Building a brand, and maintaining it, starts the moment you go online. There are business brands and professional brands, and these two realms often overlap. Even an 18-year-old with no idea of what he or she wants to do has an online reputation or “brand.” It’s what schools may look at when deciding if you should be admitted, what employers consider when choosing the best person for roles and what your potential dates find when getting ready for the first in-person meeting. Your reputation and brand are really all you have—it’s your first impression, so make it count.
Fortunately, you’re largely in charge of your brand since most of it is built online. In many cases, it’s you and you alone who’s posting information about yourself, from photos to reviews on third party sites. Reputation management isn’t just for enterprises or major companies. It’s something we can all do on a daily basis.
Take a look at some great websites and platforms, such as Flippze, Etsy or Amazon for examples of brand building done right. There are also YouTube stars and even the Kardashians (regardless of what you think of them) who are brilliant at brand building.
Here are a few ways you can build and control your brand:
1. Guest posts: If you’re a writer, infographic designer or vlogger, you can get more exposure and increase your leadership prowess with guest posts. This is how you get your name out there in the industry you want. Make sure you have a professional byline, professional photo (no selfies) and match your interests to the right website.
2. Manage your Google alerts: Set up a Google alert for your name, variances of your name and business, if applicable. You’ll be instantly notified when anything new about you shows up in Google searches.
3. Remove or bury low quality content: There’s no shame in googling yourself, and you might even be surprised by what pops up. It could be an old angsty rant you forgot about, a tagged photo from a drunken night out or some other content you no longer want out there. Each website has a different means of requesting content to be taken down, and in some cases you can do it yourself (like if it’s an old dating profile you forgot about). Otherwise, you can work on burying bad content with good. This is where a pro website, blog, guest blogging and other tactics come into play.
4. Create a professional website: Even if you’re “just” a student, there’s no reason you can’t have a professional website with a blog, your resume, recent projects and other details included. It shows future employers that you’re serious, tech savvy and helps you stand out. If you really want to shine, include a video introduction (just make sure it’s regularly updated).
5. Lock down your privacy: This is particularly true on social media sites. Every now and then, double check your privacy settings to make sure everything’s under lock and key. However, the best approach is to not post anything on social media you wouldn’t want the world to see.
Your brand can bolster your success or drag you down, so plot it carefully. Gone are the days when privacy was a given, and in the Digital Era you need to keep things squeaky clean. Keep track of yourself so that others don’t do it for you.
from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1enhz8i via local SEO company
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1LYw5Pa
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