About.Me as Your Own Landing Page

It is characterized by its one-page user profiles, each with a large, often-artistic background image and abbreviated biography.

I'm fascinated with the idea of our personal brand, it's what drew me to LinkedIn and to writing pulse articles in the first place. The idea that not only do we have a footprint, we have a contribution that is uniquely ours to the web, to social media channels that can be educational, inspire and inform & help others. Having our personal home page that is social and not just a static website, is important. Heck, if only my Fitbit would hook on there, it's a place I can see my wearable devices of the next few years can be linked to as well. I like the idea of pervasive and social dashboards that streamline my professional outreach. 

In that light, I decided to write about, about.me. Here is what my profile looks like currently. I'm a fan of places where you can easily link your social media channels, as you can do on your Google + home page as well. But who is actually active on Google + anymore right? It's good for SEO but that's about it. However, about.me is a more visual appealing interface and browsing profiles on there is more about a visual story than I had originally realized. There is a certain grace about how people choose to portray themselves. 

It's the living meme of their identity. Not just self-promotional, but it says something about their interests and their soul. I don't expect to feel that on a Facebook or a Twitter page. But I expect to get glimpses of it on about.me or Instagram. 

The idea of having a digital business card, or micro channel that introduces you professionally is nothing new. But I like about.me as a landing page where you can link your other channels and share what you are most passionate about. I like the idea of a virtual gateway to people. The color themes and creative options are limited, but polished enough. 

But the community, endorsements and traffic is encouraging. After just a few days there, I noticed I have over 500 views, something I get on LinkedIn in about a week, with a rather extensive network and steady stream of new connections in my related fields. 

About.me can help you streamline all of your channels, even those rare blogs you might have kept secret. I'm all for digital transparency, if we google someone, may as well get their best work. I would prefer not to stumble into your blog, by noticing that your Google + is extremely social selling orientated and that your main reason for being on social media is to exploit new clients via the services you offer, sorry, I prefer a more authentic social  presence. 

If I find your about.me, I believe I can quickly ascertain if you are someone I consider authentic and if your interests match my own. Some people link their social media on LinkedIn, but LinkedIn in such an old channel with few young people, innovation and budding visual story-telling. About.me, has a more contemporary feel with a limited but intriguing interface full of potential. Potential for people to show their best face and put their best foot forward. 

• You can search by location, interest and people. 
• You can see shiny statistics, which are gratifying enough when you learn you have been complemented or added to groups (sort of like Twitter lists):

If like me you ever feel insignificant on Medium, or neglected on LinkedIn Pulse, you may want to try about.me. for a bit of professional networking in your local area. The nice thing about being new to a new gathering, is the crowd is small, and everyone is more friendly. That's the state of the intimate feeling of about.me (latest reincarnation Feb, 2013). Let me know what you think of it. 

Can you see yourself trying about.me out?

 Follow Michael@ on Twitter.  

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Michael Spencer helps companies improve their content marketing, blogs, social media & video marketing initiatives. If you are a startup or smallbizz you may want to outsource some of your digital marketing needs. 

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