Gary Vaynerchuk is a big believer in your personal brand.
It’s not that we haven’t always had a personal brand. It’s just that with the online world it’s much easier for people to understand who we are.
And when they understand who we are they can decide if they want to associate with us. Both on a personal level and on a professional level.
Now, that being said, Gary V. also believes that before or while you’re working on your personal brand you need to do some work.
But let’s assume that you’ve done work. You’ve been in the business world for awhile. Or if you’re just starting out you’re planning on doing work.
In the meantime you can take control of your personal brand online with a personal website.
Okay. That’s all fine and good. But what do you do with a personal website.
I’m glad you asked…
1. Resume, Bio
You don’t have to own a business to have a personal website. Many business owners do have their websites. But so do a lot of employees.
If you’re living life right now it’s good to always be open to opportunities. You could love your job and not be actively looking for something, but it’s still good to leave yourself open to serendipity.
You probably connect with a lot of people in your professional and personal life. If they’re curious about you they’ll be googling. If they find your resume and bio they can get the information they want.
You never know what that can lead to.
2. Journal, Diary, Notes, Reflection
You can use a personal website for your own personal growth.
Journaling is very good for your soul.
You can do it easily with a blog on your own website. Not many people will likely see it especially if you’re just starting out. But it’s possible. And I would say most benefit from the connections they make by writing and expressing themselves.
3. Answering Questions, Teaching
Blogging is also a great way to teach.
I’ve met a lot of people that want to teach. Sometimes if a friend or colleague is expressing frustration with their job I’ll ask what they really want to be doing with their lives.
By far the most common answer is: Teach.
You don’t need an opportunity to teach. There are no barriers. You can do it with your own website.
Setup your personal website as a blog. You can write, shoot video or record audio. Start by answering questions people are asking.
It’s that simple. Just start.
4. Experimentation, Learning
Teaching is great, but I would say it’s even more important to focus on a life of learning. We’re never done learning unless we stop ourselves.
And what’s the good in stopping?
A personal website is a great way to learn something.
- Writing (blog)
- Recording, talking, interviewing (podcast)
- Same with video
- Researching
You can experiment with all kinds of things with your own website. You never know what you might like and be able to use in your career.
5. Truth
Lots of things may be perceived about you in the world. You can use your website as a location of the truth.
This is a reason why people in the public eye love social media (and their own websites).
If something is written or said about them in the media they can share the truth by themselves. They don’t need the media to be the middleman anymore.
6. Media Assets
Want to be written about, interviewed for podcasts and videocasts and things like that?
Something those media outlets need are assets.
Photos. Bios. Etc.
You can keep all that on your website.
Not happy with a public photo of you that comes up in Google searches?
Take control and publish your own photos on your website and let people start using them.
7. Business Promotion
People ultimately do business with people. Not just with a business.
Because of that you can help whatever business you’re in with a website of your own.
You’re in sales. Part of the sales process is letting prospects get to know you. They’re probably already googling you before the first conversation. Give them good information by having it on your own website.
Musicians all have personal websites. They share information about concerts. They sell their music and merchandise. They sell things via their website. They conduct business.
Some businesses are the personal website. They setup email drip campaigns. They sell products and services. They form partnerships.
8. Networking, Connecting, Contact Information
Maybe you’re not necessarily looking to sell, but you’re still looking to connect with people. Your own website is a great way to do that.
You can share a contact form to start email conversations. You can share social media profiles. You can share the businesses where you can most easily be contacted.
Your own website makes it easier for people to find and connect with you.
9. Surveying, Information Gathering
You can use your own website to (again) learn things about people.
Use the site to setup surveys. People that meet you will google you and if they find your site you can use that traffic to learn about the people that are googling you.
10. Own Yourself
Finally just kind of wrapping this all up is the idea of just owning yourself.
You can have social media profiles. You can do all that, but you don’t really entirely own those platforms.
A website is something you control completely.
Let’s say you work for a business. You have a profile on the website. That business is well known and your page on their site might rank first for your name.
You can kind of take back the control by having your own website and source of information about you.
Conclusion
A personal website has a few different uses. Gary Vaynerchuk is a big believer in personal brands. The reason is that it’s just a reality of the world we live in. People are likely already looking for information about you. Give them what they want while still controlling things a bit by having your own website.
