Danny Kessler, my favorite “entrepreneur warrior” (he teaches self-defense and the attitude that comes with it to women), sent me a link to Andy Beal’s excellent post on managing your Google reputation. This is becoming a huge issue. Just this week I googled a member of my local community and found out that the first result for him was an indictment and conviction by the SEC! I can tell he doesn’t hang out online much, or he would have found the money and resources to correct that immediately.
I was going to talk about this at PodcampAZ this weekend, but I’ve been summoned to Boston to await a grandchild’s birth, so here goes what I was going to say, which is quite similar to what Andy has already said.
Ways to make more pleasant results come up on your Google first page:
1)Get that web site with your name on it that someone is always trying to sell you, and that you think you don’t need. That would be www.yournamehere.com. Just post your own resume on it.
2)Go to one of the free blogging tools (WordPress.org, Blogger.com, or Typepad.com) and create a blog. Post to the blog at least once a week, even if you are only uploading photos. This is a good strategy for people who can’t or don’t like to write: put up photos you have taken with your cell phone or digital camera.
3)Join one of the microblogging sites like Twitter, Jaiku, or Pownce. You only have to post 140 characters every once in a while, but they are indexed by Google.
4)No matter your age, join Facebook and make a profile.
5)Or, if it suits you, do the same on MySpace. (younger, more ad-driven vibe). you never have to go back there, as long as you get indexed.
6)For professional reasons, join LinkedIn, which is a wonderful way to meet people in the business community. Plaxo, which you may already use to update your Outlook address book, has also established a social network.
7)Join or set up your own social network on Ning, which is a social networking platform.
8)Put a profile up of yourself on Spock, a people search site.
If you do all these things, you may spend an afternoon, but you will save plenty of heartache later, because you will have created your own online brand. If you don’t do this, someone else will! And go back and ready Andy’s post to see if I left anything out.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice, simple list of the basic ‘tool kit’ for building a web presence. All these tools for are available for free or close to it, yet they can provide so much value. Doesn’t seem right, but it works for me!
Online “Brand-Aid”. Killer post Francine, I’m taking notes.”If you don’t do this, someone else will!” . . . sad but true. Congrats on your grandchild!
Thanks for the reminder that in a free society, we have an obligation to be vigilant. There’s a lot of information floating about that can have a significant impact on our lives. For those of us who have been accustomed to living under a veil of privacy, now we have to get used to the reality that we now are leading lives that are as transparent as any public figure.
Great comments folks! Yes, we have to be vigilant. Yes, the tools are free to allow us to do it. Thank goodness we CAN do it.
This is absolutely true!! I did this and it works!!