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Home » The Famous Blog » What Is Your Brand?

What Is Your Brand?

January 30, 2010 - Last Modified: January 30, 2010 by Keith Bloemendaal

my brand

People are always asking me, is it better to brand my name or to brand what I do? and this is a good question about branding and there really is no simple answer to it as it’s so very important to get the right perception brand name that you will be using in the long term. There are several questions you should explore while making a brand decision though.

Your Name:

Is your name fairly short? My name is Keith Bloemendaal (blue-men-doll), which is actually easier to say than it is to spell. It is of Dutch origin, and I recently learned that bluemen means flowers in Dutch. Anyway, that was off topic, my point is that my name is hard to pronounce and it is long. My first Twitter handle was @thefencepost because I was a fence contractor and I thought the name was catchy. Last year I read an article by Scott Williams on TwiTip entitled “10 Reasons To Use Your Real Name On Twitter“.

That article made me decide to lock in my name on Twitter, since my whole name is too long I went with @kbloemendaal. Later I shut down my original account and primarily use my name now.

I do have other accounts that are more “brand” oriented that I use to promote my businesses, but for the most part I use my name. It is important to note that whatever you choose, use it on all your networks the same. I had used “thefencepost” on some networks, and my name on others so it was confusing for people that networked with me on multiple networks. I have cleaned that up now, and most of my followers recognize my username across my networks with my name.

Domain Name:

This is a difficult one, and must be thought out as there are not very many good dot com domains left. If you have a local business, I personally think that using your business name is best if possible, unless it is just too long.

Again, if you are trying to brand yourself, and your name is not long and difficult to remember, using your name is a good idea here too. If you are trying to promote a product, then getting that product in the domain is a great idea. An example is my Fence Products site, I went with http://buy-fence.com (I also have fence-online.net which I am planning to use to separate my main two product lines so that I can optimize those sites in a more narrow niche). The point is, make it clear what the site is, both of those domains make it clear they are about fence.

Conclusion:

Making these decisions is an important process, so don’t neglect this important part of the puzzle. Do your research, make pro/con lists, and make the best decision you can based on your goals. Whether you are networking to promote a business you own, are blogging to make money online, or are just having fun with a hobby, it is hard to re-brand if you decide you don’t like the decision you have made. Whatever you decide to use, check to see it’s availability across all networking sites to make sure you can keep it consistent, it will make things easier as your social network grows.

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Filed Under: Blogging

About Keith Bloemendaal

Keith is a passionate blogger, and writes at Hot Blog Tips , Famous Bloggers as well as at BloggerLuv. He also owns an Online Fence Store

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{ 23 Responses }

  1. Sheila Atwood says:
    Keith, I would say that the most ideal thing would to do both by finding title for yourself. For example - Aretha Franklin - Queen of Soul. It is amazing how much we depend upon getting enough reality on something before we trust it. Putting you into the picture builds up that reality. You are like the person that is buying your product. You are the expert or the Queen of that niche we want to rely on.
  2. wannabe says:
    Thank you for your compliment! its fun to maintain a blog, the thing that keeps me busy the most is tweaking the layout. but it is getting there :) .-= wannabe´s last blog ..Weekend, yahoo! more free time =-.
  3. Dennis Edell says:
    Very well said Keith, I've had the blue face conversation a time or two as well. lol Personally, I've used my real name and logo (My initials) since the very beginning, EVERYWHERE. I always meant to brand myself personally. When I started my first real blog (real=more then 1 month of use, lol) I branded it for what it is about...DirectSalesWebMarketing.com...online marketing tips for direct sales folks. NOW that my name is really getting out there, I decided it was best to "finish" my personal branding and move it all to my personal domain, DennisEdell.com. That said, you know how it's said that the topic of your blog should be evident at first glance? Here's my #1 tip for those using their real name as the domain name... It's all in the tagline. Followed up with a really good About page. :) .-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Hello & Welcome To The All New – DennisEdell.com/DirectSalesWebMarketing.com Merged – Direct Sales Coaching Blog! =-.
    • Keith Bloemendaal says:
      With your name, I can see branding it, much different that Keith Bloemendaal for sure! The tagline does say a lot too! Great points Dennis and thanks for the comment... .-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Does Your Blog Stand Out? =-.
      • Dennis Edell says:
        True I suppose, the only real issues people have with my name is pronunciation - most say "eh-dell" instead of pronouncing the e like an actual E lol. Which all in all don't matter at all online like spelling does. I think all taglines are important, but none so much as with a real name as the domain name when someone don't know jack about ya. LOL .-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Hello & Welcome To The All New – DennisEdell.com/DirectSalesWebMarketing.com Merged – Direct Sales Coaching Blog! =-.
  4. sudharsan says:
    Branding is very important in blogging field.. In my view branding website name is best than branding our name..because it is only reflecting our views to the world..
    • Keith Bloemendaal says:
      I can agree if that is your goal, one question though, I see your twitter is your name and not your website? .-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..One Man Can Do Everything =-.
      • sudharsan says:
        yes but it was created before i engaged in blogging and too i have some followers in that username so i kept it as same...
  5. Suresh Khanal says:
    Branding sometimes really is most difficult. I tried different things and always one idea appeared irrelevant to the next context. I'm still not settled and bewildered. I'm running a website psexam.com and a blog icttrends.com I wish to correlate both with something common when both these things are totally different. I'm started using icttrends for my twitter account. And I realize that icttrends itself is not relevant to my blog. But since I had a spare domain name icttrends which had PR 1 and I was tempted with that PR. Still working on. Hope one day I'll be able to afford what suits best. .-= Suresh Khanal´s last blog ..What Goes Around Comes Around =-.
    • Keith Bloemendaal says:
      Have you thought to brand them separately? Being that they are completely unrelated I would consider that. I have different twitter and facebook pages for different businesses I run, it can get hectic, but I mainly just feed to some of them from my blogs. .-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Article Promotion =-.
  6. Mike Sweeney says:
    Keith, Like your thoughts on branding. From a name standpoint, it may take longer to build your recogition, but long term results may produce much better. If you choose to brand products, I would still include your name in the content. Eventually, you will brand yourself and people who follow you, will recognize your product sites. Mike Sweeney .-= Mike Sweeney @ Internet Work At Home´s last blog ..Internet Work At Home Stategic Business Plan =-.
    • Keith Bloemendaal says:
      Great points Mike, I always recommend using your name in comments for the same reason, if the site uses KeywordLuv, then by all means, add your keywords, but if not I think it is better to use your name, makes it more personal. .-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Do You Blog Engage? =-.
  7. Shekhar Sahu says:
    Yeah, It's the most crucial part. A long term goal should be set before selecting a domain and brand name.
  8. Dana says:
    In my opinion, name as domain name is match perfectly for personal blog -- but for business blog, i suggest to use keyword or product name as domain name. :D .-= Dana @ Blogging Update´s last blog ..Why Do I Rarely Follow A Blog Contest? =-.
    • Keith Bloemendaal says:
      My biggest argument for that (and I agree for the most part) is blogs like chrisbrogan.com or davidrisley.com and they are all about some $$$$. Neither one one were well known when they started their sites, at least not in the market for their blogs.... Thanks Dana .-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Need-Information.com Is Moving =-.
  9. lawmacs says:
    Keith i personally don't think there is a wrong or right to this it is up the individual or company to decide which to brand i personally believe that you should brand a name like i choose lawmacs which the first three letters is from my surname good post. .-= lawmacs´s last blog ..5 Link Building Tips =-.
    • Keith Bloemendaal says:
      Great Points! No matter what you decide to brand, the main thing is stick with it and make sure you can brand it across all networks. Thanks for the comment. .-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Need-Information.com Is Moving =-.
  10. wannabe says:
    Hi there, I recently started my own blow, wannabemillionaire.com hows that for a great domain name? ;-) its quite amazing bcs for some time i was considering to start blogging and 'investigating' if it is possible to start earning money using only free internet tips and advice. So this domainname is perfect for my intentions. Anyway, great post .. and Bloemendaal is pretty easy to pronounce for me (I am a dutch man) .-= wannabe´s last blog ..Google SEO Starter Guide =-.
    • Keith Bloemendaal says:
      Thanks! Looks like a nice setup on your blog, will be watching to see how you progress.... .-= Keith Bloemendaal´s last blog ..Need-Information.com Is Moving =-.

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