Plugged In Lawyer

The following is a multi-post “how to” series on setting up a digital resume like this one.  You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.  You can read the entire article here.

Setting Up Your Website – Choosing A Host

I highly, highly, highly recommend that you set up your site at WordPress.com (“WP.com”).  This is a completely free website platform, and the functionality you get for the price is not to be believed.  I have four sites set up on WP.com:  PluggedInLawyer.com, AttorneysOnTheMove.com, TracyTC.com (my personal site) and TracyThrowerConyers.com (my resume site).

WP.com sites allow you to do almost anything you can do on other sites where you pay somebody to host the site, with the exception being that you can’t set up your WP.com sites to make money (ie, you can’t include pay-per-click advertising).  This makes them perfect for resume sites.

Another beautiful thing about WP.com is that the founders treat the platform as a labor of love and “giving back.”  They are on a mission to bring web publishing to the masses and have added all kinds of functionality in an easy to use way that we used to have to pay expensive programmers to create not that many years ago.

The instructions below assume that you are using WP.com.

Setting Up Your Website – The Backend

Let me start by saying the guys at WP.com have made website creation braindead simple.  I figured it out and you can, too.  It’s almost as simple as using wordprocessing software.

A long laundry list of helpful training videos for setting up WP.com sites is outlined in WordPress Sites So Easy That Even A Lawyer Can Set Them Up.

Whatever else you do, do not stress over design.  Start with Read more…

The following is a multi-post “how to” series on setting up a digital resume like this one.  You can read Part 1 here or you can read the entire article here.

Picking a Domain Name

The first step in setting up any website that supports your digital reputation branding strategy, including a digital website dedicated to your resume, is picking and registering a domain name.

I highly recommend Go Daddy for domain name registration.  Go Daddy is a rock solid vendor (not all in the web game are) and their administrative interface is pretty intuitive.  Most importantly, they have excellent – and patient – support staff.

I also recommend that you set up your email accounts with Go Daddy or Google Apps for Business.

For any attorney embarking on a campaign to build and grow a professional reputation on the web, you must, must, must Read more…

The following is a multi-post “how to” series on setting up a digital resume like this one.  You can read the entire article here.

Whether you are a new attorney just starting to look for a job or whether you’re a seasoned pro getting ready to launch an all out campaign to raise your digital profile, you need a website with your marketing name on it as your base camp.

If you’re job hunting, this site is the perfect place to plant your resume.  I describe all the “how to” steps here.

Later, you can consolidate the pages you created for your resume site to one “about” page, and start building up your digital content with the rest of your site.

Why set up a site dedicated to a resume only?  A couple of reasons come immediately to mind.

First, you need to acquire a domain name with your professional name now, while it’s available, and start “seasoning” the name.  “Seasoning” is using the name in connection with content related to the domain name over a period of time to signal to the search engines that you’re not putting up a fly by night spam site.  Think “fine wine.”

Later, when you want to start building your professional online reputation as a thought leader, the search engines will already “trust” your site because it’s been around for a period of time with content that makes sense with the domain name.

Second, it is much easier to share your resume through social networking web platforms if you have a link, rather than a pdf of your usual written resume.

So, how do you get started?  That is up next in Digital Resumes For Lawyers — The “How To” Part 2.