My Split Identities, and the Triple Life of Clay Collins

At one point I was running 10 businesses.  At the same time.  Because I’m a madman.

Now I just run three.  And at some point soon, I’m looking to own only two.  (Although I’ll still keep a number of my laboratory businesses for experimental purposes . . . because I just LOVE dealing with the malpractice attorneys I sell leads to in Ohio. NOT).

In addition to that, I write a blog under a pseudonym.

The too-many-businesses I used to run, and the too-many domain names I own (it’s well over 400 now), are symptoms of past entrepreneurial ADD (that many people get when they first start doing business online . . . the barrier to entry for starting a new venture is just so low).

Anyway, I’m in this game for the long haul.  So over the next 30+ years that I’m doing this online nonsense there will be mergers, there will be acquisitions, there will be name changes, etc.

So, starting next week, I’ll be permanently tying my identity and my personal brand to a new domain name: one that bears my name (which is the only name I’m permanently attached to).

It’s funny how much my identity is tied up with the domain names I own.  And frankly, every time I start a new site, sell a site, or change the domain name of a site, my self-conception changes a bit. (Sometimes these shifts are huge and internally challenging, and sometimes they aren’t).

Anyway, I’ll still blog at a number of places (including here) . . . but I’ll have one online home.  Which will be nice.

–Clay