Building This Website

I’ve been putting off building this personal website for a while now. Not because I don’t know how to build websites - I do that professionally - but because I was busy completing the development my business websites.

The Problem

I run two businesses: e8e.dev (web development) and Ahlan Bags (retail). Each has its own detailed website. The web dev site explains the Zero-Maintenance Web System™ in depth. The bag shop site has location info, product details, and store updates.

So what does a personal site add? What would I write that doesn’t duplicate what’s already on those business sites?

The Usual Advice Doesn’t Help

Most personal branding advice assumes you’re trying to establish yourself in one domain. “Write about your expertise.” “Share your unique perspective.” “Build authority in your niche.”

But when you already have business sites doing that work, a personal site feels redundant. You end up with a sparse “About” page that says “I work with modern web technologies” - which is both generic and undersells what you actually do.

What Actually Works

The breakthrough came from accepting what this site actually is: a hub, not a portfolio.

It’s not trying to sell services or establish expertise. Those sites already exist. This site exists to:

• Connect the different things I do under one name
• Provide a landing point for people who encounter me in different contexts
• Showcase the Hugo Tailwind Starter system I built (since the site itself uses it)

Once I accepted that, the copy became much simpler. No need to repeat the detailed business explanations. Just:

• Name both businesses explicitly
• Brief explanation of what each does
• Link to them for details
• Mention the approach (systems thinking, static architecture)

The Flow That Emerged

Home page: Brief intro + link to businesses
Businesses page: Two-column showcase of e8e.dev and Ahlan Bags
About page: Slightly deeper context, still concise
Contact page: Email

That’s it. No need to force complexity where simplicity works better.

What I Learned

1. It’s okay to be a hub - Not every site needs to be a comprehensive showcase. Sometimes it just needs to point people in the right direction.

2. Mention things explicitly - Don’t be vague about “modern web technologies.” Name the actual businesses, technologies, and approaches.

3. Less can be more - A clean, focused personal site that acknowledges your business sites is better than trying to duplicate or compete with them.

4. The site itself is the demo - Since I build static sites professionally, having my personal site built on the same Hugo Tailwind Starter system demonstrates the approach better than any copy could.

The Meta Irony

The funny part? This blog post has more words than my entire About page. Which is probably how it should be - the site structure stays lean, and the blog is where longer thoughts live.

If you’re struggling with similar questions about your personal site, maybe the answer is to stop trying to make it do everything. Let it be what it naturally is: a connection point between the different parts of your work.