My Personal Branding Dilemma And New URLs
When I first started social networking, I used the nickname
LouisvilleSoup. I never had a problem getting that username when
registering for web sites. My given name, Mike Campbell, on the other
hand, was always taken. Michael has been the number one or two most
popular boys' name since the fifties. Campbell is in the top 25 last
names. A Google search of Mike Campbell results in over 7 million
hits. With the explosion of social media, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, I
decided to start using my given name for personal branding. My name is
my brand. Since it is already taken on just about every web site, I
had to come up with a suffix or some way to differienate my name form
all the other Mike Campbells of the world. I started using MikeCampbellCPA because that is what is on my business
card, Mike Campbell, CPA. It didn't take long to realize that CPA is a
brand in and of itself. The AICPA and state CPA societies have done a
phenomenal job of promoting and protecting the CPA brand. Although it
is a well-respected and trusted brand, it is too often associated with
public accounting. That's not a bad thing, but it is not my brand. Then I started using the next title on my business card, CFO. Chief
Financial Officer, or CFO, also carries a certain brand. This brand is
a little more elusive based on individual experiences with CFOs. It
coiled be bad from reading about Enro or conjure up images of Scrooge
or Potter. Although they weren't CFOs, they were 'finance guys' and
influence what a lot of people think about finance guys. Not only can
I not control how people view the CFO brand, I don't want to be a CFO
forever. I may want to become a COO, CEO, or even start my own
business. Even if I stay in the finance role, my title may change to
VP of Finance or other. CFO arbitrarily narrows my brand. Being the CFO of a small business, I
have taken on many roles in the Firm. I am the IT director and chief
compliance officer. At one time I founded and developed the human
resources department. I grew it to the point of being self-sufficient
and answering directly to the CEO. At one time I even did some
marketing during a few week hiatus between marketing directors.
Furthermore, my online brand is also includes being a husband, father,
runner, blogger, and avid reader. Now I have the dilemma of having four brands out here in cyberspace:
remnants of LouisvilleSoup, MikeCampbellCPA, MikeCampbellCFO, and
(rarely) MikeCampbell. I own and have been using the URL
MikeCampbellCFO.com, but recently purchased MikeCampbell.biz. Then I
played around with forwarding and realized that it doesn't matter what
username I'm able to obtain for these web sites because I can just
create a forward and use MikeCampbell.biz for my brand. For example,
here are a few forwards I setup: http://blog.mikecampbell.biz
http://twitter.mikecampbell.biz
http://linkedin.mikecampbell.biz
http://books.mikecampbell.biz
http://youtube.mikecampbell.biz
http://dailymile.mikecampbell.biz This looks so much cleaner on a business card or on email signature
than the full URL; and it promotes my brand. Plus it enables me to
broaden my brand beyond CPA or CFO. My online goals are still
primarily business related, so I am okay with dot biz. Plus, my blog's
mission is to share thoughts and ideas about small business growth and
leadership. I think I have finally settled on an online brand name I
can use for a while.
LouisvilleSoup. I never had a problem getting that username when
registering for web sites. My given name, Mike Campbell, on the other
hand, was always taken. Michael has been the number one or two most
popular boys' name since the fifties. Campbell is in the top 25 last
names. A Google search of Mike Campbell results in over 7 million
hits. With the explosion of social media, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, I
decided to start using my given name for personal branding. My name is
my brand. Since it is already taken on just about every web site, I
had to come up with a suffix or some way to differienate my name form
all the other Mike Campbells of the world. I started using MikeCampbellCPA because that is what is on my business
card, Mike Campbell, CPA. It didn't take long to realize that CPA is a
brand in and of itself. The AICPA and state CPA societies have done a
phenomenal job of promoting and protecting the CPA brand. Although it
is a well-respected and trusted brand, it is too often associated with
public accounting. That's not a bad thing, but it is not my brand. Then I started using the next title on my business card, CFO. Chief
Financial Officer, or CFO, also carries a certain brand. This brand is
a little more elusive based on individual experiences with CFOs. It
coiled be bad from reading about Enro or conjure up images of Scrooge
or Potter. Although they weren't CFOs, they were 'finance guys' and
influence what a lot of people think about finance guys. Not only can
I not control how people view the CFO brand, I don't want to be a CFO
forever. I may want to become a COO, CEO, or even start my own
business. Even if I stay in the finance role, my title may change to
VP of Finance or other. CFO arbitrarily narrows my brand. Being the CFO of a small business, I
have taken on many roles in the Firm. I am the IT director and chief
compliance officer. At one time I founded and developed the human
resources department. I grew it to the point of being self-sufficient
and answering directly to the CEO. At one time I even did some
marketing during a few week hiatus between marketing directors.
Furthermore, my online brand is also includes being a husband, father,
runner, blogger, and avid reader. Now I have the dilemma of having four brands out here in cyberspace:
remnants of LouisvilleSoup, MikeCampbellCPA, MikeCampbellCFO, and
(rarely) MikeCampbell. I own and have been using the URL
MikeCampbellCFO.com, but recently purchased MikeCampbell.biz. Then I
played around with forwarding and realized that it doesn't matter what
username I'm able to obtain for these web sites because I can just
create a forward and use MikeCampbell.biz for my brand. For example,
here are a few forwards I setup: http://blog.mikecampbell.biz
http://twitter.mikecampbell.biz
http://linkedin.mikecampbell.biz
http://books.mikecampbell.biz
http://youtube.mikecampbell.biz
http://dailymile.mikecampbell.biz This looks so much cleaner on a business card or on email signature
than the full URL; and it promotes my brand. Plus it enables me to
broaden my brand beyond CPA or CFO. My online goals are still
primarily business related, so I am okay with dot biz. Plus, my blog's
mission is to share thoughts and ideas about small business growth and
leadership. I think I have finally settled on an online brand name I
can use for a while.
