More is Less (for me) Online
October 24th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
It freaks me out slightly when I realize that I’ve had a personal website in one form or another for over a decade and a half.
It freaked me out a lot when I realized just how outdated my site really was. As was my business website. As were my blogs. I’d been working so hard for other people, that I had no time to organize my own online presence.
As a serial entrepreneur, style expert, consultant and writer, I’m many things to many different people, corporations and institutions. I became somewhat cocky and took for granted the fact that most of my business is word of mouth. When attending events or conferences, I’m generally a speaker or panelist or known entity. I became spoiled and assumed that people who knew me, knew me and that that was good enough.
Only it really wasn’t.
In ignoring my own professional online reputation, I was sending an unintentional dual message to potential clients – that I was out of touch or didn’t really care about attracting them. Neither of those things are true.
I devoted a good part of the last few months rethinking not only my business brand, but my personal brand as well. I lecture on both subjects at top universities, yet have been operating at such a breakneck speed that I haven’t had time for my own.
While I’d been using one URL for my personal site since the early nineties, I realized it was time for a change. I also realized that my business was due for a makeover, and that people sometimes got confused when face with the many elements of my professional self.
While my original intention was to combine all of my professional elements, I realized that as a long-term business and search engine optimization strategy it would be a better idea for me to organize each of my business elements separately. Instead of paring down, I chose to update by deleting blogs that didn’t move my business forward, starting targeted ones, breaking down and polishing up each unique element of my professional selves. It would also save me time in explaining each unique element of what I do, or waiting for people to discover it on their own.
My strategy wouldn’t work for personal possessions, and it likely wouldn’t work for everyone, but it’s been a great way to generate online traffic, organize the elements of my brands and offer a simple and elegant approach to attracting more business or simply offering controlled information about myself and my business.
In case you’re wondering:
Racheletc.com is my new online hub
Interrobangllc.com is my marketing business
BeautyHistorian.com covers my cosmetic industry expertise
byRachelWeingarten.com is my writing site
Treasures from Trash
August 29th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I’ve spent a good portion of the last few weeks on Fake-Cation. I use my own variant, fake-cation, instead of more recently mainstream, accepted and twee staycation (or its dozens of spawns), because while I was mostly local, I ended u
p working and pitching, thereby making it more faux time off than fabulous escape. That burst of activity coupled with earthquakes and hurricanes and a rumored tornado (oh my) made my time off more eventful than restful.
And yet here I am refreshed and ready for big things this autumn. I should clarify, big good things this autumn. I could do without additional drama.
But on to the real thought of the day. Sometimes when you’re clearing things out you may discover a treasured object or something lost long ago. It doesn’t have to be buried treasure- sometimes a misplaced earring or bottle of shampoo makes you rethink your purchasing habits of the last few months. Instead of regret, per se, you might be filled with a memory of a purchasing things that worked for you instead of the ones most heavily advertised or highly priced. In these instances, it can encourage you to also start buying based not only on need or price- but based on quality, consistency and reliability.
So much more fun to have one that you love instead of eleven that fill you with post buyer’s remorse shame.
