What's Your Name?

It never ceases to amaze me when I reach a blog and cannot find the owner's name. I've seen some mighty good blogs, with followers and thirty comments, yet no name. If I'm at your site for the first time, thanks to some off-the-wall link from somebody's Facebook page, how many seconds will it take for me to know your name?


For instance, I'm a huge fan of The Pioneer Woman blog. She writes, shoots pics, cooks, home schools and has a fantastic sense of humor not to mention a hunk of a husband. Yet when you go to her humongous blog, you do not find her name on the front page. Ree . . . that's it. Of course I can go to an About Me page and read more, but if it weren't for the fantastic layout of the blog and the gorgeous recipes, some people might move on oblivious to who Ree Drummond really is. 


I adore Linda Formichelli's work, she's well known in the writing world, and we're online friends, but The Renegade Writer doesn't mention her name until you drill down to the About Us page, too. That's the problem with having a blog titled with other than your name. Somewhere you have to make it crystal that you and the titled party are one and the same. (**love you Linda)


Cornell Deville has a cool blog, but one isn't sure if the name is the author, a pen name or only a blog title - until you see the book for sale. So yes, Cornell is the author. But who is this person? No About Me page or paragraph. (BTW, Cornell is interviewing Joyce Holland, an agent with D4EO literary agency today at the blog, so stop by.)


The Creative Penn is a well-followed blog by Joanna Penn. Again, however, you have to see the cover of her book to learn her full name. She does post her beautiful face. I like seeing pics of the bloggers. (See 7 reasons this is a great book trailer on her blog - great post!)


There's no doubt who belongs to ThursdayBram.com, though. Thursday not only has her blog titled clearly, but you see her picture and her name under the picture in a mini-profile. We get ID out of the way quickly so we can get to the real purpose of visiting the blog - the message. 


I'm normally not a fan of blogs by multiple authors, because I hate to hunt who the personality-of-the-day is when I open my email or RSS feed. Mystery Lovers Kitchen, however, leaves no doubt the identity of the daily poster. Not only do they post the name, but the cover of their latest mystery and a photo of the author with her name across the picture. I get it, and in my fast and furious darts and dashes across the Internet each day, it's nice to be catered to. 


So, don't hide. You have a name. Use it. Repeat it. Flaunt it. After all, you want to become a household name, don't you? Look at your website, blog, Facebook page, LinkedIn account or Twitter account. Can the world easily tell who you are at a glance, because that's how the world dances on the Internet - in glances. 


Think about it . . . is your name loud and clear online?