Many businesses are founded with little more than an idea for a product or service. The brand—which is to say, the business’ name (and domain name)—comes later. But for many of the countless entrepreneurs in the world, the “product” is themselves, and the name is already a given. For these professionals, personal branding is about keeping their name as the centerpiece of the brand, because it’s their name that customers associate with trust and expertise. Our portfolio of new domain extensions are ideal for personal branding because they align with so many skills, professions, and identities such as .FAMILY, .ATTORNEY, .NINJA, and others you’ll see below. At the same time, common first and last names are often much easier to obtain than in legacy TLDs. On this personal branding edition of DomainSpotting, we have an industrial designer, a vlogger, a world-famous racing champion, and a pair of upbeat life coaches.
Convey the image of an entire firm with a .STUDIO domain
One-person businesses often have to project the image of a full-service firm, and that’s exactly what many individuals have in mind when they register a .STUDIO domain. For “Designer, Cyclist and Photographer” Ryan White, his background in athletic wear, menswear, and accessory design makes him a good fit as a hired gun for apparel makers. He’s so invested in RyanWhite.studio that his original domain, MrWhitesDesign.com, now forwards to his new site.
Amy Schmittauer managed to secure a very common, short first name for her domain
Vlogging has become an incredibly popular format for Youtubers because it’s in-the-moment and authentic in ways that traditional scripted or “reality” programs are not. For vloggers trying to engage with their audience, however, the call-to-action is often friendlier to their platform than to their own personal brand. For Vlogger Amy Schmittauer, instead of asking her followers to see her video archive at https://www.youtube.com/user/savvysexysocial, all she needs to utter is Amy.video.
Lewis.SOCIAL (Branded Short Link)
F1 racing champ, Lewis Hamilton, uses Lewis.social to keep his social media feed on brand
A personally branded domain name can be used for many things. Just ask three-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton. As one of the most accomplished drivers in the sport, he has a large social media following (4.37 million on his Twitter account alone), and takes advantage of the spotlight by using Lewis.social as his short link, giving him free exposure for his own brand, rather than the brand of a generic short link provider.
Brian and Carrie get two personal brands for the price of one with their .LIVE domain
Personal branding doesn’t just have to be for individuals. For life/fitness/business coaches Brian and Carrie, their relationship is the brand, and they’re a package deal. Brian and Carrie stream live from Facebook every morning dishing out tips and affirmations to get the most out of life. Meanwhile, their blog posts, video archives, and more can be found at their digital home base, at BrianAndCarrie.live, a domain that keeps their brand up front with a catchy keyword TLD.
Have you seen other examples of new gTLDs in the wild? Send them to us at blog@donuts-news-staging.mystagingwebsite.com or post them yourself with the #DomainSpotting. See more examples of new domains at Showcase.NINJA.
