The Future of Your Personal eBrand is a URL

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The future

I’m still holding onto my future prediction that instead of a resume, video resume, cover letter, portfolio, paper business card, and references document, your personal eBrand will exist as a single URL. You won’t be able to toss 10 different URL’s to hiring managers because they don’t have time to make sense of them. In your world of personal branding, you see all of these websites and blogs as assets, and I couldn’t agree more. In the future, you will need to compile, centralize and store these elements into a master website (yourname.com). The future is all about consolidation of social networks and seamless integration across websites. Also, there will be heavy emphasis on mobile computing, where someone will be able to conduct a background check on you from anywhere. One URL will tell your complete story.

Now is not the time

When I speak about this future prediction, I’m thinking a minimum of 10 years in the future because HR databases are still present and social media (despite our bubble) is still in infancy, just like personal branding. Whether it’s a corporate or job board database, they collect similar information from you, such as work experience, education, etc. Basically, this is the information that is included within a resume. Over time, social media will force these companies to undergo a metamorphasis. First, they will open up their boards. Second, they will capture different content, such as video resumes and finally, they will realize that with a single URL, one can experience an entire candidate.

For one, there is not enough comfort around a single URL representing an individual or applicant. Also, believe it or not, only a small percentage of the population has registered theirname.com (domain name). Where this gets tricky is that everyone in the world would have to have their domain name, yet people share the same name.

I get a lot of emails asking me about how to choose the proper domain name, despite some being taken. Try using either your middle name, middle initial, nickname or pick a concept and then tie your name to it in the title (in the description as well).

The new HR database (In the year 2020)

Personal Brand Chart

How to prepare for the future

  • 1) Purchase yourname.com
  • 2) Start a blog, either on yourname.com or yourtopic.com
  • 3) Register your blog on Technorati.com
  • 4) Write byline articles for online websites and guest posts for blogs
  • 5) Become a personal PR person and pitch your story to media
  • 6) Use Twitter and email to build deeper relationships
  • 7) Create a website summary of your personal eBrand, which includes all of the above
  • 8 ) Use that URL on all your promotional material moving forward

The future is never certain, but by preparing today you will be best equipped for confronting the future.

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Dan Schawbel

Dan Schawbel is the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm. He is the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules For Career Success (St. Martin’s Press) and the #1 international bestselling book, Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future (Kaplan Publishing), which combined have been translated into 15 languages.

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