Advice for Branding Yourself Online
By TorontoJobs.ca
The Internet and online social networking has radically changed the way we interact with each other on a day-to-day basis. As a result of this transformation, people need to be aware of how they are perceived when their name is searched online.
This article will cover some online branding tips to consider, especially during a job search process.
Google your name
Advice for Branding Yourself Online
By TorontoJobs.ca
The Internet and online social networking has radically changed the way we interact with each other on a day-to-day basis. As a result of this transformation, people need to be aware of how they are perceived when their name is searched online.
This article will cover some online branding tips to consider, especially during a job search process.
Google your name
A first quick and easy step is to Google yourself to see what comes up and what documents are linked about you.
You can Google yourself with quotes around your name or you can search without quotes. If you have a common name such as Mike Smith, you might want to include more specific information with your search such as Mike Smith Chartered Accountant or Mike Smith/recent employer’s name.
The goal is to ensure that what you’re seeing about yourself is what you want others to see.
Decide what brand you want
It’s important to consider how you would like to be perceived and what image you are trying to convey. For example, do you want to be recognized as a tax expert or as someone with experience in a specific industry?
Highlight expertise and publicize achievements
Ensure that your expertise is showcased and updated as much as possible in all of your online communication vehicles, such as in articles/blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Include any awards, designations or nominations received that highlight your accomplishments.
Allow people to contact you
Advice for Branding Yourself Online
By TorontoJobs.ca
The Internet and online social networking has radically changed the way we interact with each other on a day-to-day basis. As a result of this transformation, people need to be aware of how they are perceived when their name is searched online.
This article will cover some online branding tips to consider, especially during a job search process.
Google your name
A first quick and easy step is to Google yourself to see what comes up and what documents are linked about you.
You can Google yourself with quotes around your name or you can search without quotes. If you have a common name such as Mike Smith, you might want to include more specific information with your search such as Mike Smith Chartered Accountant or Mike Smith/recent employer’s name.
The goal is to ensure that what you’re seeing about yourself is what you want others to see.
Decide what brand you want
It’s important to consider how you would like to be perceived and what image you are trying to convey. For example, do you want to be recognized as a tax expert or as someone with experience in a specific industry?
Highlight expertise and publicize achievements
Ensure that your expertise is showcased and updated as much as possible in all of your online communication vehicles, such as in articles/blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Include any awards, designations or nominations received that highlight your accomplishments.
Allow people to contact you
Have an easy way for people to connect with you by email or phone. Reach out to your contacts to connect in order to build your network and try to stay in touch with your contacts regularly.
Join groups to connect with relevant people
People surfing the Internet will look at who belongs to various groups as well as who is connected with whom, so it’s a good idea to join groups relevant to your background in order to expand your network.
Post discussions
Posting discussions to groups will help to enhance your online brand and create dialogue with others interested in the same topic areas. Take caution to ensure your topics have a professional tone and are in good taste because once posted, it’s difficult to have them removed.
Keep your status current
Post updates to your status on a regular basis. Doing so will show that you are an active online participant and your other connections will get notifications of your change in status.
Keep graphics relevant
Add any graphics, pictures, or logos relevant to you and/or your brand. Make sure pictures are current and in good taste.
Ensure accurate spelling and grammar
To ensure a professional online presence, double-check to verify there are no spelling or grammatical errors in anything online about you or something you’ve written.
Register your name as a domain
You can register your name as a domain (e.g. www.yourname.com or www.yourname.ca) as well as making sure that you can get domains such as www.linkedin.com/yourname or www.twitter.com/yourname.
Be selective
With the growing number of websites and social websites available, it’s important to be selective and target the appropriate websites that you wish to be associated with. Credible sites such as your company’s website as well as association sites are a good place to start. Keep in mind that it may tarnish your reputation to be associated with the wrong website.
Create videos
It is quite easy to create videos to upload to sites like YouTube or even create your own YouTube channel to create a brand for yourself.
Blog
Starting up your own blog also helps to accentuate your brand. A website such as www.blogger.com allows you to create your own blog at no cost.
Press releases
Send out a press release whenever you win an award or do something that the media might find interesting.
Think of someone trying to find you
If you’re looking for a job, think like a recruiter who may be trying to find someone with your skill. How would they search for you? What keywords would they search on and do you appear there? Make sure that you can be found wherever they might be looking and think about how your online presence would appear to someone who doesn’t know you.
Take Action
If you find something online about you that is not accurate or can be construed negatively, take action with the webmaster of that website to get the information removed or adjusted accordingly.
Conclusion
When branding yourself online, think of yourself as a business and how you want to brand your business. Then create your online strategy so that people view you around that brand. Be creative, but also make sure to be professional.
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