• Do you have any more advice for someone who is just starting out?
• JL: The other advice that I have is to make it as personal as possible.

So you can enclose your photograph, or tell your stories about where you come from, or if you have a rich ethnic background or special interests or if you’re a climber or you’re a collector of something, that is a plus. All those little quirks make me feel connected to that person because I have learned a little more about them.

And being open so that you can share…maybe creating platforms, open projects where you invite other people to participate in making things. Those little details I think makes me get a sense that, “Okay, this person gets the web.” And by making a lot of the contents creative commons. The fact that he put, “So and so, 2010 copyright,” makes me realize the person is still thinking old media. But the person who puts “CC,” creative commons, makes me think, “Okay, this person understands open source” and the power of spreading ideas and all that. So that may be a very small detail but those things matter.

And there are other small things: Coming up with the URL of your website. If you have a long, complicated name with lots of consonants, then I would encourage you to think about another name. Like, in my case, ”jilee.com“ was already taken and so I had to think about another name and I came up with “pleaseenjoy.com.” So when I talk about “pleaseenjoy.com“ in a cocktail party, people are probably more likely to remember that than Ji Lee. You’re building your own brand, so I’d treat your website and your business card, the way you dress, the way you present yourself, everything as if you’re building a brand in a professional context. Would you like to be known as John Doe or would you like to be known as a unique brand name? There’s no good or bad, but it’s something that you should be thinking about.