Build Your Personal Website, Even If You Don’t Need It Yet

You don’t build it because you’re ready. You build it so you can get ready.

Do you have a website? For I’d guess 90% of you the answer is probably no. “Why do I need one?” You’re probably saying. And I get it. You don’t really have a direct need. Maybe you aren’t looking for consulting work. Maybe you have a job, so needing a website for yourself feels so unnecessary. You might also be saying “Who am I even going to send it to?” That honestly makes sense to. Because the answer right now might be no one. So why should you even be considering it?

Because here’s the truth: making a website isn’t something you do after the clarity comes. It’s one of the things that helps you get the clarity, and in other cases the preparation you do now building it will aide you down the road when you do need one.

Creating a website can help you bring clarity to what you’re trying to do in the moment. When you sit down to write that About page, and you’re forced to ask: what’s my story? What do I actually want to be known for? When you start drafting a Services page, and it pushes you to ask: what do I offer? What kind of work do I want more of? When you pick a URL, a typeface, a photo, and in all of that, you’re starting to shape something. You're turning all the thoughts swirling in your head into something real.

It’s not about building a personal brand empire. It’s about making a place to land. A place that says, “This is me, right now. This is what I care about. This is where I’m headed.”

When I built mine (check it out here), I didn’t know exactly what I was offering. I wasn’t sure what would resonate. But the process of writing it out helped me realize what I didn’t want to do anymore. It helped me see patterns in my past work that I hadn’t noticed. And more than anything, it gave me a little momentum. A little confidence. Something to point to.