All of us should have a personal branding website of some sort. This goal can be achieved through a blog site, a web site that displays our portfolio, or a page on LinkedIn. Whichever approach we take, there is the information we should include the stuff we can avoid. This site tells our story and should do so in the way we want to tell it. When you create this material, do not be shy or humble. This content should impress all who read it. Your career may depend on it.
Theft Is The Highest Form Of Flattery
The Internet is full of stolen ideas. Take a look at popular sites, and you will see the same designs over and over. Do not be afraid to do more of the same. When you build your personal branding website, it is best to start by finding an example that you like. There are sites you can use as a basis or themes and skins that may be what you want.
For example, I have multiple sites that follow under this category of showing off content. Each of those started with a WordPress theme, and then I customized as needed. This approach has sometimes made it easy for me to spin up a site quickly while also leaving me free to stray far and wide from the original theme.
Entertain and Sell
We often talk about keeping a focus on the problem to be solved. In this case, the problem is getting the reader to understand your skills and experience properly. Thousands of sites solve this problem very well. Spend some time browsing for great ways to display content and then build on that. The problem we are solving is very personal to you. Your experience, skills, and career goals are very different from everyone else. Emphasize your uniqueness and try to get your personality to show through.
We can achieve this by writing a blog or presentation videos. However, there is no need to go that far. Add descriptive text about your experience and work examples. This content is an opportunity to give the reader a feel for your personality and character. Those are critical for positions where chemistry is one of the goals in building a team. Spoiler alert, chemistry should always be a substantial part of the decision process when building a team.
Solve The Problem and Tell a Story
While keeping your eye on the core problem we are solving, find a way to make your content flow. You can do this through your content itself. However, you can also use white space and formatting to drive your story. Make use of traditional styling like headers, bold and italics where applicable. You can also make use of colors and highlighting to encourage the reader down the path you desire. Focus on the skills and experience you want to repeat. After all, this is our personal branding website, so it should present the side of you that you like the best.
Episode Challenge: Create or Review your personal web site.
