The most important asset to any individual looking to raise their brand online, is a Personal Website.
It is the forefront of you online, the home of your image and the gateway to opportunity.

Therefore if you are in the position where you are thinking of getting yourself a professional website, you should be considering some of these questions:

• Who do i get to build my Website or do i try do it myself?
• What platform do i use to build the site?
• Are there any layout templates or do i have to get one coded?
• Where do i get the Hosting for my site?

Then you will ask yourself the all important question:

• Damn, what name do i even give my site that best suits the image i want to portray?

Choosing a name for your personal Website is like naming your first born, (ok, i’m speculating here but it’s important). You may think your name isn’t very catchy or you may want to go with an alias.

It’s really an open subject but naming your website obviously has to reflect the values of your brand identity.

Project a professional image

If you want the world to come across your company name before they find your name, then name your site according to the topic. ie: SocialMediaWorld.com

If you are the brand and you are selling yourself to potential clients then they will be searching for people who portray a confident image in their own identity. ie: www.LucaMassaro.co.uk

Distinguish yourself from competitors with a unique identity

With YourName.com you are officially one of a kind. That’s right, no-one else with your name can have a better URL! (Unfortunately if your name is John Smith then you are kinda in trouble and may have to use your middle name. If your middle name is Paul then you may as well just give up!)

But you get the point; with a dedicated ‘Vanity URL’ you are putting yourself out there as a reputable product and employers, clients and customers will take you seriously.
First impressions are everything!

Build branding (recognition)

Have you read my article about how to Build a Brand Using Social Media? Have you read my article about how to Build a Brand Using Social Media? Have you read my article about how to Build a Brand Using Social Media?

Ok… now that you have read the above article you know how to brand yourself online.

It is imperative that you take your brand seriously because if you do not… who do you think will?
Create consistency across the board with your your projects, your talking points, your morals, your image and even your choice of font!

Attract traffic to your site using Search

If someone hears your name through a referral, finds a business card or if an employer is doing what they do best and actually wants to invade your life; how do you think they will do it? That’s right folks… Search!
Having yourname.com puts you in SEO heaven when anyone searches for your name.
If you can dominate Google Page One with relevance to your name, people will look at you as someone who takes themselves seriously.

Other points to consider

If you think i have missed anything on this topic or have any comments, please reply below and as always i will reply to everyone individually!

I have thought about the quote above for years and have repeated it many times when speaking in discussions about power, respect and success.

This got me thinking about what it is that we actually strive for…

Here is my analogy of Striving To Achieve in reference to The Layer Cake.

Why Am I Doing This?

“The art of good business is being a good middleman.”

On my About Page it says“I have come to realize that my desire to achieve is linked hand in hand with wanting to help others achieve.” That may sound pathetic and cheesy, but my last blog post had over 30 Twitter retweets, meaning it helped some of you enough or was a good enough of a read for you to share with your friends.

Anthony Robbins states in this video that there are six human needs to help us to find self-fulfilment on our journey:

• We need Certainty
• We need Uncertainty
• We need Significance
• We need to feel Connection & Love
• We need to Grow
• We need to Contribute Beyond Ourselves

Am I Getting Anywhere?

“I mean, it’s like selling anything: washing machines, handmade shoes, blow jobs. As long as you don’t take the piss, people will always come back for more.”

The feedback i have begun to receive from writing, has given me the motivation to continue to share the knowledge i have collated in the industry with the hope that it will help you on your journey. This is in fact my chance to ‘Contribute Beyond Myself’… and it is this that gives me the reason to continue trying to help others.

Bear in mind, i am no way an expert or a specialist (although thanks to those who have said i am lately).
I created this with an understanding that i wanted to lay the basic foundations so that:

• I understand myself the journey i am taking.
• I can share my knowledge with those that may find it useful… Sharing is caring and all that.
• I am creating a personal archive to look back on.
• I am striving for personal success.

Am I Heading In The Right Direction?

“Everyone wants to walk through a door marked “private.” Therefore, have a good reason to be affluent.”

Take a moment to think for a second about your plan. Have you laid your foundations or are you just going all guns blazing with no armour? Seriously… think about it.

Am I Willing To Do Anything To Reach My Goal?

” If you have to kill a person, never ever tell a living soul.”

The ladder to achievement is always based on taking a hefty amount of shit.
Remember Andy Dufresne swam through a tunnel of shit to come out clean on the other side. Confused who he is? Shame on you… Click here!

Am I Becoming Someone I Don’t Wanna Be?

“You know why people like you can’t leave this business? Because you make too much money for people like me.”

Some of you don’t mind taking shit all day (Pause), not like it’s a bad thing, as contentment is your own level of self-fulfilment. Others will take no shit and will spend their lives either hustling, bumming around or pretending to themselves that they are a success.
Well, whose gonna tell you differently eh?

Playing Your Part In The System

“It is vital that we work to a few golden rules. Always work in a small team. Keep a very low profile. Only deal with people who come recommended.”

So where do we find common ground for those that are on their way up trying to reach the next level?

I’ll give you my example. I work full time; i understand that for me to touch the sky, i have to be able to afford to fly. Money doesn’t grow on trees remember…

I answer to a series of people who can rain a storm of shit on me if they want, and regardless of how many people i know in the industry, how many followers i have on Twitter or how many projects i work on; i do need to be employed.

I know that success is a slow climb and by playing my part in the chain of command i am able to slowly piece together my journey to the top of the ladder.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

“But as some roman general once said: If you seek peace, plan for war.”

If you have an idea of what it is you want to become, make sure you have a plan of how you are going to reach it.

Make today become the first day of the rest of your life…

Be Proud of Yourself

“I’ve checked you out, son. You’re a smart lad. But you keep very, very bad company.”

There is no shame in working to raise collateral, it is down to you how you manage your finances and your time so that you can progress.
It is the weak that get locked in to an establishment so long that their dreams become non-existant and they become part of the office furniture.

Have a Plan… and Stick To It

Everyone knows those graduates that spend years at University pushing for that top end degree, then when they graduate they can’t find work.
They finally manage to get a job in an industry irrelevant to their field and BAM… five years passes and what’s happend?

They have become a Customer Services Supervisor!

WAHEY………. SCORE! Enjoy paying that student loan back!

If you stick to a basic plan and are passionate about your dream, you will never get complacent with a dead end job as you will always know what you are capable of.

Note down where you see yourself in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 24 months.
Then break that down even further…

• How are you going to get to your 3 month goal?
• Who do you need to contact?
• What do you need to set things up?
• Do you need to raise any finances?

Well I’m honored. But for me this is all over. I’m getting out. What was true then is true now. Have a plan. Stick to it. So I’m sure you must have lots to discuss… but I have no business being here. I’ve got someone to meet. Adios, amigos.

I have been meaning to write a post on Personal Branding for a while now. I spent 40 mins watching this video twice and making notes on Gary’s speech, before deciding that i cannot explain Personal Branding with more passion and energy than Gary does.

So below i have taken the 10 most significant parts from the video and constructed them into this post about Personal Branding.

First and for most, I really want to thank everyone for reading this. I mean, this is outrageously humbling. Every single person who is reading this, since your here, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’re going to kill it.

1. Have Patience and Passion

Lets starts with passion, there’s way too many people right now that are doing stuff they hate. There is no reason in 2010 to do rubbish you hate. None. Promise me you won’t, because you can lose just as much money being happy as hell.

Have patience; success does not happen over night, but it also won’t happen unless you ‘get off the bench and into the game.’

2. Listen To Your Community

Listen to your users absolutely; but caring and understanding your users is a lot more effective. People listen but they don’t do anything!!! Do something, answer those emails, give a shit about your community, care about your user base… That’s what you need to do.

You need to care about everything and it starts with yourself. Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself,

“What do I want to do every day for the rest of my life?” Do that. I promise that you can monetize that.

3. What’s Your Legacy?

Legacy is greater than currency. Has everybody completely grasped that your grand children are going to watch and see everything you’ve even done? I think about that every single day. I want my grand kids to be proud of me.

4. Hustling and Building Business

Do you know what I hustle about? I hustle about meeting every single person on earth and building a relationship to create another exciting opportunity.

Hustle is the most important word, ever… and that’s what you need to do. You need to work hard.
We’re building business here, this isn’t about parties and wasting your life away watching relentless episodes of daytime television and Eastenders.

Getting a load of users or Social Media statistics is not a business model. Make some cash along the way!

5. Believe In What You Do

If you’re pumping out good stuff, people will follow. But if for a second, a half a second, that you don’t believe in what you’re doing; whether it’s your personal brand or the product you represent; you need to get out now. Please!

6. Understand The Game Is Changing

We only get to play this game one time. One life.

The way everything is changing is unbelievable. Everybody is consuming content everywhere. The people that controlled it; Newspapers, Television and Radio are no longer in control!
That is a huge factor that people have not totally wrapped their head around. You need to build brand equity.

It’s about brand equity in yourself, because you never know what could happen.

7. Networking and Being Transparent

I love people, so networking is a huge advantage for me. Get out there and network. People are the people that are going to help you. The only way to succeed now is to be completely transparent… Completely.

Everything is exposed. Everything you do. So your legacy is your ultimate life. It’s all you’ve got. And you can build so much on that. When you have brand equity, anything can happen.

8. Using Social Media Tools

What’s very imperative to me right now is using the tools. Too many people are trying to figure out which tools to use. Shall I use Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, which tools shall i use?

All of them… Your user base, and the people that care about you; you need to connect with them anyway you can, everywhere you can, as often as you can. That interaction is essential. Communication is essential!

9. What We Do Is Real

Look at Reality TV, that’s about as real as shit! That stuff is not real. But we still like it because it’s somewhat real. This other stuff is very real. The place where we play is very real. And it is a massive, massive opportunity.

I hope people wrap there head around that, because we are going through a gold rush of branding. In the old days to become a brand you needed a lot of mainstream media attention. But now, if you get talked about enough in social media; blogs, networks, videos, you can get there.

You can build your brand. Your companies brand.

But it all starts with that first moment when you look in the mirror and you ask yourself, what do I want to do?

10. Time To Take Action

If you want this, if you’re miserable, if you don’t like it or you want to do something else and you have a passion somewhere else. Work nine to five. Spend a couple hours with your friends and family and then spend seven to two in the morning putting your game into action!
Who says you have to work to someone else’s schedule anyway?

But that’s it. It’s not going to happen any other way. You’re not going to make stickers and stand on the street selling your ideas, cos really nobody cares about you until you make yourself heard. Get off the bench and into the game!!!

“We only get to play this game one time… one life.”

Check out more from the legend that is Gary Vaynerchuk here