of shaunastacy.com. She felt for sure I would accrue stalkers, a bad professional reputation or – even worse – trojan viruses!
The irony here is the simple fact that if you are on Facebook, you already have a personal website. You might think it’s safe because it’s one of millions or because of Facebook’s “privacy standards” but one shift in their policies and details about your personal life are suddenly hanging out like a person off the side of a boat.
Besides, if someone really wants to steal your identity, they will find a way regardless of whether you have a vanity URL or not!
Visibility is a Good Thing
It’s still uncertain if stalkers are accruing,** but in this job market it’s proving to be a leg up. For savvy employers and prospective clients, a personal website immediately puts a face and a voice to my list of accomplishments. It has upped the number of referrals I’ve received, boosted freelance and contract work, and has come up several times during interviews. A vanity site sets you apart and leaves a stronger and more accurate impression of one’s personal brand than any cover letter ever could.
Just remember: As long as you take the time to develop a clear vision, navigable design, and create clean and articulate content (or find someone to build it for you) the positive results will outweigh even the occasional stalker.
So why should you buy a vanity URL? That’s simple:
- To be easy-to-find, 24/7
- To stay relevant
- To control your online image
If you’re thinking about setting up a personal website but are unsure about what to do next or need some help, feel free to email me by clicking [here].
*(and who is highly visible online thanks to my excessive referencing and quoting of her awesomeness) **Let’s face it, stalking is the sincerest form of flattery in this digital age!
The Next “Big” Industry
Many think it’s Green Building.
Some think it’s robots.
Seth Godin thinks it’s sorting data.
I think it’s connection, and not the kind that enables your wireless internet network to work. I’m talking about human-to-human.
People are going to get tired of spending all their waking hours behind a screen and when they finally recognize that ache as longing for face-to-face connection, the people that create environments that foster connection – in business, play and love – will profit.
The Social Media Bubble
A few years ago, there was a big demand for housing. Perhaps it was President Bush’s call to action to renew the floundering, post-dot-com-bust economy that sparked it. Perhaps the September 11th attacks and Iraq war made people long for the comforts of home. Perhaps people just wanted a new place to keep all of their stuff…
Architects, realtors, contractors and – especially – developers profited. As demand grew, everyone got in on it in the hopes of making a quick buck. The barriers of entry were low and supply grew quickly to feed this urgent need.
Shoddy work was performed. People got scammed. Houses collapsed at the first big rainfall. The economy began to slow, the industry began to die, and still people were continuing to get their real estate licenses and buy “investment properties,” without concern for waning demand.
Now, there is a big demand for social media. We are inundated with Fan Pages to Like, tweets to Follow and listservs to which we can subscribe. Technologies are still fledgling. Twitter itself can’t keep up with amount of digital waste it’s creating [Did you know each tweet creates an entire web page on their servers?] Barriers of entry to become a ‘social media expert,’ are low and by the time credible curriculum and certification surfaces, the training itself will be obsolete… It’s an arms race to grab whatever slice of attention you can from your audience.
Social media is not the “next big thing.” It’s a new(ish) way to appeal to what people have always craved most: connection and appreciation.
Done right, it can leave a great impression, but doing it right means you have to do something remarkable. [Old Spice viral marketing campaign]. If you’re participating in this arms race without offering something remarkable, you’re racing to catch up to the guy who puts flyers on your windshield while you’re at the gym.
So… What do you do with all those flyers?
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*Does Seth Godin have a trademark on that word yet?
Fistpumping for Efficiency
This is a follow-up to the first post on Four Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferriss, which can be found [here].
As I drove through the mountains between Fort Apache and Phoenix for the first half of this audiobook, I literally did a fist pump as the narrator described my own principles back to me. I also wondered if he wasn’t a long lost brother?
Then, everyone warned me that Timothy Ferriss is an #$*hole. In real life and in writing. I laughed. Of COURSE someone I admire for being straight-forward and decisive is generally perceived as a jerk. Continue reading “Fistpumping for Efficiency”