Owning your name domain is very important for personal branding.  Given the fact that .com has become the default extension, yourname.com should be your first choice. However, if you haven’t registered it yet and your name is very common, chances are that the .com extension is already taken. There are, however, some alternate options that can work just fine:

• Get the .org or the .net version, in that order. Lately, .name extensions have also become popular.
• Use either your middle name, your maternal last name, or your husband’s last name (in case you’re a married woman) to create a slightly longer, more unique name, increasing the chances that the .com extension will be available.  Several prominent bloggers use this technique: mariareyesmcdavis.com, davidmeermanscott.com, suzannefalterbarns.com and lukeharveypalmer.com are just some examples.  For this tactic to be successful, you will need to start marketing yourself using your full name (repetition builds awareness).
• If you think using two names or last names would make your domain too long, you can just throw in your middle initial, for example: michaeljfox.com, johntreed.com or georgewbush.com. Again, you will need to start marketing yourself using your middle initial to build awareness.
• Use your name plus the fist letter of your last name (or the first letters of your compounded last name, if you have one).  This tactic is commonly used in the offline world by those who have a last name that’s difficult to pronounce or spell.  Some examples are garyv.com (a Philippino singer, not our Gary V), chrisg.com and alexdc.org.  A variation of this tactic is to use your first initial (or your first and middle initials) followed by your last name (for example: agsinger.com and tdjakes.com).

My personal case

I have a compounded last name: Sanchez Carrion. While in Latin countries compounded last names are common, here in the U.S. they are rarely used.  That is why most people I know call me just Mario Sanchez.  Now, the name “Mario Sanchez” is as common as apple pie and, naturally, mariosanchez.com was already registered when I first tried to get it years ago, so this is what I did:

• I registered mariosanchez.org and created a Tumblr blog that I use as a repository of all my RSS feeds (my Twitter, my WordPress blog, my Posterous blog, etc).  I then placed prominent buttons on the right sidebar with links to my other sites. By linking to mariosanchez.org with the anchor text “Mario Sanchez” from my other sites, I’ve been able to consistently rank mariosanchez.org in the top three results for “Mario Sanchez” in Google.
• I registered mariosc.com (my name plus the first letters of my compounded last name), since it is short and memorable. Whenever I write my domain name on business cards, collateral, etc., I normally use a different color for the “s” and the “c” to make it easier to remember. I use mariosc.com as my home base, where I give a brief introduction about myself and post links to my blog and my different social media profiles.  I have also created three virtual “folders”: mariosc.com/blog (forwarded to ShoestringBranding.com), mariosc.com/twitter (forwarded to my Twitter page) and mariosc.com/linkedin (forwarded to my LinkedIn page). This gives these profiles a more “branded” feel in printed collateral, especially since I wasn’t able to register a handle with my name on those sites.
• I registered mariosanchezcarrion.com and forwarded it to mariosc.com.
• I’ve gotten into the habit of using “Mario Sanchez Carrion” instead of just “Mario Sanchez” to build brand. Lately, I’ve noticed that most bloggers are already using my compounded last name to link to me, so it seems to be working.

Final thoughts

Since most people looking for you will usually start by Googling your name (some even say Google is the new domain name, you can follow these tips to increase your Google visibility:

• Create profiles in the most important social networks, since they normally show up in Google’s first page (especially LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter). If your name is available as a handle, register it.
• If you have a blog under its own domain and you’re the only author, change the About Us page title to Your Name. This will give you a boost in Google.
• Register different extensions of your name and create different profiles or sites: for example you can use the .net extension for a Tumblr blog, the .org extension for a Nombray page, or the .tv extension for a video blog. This will create more touchpoints with your name, and increase the chance of having more results coming up under your name in Google’s first page.

All these tips reflect my personal situation and personal branding strategy, and they work for me. However, their effectiveness will depend on what you want to do. If you have other tips or want to share your particular case, please feel free to leave your feedback in the comments section.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 12:31 am and is filed under Personal Branding. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.