For all the webmasters, affiliate marketers, and Internet marketers in the world, there is very little talk about identities and why they matter. I think this topic is often not covered and many people are simply not branding and marketing their identity, so therefore, I want to write about it today. By the end of this post, you should learn about all the benefits of owning, branding, and marketing your identity.

Owning Your Identity

So first of all, you have to own your identity. Basically, this is owning something with your name in it. Whether that be a website, a domain, or a blog. You don’t need to have YourName.COM, but you have to at least have a clear projection of yourself on your blog or site. My blog is a great example of owning your domain and blog, as Tushar Dhoot is my name. ShoeMoney’s blog is a great example of not having your name on a domain but still branding something towards yourself. Jeremy has branded his site so that everyone knows the face behind his site.

Branding Your Identity

Now, this is where the work begins. You have to be able to morph your identity so that whenever someone thinks of your site, your blog, or your domain, they instantly have your message in mind. For me, this message would simply be make money online with a high school-er or something of the sort, while for another blogger, such as Problogger, it would be learn how to blog with a pro. Branding your identity isn’t hard, and it simply involves basic stuff like an about page, putting a person behind the screen (pics and videos), and constantly reaffirming your message.

Marketing Your Identity

This is the rewarding part of the whole process. Now that you have an identity built, branded, and ready to deploy, you should use it! Identify yourself as your name, and people will instantly know who you are. Imagine the edge someone who has to say “I’m Tushar Dhoot from TusharDhoot.COM and I do blogging, programming and run my blog” has over someone who can simply identify themselves as “I’m Tushar Dhoot“. If you have to be descriptive every time you introduce yourself, you should go back and brand your identity some more.

A true web identity will pay off in ways you might never even notice. It builds an instant level of trust, which will lead to increased business and sales. A well branded identity also commands respect, and you will automatically be seen as a force to be reckoned with in your industry. There is no way anyone in their right mind would disrespect someone like John Chow, who is a great example of a branded identity. You will also build a reputation, depending on how you want to build it. This is the way people who have never met you will feel about you, and they will get this all from information about you. Who better to distribute information about yourself than you. See the evil in that ?

Hopefully the 500 words I’ve stamped out in this post showed you why having an identity is very important and how it could make a difference in the way you do business. Go out there and milk your identity for all it’s worth. Don’t lose money tomorrow, just because you didn’t distinguish yourself from the rest today.

So what do you think? Do you have an identity. Why or why not?