3 Reasons Why You Need a Personal Branding, Landing Page [Download Template]

Posted in Tips, Tools with 115 Comments

Version 1 - Click to View

I’ve been asked more than a few times what my strategy is for the many personal branding / landing pages that I’ve created and here’s what it ultimately boils down to: It is my job and responsibility to steward and manage my online identity and brand as best as I possibly can, despite the fact that I have little to no control over it.

Confused? A bit contradictory? Perhaps. But here’s what I mean:

  • You have an online brand whether you like it or not. Sorry – there’s no way around this.
  • Either you participate in the development and curation of your personal brand or the internet will do it for you. 99 out of 100 times the internet gets it wrong.
  • People will literally say anything they want about you, regardless of their level of intelligence or ignorance. Give both the luminaries of thought and bottom-feeders the correct information to talk about.
  • Your job is to simply provide the right framework of thinking about who you are, what you do, and what you stand for. The rest is just good old fashioned luck.

You see, a personal landing page (or personal branding page) can help provide the much-needed (and super-valuable) context for people’s thoughts (and imaginations) about who you are and your brand.

Version 2 - Click to View

3 Strategic Reasons You Need One:

I could probably spend 1,000 words (or more) explaining in-depth the reasons you want to create a personal landing page for yourself but here are some of the most powerful justifications that are hard to deny:

  1. It’s the closest you’ll ever come to controlling your online brand. It’s also the most that you can possibly do to help direct people in the right direction. You can literally tell the internet world who you are in the most succinct, most accurate, and most definitive way possible. Why would you give that opportunity up?
  2. Two properties are better than one. You’ll get a lot of great SEO around your personal branding page and you’ll be able to funnel traffic to your blog directly. More SEO equals more traffic as well and that’s a good thing. Your blog can only communicate so much instantaneously and at first pass but your landing page will hit the bulls-eye within seconds (or it should).
  3. It’s a straight-up differentiates you right out of the gate! In other words, by having a personal landing page it sets you apart as unique and as showcases implicitly that you care about your online persona, your online brand, and how you communicate what matters to your community. If there are 100,000 new blogs created every minute then be the 1 that also has a personal branding page.

And I could go on, but that should do for now.

Version 3 - Click to View

More Than Just Words:

Finally, don’t forget that your brand is much more than just words on a blog and a website – it’s also the emotional connection that you have with your community and visitors and the emotions that your sites, content, and persona elicit when they think about you.

These emotions, by and large, you simply can’t control at all!

But, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t attempt to direct them in the right direction!

Free Template to Download and Use:

I just put the finishing touches on version 4 of a personal branding page and I thought it would be swell to simply give this one away for the community here to use for their own needs.

As you can see, it’s very similar to the About.me and Flavors.me, both of which are great web apps.

Version 4 - Click to View - I've provided the template for this for you to use!

Since the rest of my landing pages were very visual in terms of varying elements and had all these icons all over the place I decided to take a more copy-heavy focus and build it more in the form of a narrative – it’s like I wrote out literally a conversation I had with someone recently about what I did as a “job” and being a so-called “entrepreneur.”

So the conversation ended up finding a place and a home on version 4!

How to Install, Use:

It’s actually pretty simple since it’s just a few files:

  1. Just upload all the contents in this folder via FTP to your hosting provider/server.
  2. Swap out all text in the index.html file.
  3. Change out the “john.jpeg” image with your own image.
  4. Swap out the “favicon.ico” with your own favicon.
  5. Style it via CSS with the “johnthe.css” file.
  6. Sit back, relax, and be awesome.

You are free to edit, change, and pretty much do anything you want with it! 100% open source.

I’d love to see what you guys do with it! Feel free to customize it then shoot me a link and I’ll include it here on this post as examples!

***UPDATE***

I’ve since consolidated all of my branding pages into one and have given them away for free! Download them here! The following below still holds true – I enjoy experimenting and messing with stuff, but I certainly don’t mind the financial savings for top-level domain purchases…!

***END UPDATE***

Ah. Finally, someone inevitably asks why I have more than just one. Here are my reasons:

  • Because I can.
  • Because I get bored and have to do something with myself other than write thousands of words a day.
  • I like to experiment. A lot.
  • The more the merrier.
  • It gives people “options” when mentioning me via blogs, twitter, and the like. Some are more memorable than others in terms of naming conventions and top-level country domains.
  • I apparently like to spend money on those expensive top-level country domains.
  • Because I can.

There you go!

First Published on February 1, 2011 in Tips, Tools.
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115 Responses to “3 Reasons Why You Need a Personal Branding, Landing Page [Download Template]”

  1. Andrew February 1, 2011 at 9:02 PM #

    Having grabbed a few domains for myself, I’ve always wanted to create a clear and concise page about myself using my name domain.

    You’ve just inspired me to do so, and I wonder what I will come up with.

    Reply
  2. Hans February 1, 2011 at 9:10 PM #

    John, great post which I will certainly incorporate into my blog. On an unrelated note, how did you get the Evernote Elephant in the top of your browser? Can you “drop” items into it?

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 2, 2011 at 8:55 PM #

      i coded that into the template manually.

      Reply
    • John Saddington February 2, 2011 at 8:57 PM #

      here’s my code in the my template:

      http://cl.ly/1U1h3U1F2M0E073m2V35

      1
      2
      <script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.evernote.com/noteit.js"></script>
                  <a class="fade" href="#" onclick="Evernote.doClip({providerName:'TentBlogger',suggestNotebook:'TentBlogging',code:'John9304'}); return false;"><img src="http://static.evernote.com/site-mem-32.png" class="small" alt="Clip to Evernote" /></a>
      Reply
  3. Alex Humphrey February 1, 2011 at 9:25 PM #

    I love this! Thank you so much for creating all these amazing things for us!

    Have you done a “day in the life” post yet? You accomplish so much every day!
    -You create designs.
    -You build websites
    -Your update your blogs rigorously
    -And so much more!

    I guess I am just curious what a day in your life looks like! haha, do you take a break in the afternoon? Do you do most of your writing in the morning? Do you travel?

    What does it look like for John Saddington to be Tentblogger?

    Reply
    • Derek Jensen February 2, 2011 at 1:08 AM #

      I know I can’t wait for him to do a day in the life post either! I recommended it to him and he said he would work on it :)

      Reply
    • John Saddington February 2, 2011 at 8:57 PM #

      haha. i’ll do this post soon!

      Reply
  4. Daniel Decker February 1, 2011 at 9:39 PM #

    Let me see if I can get this straight… is it because you can? : )

    I need to get some good personal brand photos done myself (perhaps a hand in the pocket shot as well… or both hands behind the back).

    Reply
  5. Greg February 1, 2011 at 9:50 PM #

    I like the alternative sites to turn to as well. John mentioned both About.me and Flavors.me. These sites are extremely simple to build and they look great. This is a good place to begin if you don’t know a lot of CSS.

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 2, 2011 at 8:59 PM #

      definitely agree. i like doing it yourself though because you end up having better SEO.

      Reply
  6. adam February 1, 2011 at 11:26 PM #

    Love the new look. Downloaded and I am going to try to work something up. Also, looking into buying a couple of other personal branding domain names. Will post the link when complete!

    Reply
  7. Dustin February 2, 2011 at 9:31 AM #

    This is awesome. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  8. James Brooks February 2, 2011 at 10:14 AM #

    Weird, I just finished working on mine yesterday! Thanks for the great theme! http://jamesbrooks.me.uk

    Reply
  9. Rob Rash February 2, 2011 at 10:18 AM #

    Thanks Jon! Love the personal landing pages… do you have version 3 still available?

    Reply
  10. Sam February 2, 2011 at 10:54 AM #

    Thanks for all the great stuff you’re producing for bloggers! It’s made blogging life so much easier.

    Reply
  11. Mutant Minds February 2, 2011 at 1:11 PM #

    I noticed you were able to get your first and last name .com.

    If a person’s name is already taken, what is the next best thing?

    Like your john.do, by the way. Clever use of a country top domain.

    Reply
  12. bryan a February 2, 2011 at 2:31 PM #

    had been thinking about doing this for a while, so I took a few extra minutes over lunch and got something up.

    will be switching out the background photo with a new headshot i had taken last month, but for now I’m digging it.

    http://bryanalla.in/

    thanks John!

    Reply
  13. Peter P February 2, 2011 at 2:48 PM #

    I have just (almost) finished redesigning my site with a view to doing exactly what you talked about in this article.

    I chose not to create a separate landing page site but instead tried to do something similar with the front page of my website (http://Peterpollock.com)

    I’m not 100% happy with what I’ve created so I may end up going your route in the future…

    Reply
  14. Kevin D February 2, 2011 at 4:56 PM #

    Solid stuff. Love it.

    Reply
  15. Dustin W. Stout February 2, 2011 at 6:38 PM #

    great post Jon! Thanks for the info, and the free template! I went ahead and secured dustn.me today and will have a landing page up soon!

    Reply
  16. Barry Whitlow February 2, 2011 at 7:59 PM #

    Misspelled word in your blog post here –”Finally, don’t forget that uour brand”– **I knew you would want to know… PLUS it proves I read it all :)

    Reply
  17. Jimmy February 2, 2011 at 11:04 PM #

    Great Post! I would also like to see a post in the future on how you stay focused and a post on how you work on staying a producer rather than just a consumer. Thanks!

    Reply
  18. Adam Mason February 3, 2011 at 8:45 AM #

    What if our main site (portfolio/about/services/contact) is similar to a branding page. Do you still feel the need for a page like this?

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 3, 2011 at 10:28 AM #

      i’d still have one… but might not be necessary.

      you’re askign the wrong guy…. i have 4 or 5!

      Reply
  19. Brian Notess February 3, 2011 at 9:58 AM #

    Here’s mine:

    http://briannotess.com

    I really need a better image, but for some reason lost the raw file for the picture I used.

    I think my page will represent whatever it is I’m trying to tell people I do at a particular moment in time. IE lately I’ve been trying to get WordPress development work. I’m not crazy about it, but it works for now.

    Reply
  20. Brad Bates February 3, 2011 at 9:36 AM #

    Hey John! Would like to know what your thoughts are on what email to give out to people. One that is attached to the domain of my personal landing page (i.e. brad@bradbates.me) or the one that is attached to my blog (i.e. brad@bradbateslive.com)?

    Also, I’m sure you have done a “lesson” or a blog on the topic of getting more traffic to your blog. Where would I find it?

    Thank you for everything; you are an incredible resource!

    God bless,

    Brad

    Reply
  21. Duane Scott February 3, 2011 at 12:57 PM #

    Okay, I like this idea.

    However, when you say landing page, do you mean that if you were to go to http://duane-scott.net/ , you would get a landing page?

    Or do I need a different domain for a landing page, like what Bryan did above.

    Which is the proper way?

    P.S. I’m newer to your blog, but it’s just awesome! And I love the way you reply to your readers.

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 3, 2011 at 8:18 PM #

      sure thing duane!

      you could do it a number of different ways. if your blog is your name (which i highly discourage) then you may have to be creative.

      Reply
  22. Jeff Goins February 3, 2011 at 1:58 PM #

    I use about.me but don’t love the lack of customization available.

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 3, 2011 at 8:19 PM #

      i love being free to do whatever i want, even it if is simple. seo is better if you do it yourself too.

      Reply
  23. Byron February 3, 2011 at 2:45 PM #

    I have been going back and forth with this personal branding landing page. You sold me. Good stuff John!

    Reply
  24. eduClaytion February 3, 2011 at 6:49 PM #

    Sweet! Can’t wait to get a page done. Thanks for putting this template out there for us John.

    Reply
  25. Lon February 3, 2011 at 9:01 PM #

    wow – that landing page photo of you and the tag line is totally brilliant.

    Reply
  26. DMosley February 4, 2011 at 9:18 AM #

    Just curious, why not simply use About.me or Flavor.me? As you alluded to above, they are pretty sharp and flexible.

    Are there advantages to using another template?

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 4, 2011 at 10:16 PM #

      SEO. you’ll have better SEO with your own managed domain because can specify the meta data, and put them into bing/yahoo/google yourself.

      creative flexibility is the next powerful justification.

      Reply
  27. austinklee February 4, 2011 at 11:38 PM #

    Okay…it only took me an hour or so to get the CSS right. http://www.austinklee.com

    And another 4 to realize that I couldn’t install this as a part of Standard Theme and use it as a page template.

    Oh well…I’ll find another place to put all those old posts.

    Reply
  28. john February 5, 2011 at 2:50 AM #

    John, Love the landing page. I finally replaced my nice but sadly outdated flash landing page with your template. I need to update it with a sick photo. Yours just makes all of ours look like the back page cover lawyer ad on a yellow pages. Soon. Here is mine http://johnflurry.com.

    Reply
  29. Jimmy King February 7, 2011 at 4:19 AM #

    Naz Hamid just released a great resource for this on GitHub. A truly open source personal page template ;-)

    It already has 34 forks!

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 7, 2011 at 8:17 AM #

      if you downloaded my version you’d see that i referenced naz in the readme file. :)

      Reply
  30. Terrin February 8, 2011 at 1:18 PM #

    Here’s mine-> http://www.terrinramsey.com

    I’m using it to send to my online friends to help raise money for a missions trip to Zambia :)

    Reply
  31. Peter P February 9, 2011 at 12:27 PM #

    Between this post and one of your readers, who has become a customer of mine, I’ve been inspired to alter my blog hosting product.

    With my blog hosting package, customers are currently only allowed one site. They can park domain names but they can’t have sites built under other domain names.

    This is a purely economic thing. At the prices we do, we simply can’t afford to have multiple websites under each account.

    However, a landing page would use very little in the way of processor time and bandwidth so I’m going to expand the product to allow a second domain as a landing page – all for the same $35 per year.

    It will take a little while to change the website to reflect that but if anyone wants to add a landing page to their package now, I’ll do it for them immediately.

    Reply
  32. Tyler Mykkanen February 9, 2011 at 5:40 PM #

    Thank John. I modified your template download and fit it in to a WordPress theme for my landing page. Check it out if you have time and thanks for the useful themes!

    Reply
  33. Michael Marchand February 12, 2011 at 2:06 AM #

    Just inspired me to redo my landing page. Take a look, let me know what ya think.

    Reply
  34. Peter P February 17, 2011 at 7:53 PM #

    OK… I gave in and purchased peterpollock.me

    Now I’ve just got to design the page…

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 17, 2011 at 9:54 PM #

      let me know when it’s done…..!

      Reply
      • Peter P February 19, 2011 at 3:00 PM #

        OK.. attempt #1 is done!

        I need to do all the site submissions etc but right now, it’s the smallest page I’ve ever created!

        Any suggestions what I could change?

        Reply
  35. Daniel Berman March 17, 2011 at 11:32 PM #

    Laying out a “another” site redesign and I was just wondering with this template, in situations where the text extends beyond one screenful is it normal for the scrolling to feel a little jerky?

    Ex. http://danielcberman.com/resume.html

    Is there anything I can change, or is it simply the nature of the beast since I am using javascript to stretch the background image to the screen dimensions?

    Reply
    • John Saddington March 20, 2011 at 8:30 AM #

      all related to the speed of the visitor’s computer and browser…

      but, you should try to pare it down into zero-scroll.

      Reply
  36. Per Schmitz April 21, 2011 at 11:23 AM #

    Don’t want to spam this post, but we’re providing a webapp for those who don’t want to code/host a personal landing page themselves at http://dooid.com (Just sent you an invite to the new version’s private beta, John).

    Reply
  37. Stephanie April 27, 2011 at 10:58 PM #

    Love the blog! I’m hooked…want to read more and more and more. I landed here on this blog and was about to create a landing page but am thinking I need to do some backreading on your blog tips.
    You see, I’m a commited person. I long to love my blogging and I don’t so much these days. I feel schitzophrenic. I’ve had a personal blog going for a few years but recently started a more focused journey oriented blog on a seperate server. Should they stay 2 or merge into one super organized blog?
    hmmm…

    Reply
  38. Jeremy Myers May 1, 2011 at 1:51 AM #

    I added a landing page:

    http://www.jeremydmyers.com

    Thanks for the template.

    Is there a way to add a hotspot to that sign I’m holding which points people to my RSS feed?

    Reply
  39. Kyle Troop July 4, 2011 at 9:55 PM #

    I’m a little late to the party. But I just rolled out mine.

    http://kyletroop.com

    Reply
  40. Charles Specht September 12, 2011 at 2:19 PM #

    Seriously considering using this template. Thanks for sharing it, John!

    Reply
  41. Jeremy Zach September 18, 2011 at 4:50 PM #

    This may be a stupid question…. but I downloaded your free Landing Page Template (which is awesome by the way) and tried to load it into my FTP, but I am not having any success. Do I need to install wordpress? Or do i just upload these files into my domain directory? I am using Bluehost and I have only installed sites that use wordpress.

    Thanks.

    Reply
  42. Shari Lynne October 6, 2011 at 8:55 AM #

    WOW!! Now I can see why Blogging With Amy always mentions you!!
    Fantastic!
    Blessings
    Shari

    Reply
  43. Jonathan Perrodin January 16, 2012 at 6:39 PM #

    An old post, but I just came across while looking for inspiration for my landing page. While I really like how the large portrait looks, I didn’t want that for me…so I went in a slightly different direction.

    Reply
  44. Sebastian Eslea Burch February 8, 2012 at 10:33 AM #

    Thank you very much for your work and style!

    I loved your landing page Version 1 so much I haven’t even modified it much. http://seb.gaiaysofia.com/

    Keep up all the good work and Best wishes!

    Reply
  45. Bobby February 21, 2012 at 4:13 AM #

    Do these templates work for Blogger? If not, What landing page templates do you recommend for Blogger?

    Reply
    • John Saddington February 21, 2012 at 9:30 AM #

      these don’t need blogger – these are just stand-alone html templates.

      Reply

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