I’ve recently been helping a few people start up their online brands. Guiding them on where to go first, and teaching them how to best use those platforms. So I thought I’d put it here. This may turn into a series of posts explaining how to set up your online brand based on how I’ve set mine up over the last few months, but let’s wait and see.

The first thing you want to do when creating your online brand is to understand why you want to do it. Are you trying to prove yourself a valuable member to your field? Do you want to showcase your portfolio? Do you want others to see you as a thought leader? Are you just trying to get a job?

Branding yourself in social media can help you do all of these things, but figuring out your main goal will help you decide which platforms are the most beneficial to join. Once you have your goal in mind, my recommendation for today is a blog. If you’re a writer, it’s a great place to showcase your writing abilities, develop your voice and share information that is important and interesting in your field. If you’re not a writer, there are ways around this obstacle.

A blog is important because, not only does it allow you to build yourself as an authority in your field, but it can also become your hub for your online presences. On your blog site, you can add links to all your other presences. This way people have one place they can go to find everything about your brand.

My blog service of choice—and the one I recommend to you—is WordPress. There are others (Blogger, Tumblr) but WordPress is the most recommended among social media professionals that I’ve encountered, and I’ve had great success with my WordPress blog.

Now, you can get a free blog through WordPress.com, but I highly recommend the self-hosted route. With a self-hosted WordPress blog, you can add plugins like a share function to your posts. GoDaddy.com offers WordPress hosting, so that you can get all the comforts of the WordPress user interface, and the added functions that come with a self-hosted blog. You can also get a custom domain through GoDaddy—which is another important element of your online branding. Put your name on as many things as you can to make it easier for people to remember you.

To set up your blog through GoDaddy:

1. Go to GoDaddy.com
2. Click on the “Hosting” tab, then click on “Wordpress Hosting”
3. Pick your plan. If you’re just starting out, an Economy plan is fine. If you can afford it, select a plan of at least two years in length so that Google can see you’re committed.
4. Click “Add to cart”.
5. The next page will be full of add-ons that you don’t need right now. Click “No Thanks”.
6. When you get to your shopping cart, there will be a text box informing you that you’re eligible for a domain name with your purchase. If you can’t get your name, pick something that’s close and easily spelled. For example, my name is Stacey Alexander. That was taken, so I chose StaceyAlex.com.
7. If it’s available, when you click “Go” a box will appear where you can then click “Add to cart”.
8. Click “Continue to Checkout”, enter your billing information and finish the purchasing process. When the transaction is complete, GoDaddy will send you emails about your GoDaddy account and your WordPress blog. The emails will give you instructions on logging in and setting up your accounts.

From here all you have to do is pick a theme, add your information, and start writing. If you need tips on picking a theme, what to add to your site or blogging, you can contact me through my Connect page…or stay tuned for further posts.

Photo by Peregrino Will Reign