My second top tip for this week is: claim your domain name.
As a modern journalist, one of the main tasks is creating and cultivating ‘Brand me‘. As loyalty to corporate brands falls in sectors ranging from consumer goods to journalism – suggested in part by the frequent mockery of corporations’ attempts to expand their reach via social media – the emphasis is moving towards what Liz Stanley, the digital community manager at UBM, last week called the ‘brandividual’ (in a guest lecture to us at City).
An important part of this is creating a consistent digital presence, a big part of which is one’s name. This is easier for some people than others, largely dependent on the rarity of one’s name – for instance, speaking about ‘Boris’ is almost ubiquitously redolent of Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.
Helpfully, there is a website –Â namechk.com – that allows one to see where a specified username is in use across the Internet. Alas, I have quite a common name, as shown below.
This was part of the rationale for the creation of my Internet pseudonym, ‘BayleyBloke‘. Unlike my birth name, this username was free to go forth and multiply, thereby securing my unique digital presence.
This consistent name allows my work and me to be found by the casual reader much more easily, and is one of the first ways to start building a digital audience.
For another view on creating a consistent digital presence, see Patrick’s personal blog post:Â Improve your personal SEO for better job prospects.
BayleyBloke.net