Your domain name as your Name

I have my own name "arran rice" as arranrice.com i just use the site as a personal blog and to protect my name as a brand.

I think it's a great idea! Believe it or not, people brand themselves every single day whether they like it or not. The clothes you wear, what you eat, who you hang around. I think buying your domain name first + last name is a great way to get even more exposure.

If you put out quality content and are pretty transparent, you'll notice how many more doors will open. Your networking will eventually go out the roof and you'll essentially brand yourself into an expert in whatever it is you're going after.

It's also great to throw a resume on there or a portfolio for potential employers to look at. If you've got a common name you can use your firtname + middle initial + last name. You could also try and register a .me if the .com is taken.

I'm not married yet, and I will probably change my name when I do, so I went with firstname in the domain name.

I bought a .info domain, but not because it's better, I would preferred .com or .net - the problem I had with those is that they previously hosted adult websites and now are on sale for prices like $6000.

I'm not that popular online to attract scammers, but I think a domain name like this can show that you are serious about your business to the ones that first get into contact with you, and is also easy to remember for those that visit your website often.

Of course... It'll make you a credible source. Also, it's very useful to get clients and build your business's networks.

Just imagine that you send email to your client with your name on the email's domain. You'll look professional and they're more willing to open your email. Having your own name's domain is very important. Also, $10/ year for the domain is not a big money.

That depends on a few factors, including:

1. What is your marketing plan? Specifically, does making your name part of the brand fit in with your overall marketing plan? Are you the product or part of the overall business?


2. What is your business' exit plan? In other words, how do you intend to leave this business? If you want to sell it at some point, then it may be a bit of liability for you to "be" the business and brand it under your name.

Just a couple points to ponder.

Becky

I own the domain with my name in it and .ca. I have an unusual first name and I waited a long time for it to come available and I grabbed it the first chance I got. I use it for my own blog, and maybe down the road it'll be for something that'll make me a buck.

its a great idea. Nothing wrong with it

My main freelance writing site does have my name, because it's about my work. But with both a first name AND surname that nobody can spell, I figured I'd just use my first name in the url, otherwise telling people where to find my site would be fraught with difficulty. I even considered buying all the possible mis-spellings and having them all redirect to my site but there were just too many possible ways of spelling it wrong.


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Works for me

I think it depends on how you are marketing. Your name as branding is excellent and sets you apart from the crowd. It also adds trust as people feel they are dealing with a real person rather than a faceless organisation. You need some ad copy to let people know what the site is though - as in the post above this one.

However, using something which catches the attention and targets a specific desire is marketing in its own right, such as optinXtreme.com or thisismoneymaker.com

Alternatively, use Chris Farrell's idea and combine them - MakeMoneywithChrisFarrell.com
For example.

Paul Dunstan

I have my own name-domain, but not really using it YET.

I do feel it is going to be of use to me one day, although i'm not entirely sure for what

Hi 4webmaster,
I advisable to use your first name+last name to register your domain (preferable buy the domain name with .com) , there are few benefits of doing it.
- Personal branding
- It can be use for your personal web blog
- It can differentiate yourself from the rest on internet world
- It build trust and also your identity.

You could just purchase your name as a domain name, anyway. For $10 a year, or thereabouts, it shouldn't break the bank. Also, if your name is fairly common, best to grab it while it's still available! If it's not common, doesn't matter so much. At least if you own it, you have the option to use it, should you decide to.
Leila.

Wouldn't recommend doing it unless you have some value to provide on the domain or a virtual business card or something of the sort. You've really got to think before putting your name on the line.

Your name and reputation are everything, and if you are putting something out there with your name attached to it (especially a website) you've really got to be sure you know what you are doing. You don't want your site coming back to bite you in the ass when you are trying to find a job or do business with people. It is better to have no site at all rather than a novice site made under your name in my opinion.

However if you have a plan to provide value through your site then it can be a great asset to have when networking.

TL;DR - nobody wants to do business with that person who has www.myname.com and it is some terrible website that provides no value to anyone and throws up a red light indicating that you don't know what you are doing.

You should buy your name as a domain name.

Just to protect it. The same goes with social media platforms that offer vanity urls.

There would be nothing more annoying than someone taking your domain name and doing something unethical with it.

-Simon

I would for sure get the domain to protect it and build your name into a reputable brand. I personally drive tons of traffic to my blog, unfortunately i own my name with a hyphen in between but not the domain without a hyphen because i acted to late.

If you would like to make your name bright then why not ? is better to go last name while short . But usually last name domain name been taken because you would have people same last name as you . In that case you might think of getting full name domain name but abit longer. Usually people take yourname domain name is for blog purpose.
If for business purpose, mostly people will look into product keywords which allow them to take advantages in SEO for that specific keywords.
it better to choose .com or country level domain name .

Absolutely.
You should own your own space on the web. Register as many variations as possible.
I'd go even further and own the Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin/Youtube handles as well on your full name basis.

Thanks, great tons of advices and keep on posting it. I took a decision to reg my last name only but as someone said above the .com should be taken for any last name and this is true. So I check for other tlds and .net was parked by a domain broker that ask $2000+
So I refine my search and hesitate between .biz and .me and finally found .me more branded like. So reg my last name .me
The reason I didn't want to get my 1st+LastName.com that was available is that it's too long and did not look nice. A great point with the lastname only is to get a easy to remember email adress like 1stname@lastName dot tld.

According to what I've read above and check some members sites with their name in URL is that it's mostly personal blogs with tips, recommendations, reviews... looks like it's to give visitors an idea of their marketing knowledge and trust, of course you know about aff. links provided too.

In my opinion it can be positive or benefit for any serious marketers and having business site separate from the personal blog is best to do.

Now I'm asking members that have a blog here why they don't have a homepage blocked by a FB popup or optin mail or similar so only members can access, that's what I plan to do because you're sure to know who is following you, it can go viral, you can email them offers... Not sure it's a great idea when starting (not an established trusted name yet).
What do you think? Members only or public?
What theme of WP do you suggest? Default twentyeleven?

I used to have a domain name as my name... dont ask me why i did it, i thought it would be fun, but i decided to deactivate it since it was just sitting there putting a dent in my wallet.

I found that before you start a blog with your domain name, you must be an expert and have proof of making big money online.

Is that true for you?

Some have less success in blog with small amount of page views because they are just like regular marketers and no one follow these blogs.

it maybe a good idea if you built a brand and people know you, but that requires a lot of hard work.