When it comes to running a business, you know that managing the online reputation of your business is important. Many managers and business owners pay adequate attention to this and really manage their corporate online presence effectively. However, they sometimes pay little attention to themselves. If you are the face of your business, ensuring that your personal reputation is also managed is a good idea.
Here are five tips that can help you manage your personal online reputation.
1. Be a little vain
Growing up you were probably told that showing a high opinion of oneself isn’t a positive. However, when it comes to your online reputation, being a little vain and promoting your good points, especially in relation to your business, could help define how others perceive you. It is a good idea to visit the major search engines and search for your name – full name, nickname and any aliases and see what comes up.
Be sure to also look at the different categories of search. For example, look at Images, News, Blogs, etc., on Google. You can also set up a Google Alert which will notify you whenever new content mentioning your name is posted. You can do this by visiting Google’s Alerts site, entering your name in the Search Query box, setting how often you want the alerts, (we recommend once a week), and pressing Create Alert.
2. Secure your own little slice of the Internet
It is a good idea to try and buy your own domain name, e.g., www.yourname.com. You can use this to create a website all about you, where you place a personal blog, pictures, etc. If you maintain the site, you can also link it to your social media profiles. If you keep this updated and keep up momentum then you may see a boost in followers. The best part is that this can be fairly inexpensive. Even if you don’t launch a website straightaway, securing a web domain that is your own gives you options in the future, which you might want to use to promote aspects of your business, as well as yourself.
3. One platform to rule them all
There are a wide variety of websites dedicated to content. Sites like WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, etc., are all versatile and allow you to post nearly any type of content, or even create your own website. These sites usually allow you to link your personal domain name to them, so when someone enters this name they are taken directly to your content.
4. Get social
Social media is a powerful reputation tool, and having a personal profile in the same place as your business profile can be beneficial. Be sure to fully fill out your profile information and be as active as possible, sharing content you produce, find, or generally enjoy. If you want to really interact that it is worthwhile to be on the major social media platforms – Twitter, Google+, Facebook and Pinterest.
5. Follow one of the golden rules of the Internet
There are many rules when it comes to being on the Internet. One of the most important is: Watch what you put online. There are many stories of people sending an email, or posting a public Facebook post with content that is harmful to their reputation, when they intended this to be private.
In general, it’s worth remembering that with anything that appears on the Internet, even if it’s private, there is always a chance it will at some point become public. Therefore, you should think twice before posting anything that you definitely always want to keep private, or that could harm your reputation.
If you would like to learn more about managing your reputation, or that of your business, please contact us today to see how we can help.
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