This post was inspired and sponsored by Domain.ME, the provider of the personal domains that end in .ME. As a company, they aim to promote thought leadership to the tech world. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
It’s hard to believe that I will have been blogging 9 years this February. Since years in the blogging and social media world are much like dog years, 9 years is an eternity. I’ve been around so long I feel like a dinosaur in the blogging world having watched friend’s blogs evolve while others go extinct. Other times I feel like a senior citizen who has been around the block a few times and has years of experience over newer bloggers.
When I started Tech Savvy Mama in 2008, I never imagined that my place on the web could develop into the full time business and brand that it’s become today. I had no idea that my voice could be so powerful and that I could leverage it to bring much needed awareness to create positive change. There is so much I didn’t know when I first started, including the fact that I’d still be doing this nine years later.
Maybe it’s the fact that the holidays are upon us, my blogiversary is coming up, or that a couple friends have asked me for advice about building their blogs but I’m ready to take a trip down memory lane today and invite you to join me as I share some of the fabulous logos I’ve had as part of my personal branding over the years.
Did you hear that sound? It’s Kym from Hustle and Sway cringing at what she’s about to see. As the web and graphic design wizard behind my newly redesigned site, she exercised the genius to bring you the fabulousness that you now see but trust me, my site didn’t always look like this.
When I started Tech Savvy Mama back in 2008, I bought my URL and chose Blogger as my platform of choice. When you’re just starting out and have no idea what might become of your new hobby, free is everything. I was pretty proud of the two column template that I chose but suffering from shiny new object syndrome, when I saw that I could have 3 columns, I tinkered to customize a new layout. I only wish I had some screenshots of the 3 column layout that I was so very proud of! I customized it to the best of my ability, taking the boring solid colors of neutrals to this.
Yes. THAT. Apologies to your eyeballs!
I wish I had an old screenshot of what my first site looked like but you get the idea. A center column of text (in this case a screenshot of my first post from my current site) was flanked by two sidebars. The left was my navigation bar and the right had ads from Google AdSense. I had no social media icons because I was just getting started with Twitter and Facebook. Pinterest came a year later.
The following year I decided that perhaps this blog of mine might turn into something and I hired a web designer. Using the same colors from the floral background, she further customized my Blogger template (taking away the awful florals) and gave me a new header.
Together we found a graphic that would become part of my online identity for years.
Years down the road when everyone seemed to be off Blogger but me, I finally took the jump and hired a new web designer who could move me from my current platform to self hosted WordPress.
Suddenly there weren’t templates, there were themes. Going from a two column to three column layout was so archaic and suddenly taglines for headers were important. She incorporated the graphic from my previous design but freshened everything up with new colors and streamlined my site with a magazine style layout.
But that was years ago and for a very long time my site has been in dire need of a refresh. The problem is when you’re busy writing and creating content for your social channels, some things fall off your radar. Like a current blog design.
The wonderful Kym Barney of Hustle and Sway created what my site is today and I wish I could take credit for the look of things around here but she literally read my mind as she worked her magic. I love that she looked at my online presence and created personal branding that reflects the intersection of technology, education, and parenting in a fresh new way that is totally me!
If you’re thinking about starting a blog, you need a talented designer like Kym who fully understands how to personally brand your online and social media presence along with a company like Domain.ME that is uniquely positioned to provide you with the space you need to build your personal brand and create a captivating online persona that’s a direct reflection of you. .
Why Domain.ME?
.ME domains are great for personal websites, such as blogs, online portfolios, or aliases for social network profiles. Not only do they provide a top-level domain but the .ME extension offers the flexibility to create clever online destinations (like Ti.ME or Despicable.ME) that are not only tied to your personal branding but highly memorable. Purchasing a .ME domain name is an investment in your business that will help you take your blog to the next level.
Learn more or get a .ME domain for an enhanced presence online at http://dot.me/BeginningOfME. If you’re interested in becoming a processional blogger, read my post: 9 Tips for Moving Beyond Blogging as a Hobby.
I was compensated for this post but all opinions, and previous generations of good and bad blog design were personally funded.
Good information. Lucky me I found your site by accident (stumbleupon).
I have book marked it for later!