We are in the 21st century where technology is the in thing. Everything has gone global. There is hardly anything you cannot do over the Internet. Paper is fizzling out and the search engines are taking over. There is nothing you are looking for that you cannot get on the web. The web is the directory of the day and any information you want can be sorted out in minutes. The web has impacted the way we interact, network and even manage our lives.
Millions of people including top management executives, HR Consultants and leaders in all profession are turning to the World Wide Web for answers to their daily questions.
What is your profile? What are your achievements? Who knows you? How relevant are you in the world? To find global answers to all these questions, go to Google. com, type your name into the search box in quotes (like this: “Bill Gates”) and hit the enter button on your laptop and see what the world’s most used and popular search engine says about you. From the search result, we can deduce how relevant you are to the present generation. To those who have never met you before, you are your Google result. Getting to know what Google says about you is very important if you’re interested in building an online presence because the number one referencing tool for people to use when conducting a research about you is Google.
Building an Online Presence
Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia defined personal branding as the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands.
Tom peters said,
“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”
Personal branding is about setting and positioning yourself for career and life success. Your positioning strategy can set you up for success and career advancement. If you want to separate yourself from the crowd as a distinct individual, then you’ve got to understand the importance of building a personal brand.
The good news according to tom peters is that everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up his or her skills. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark.
Before you start doing anything online, the key principle is that you need to know who you are. You cannot be everything. What are your core values? What makes you stand out from the crowd? Before communicating your strong values, you need to embark on a journey of self discovery. What are your goals, strengths, weakness, mission, vision and passion.
Once you find answers to the following questions, the next step is how to become visible by creating an online presence to boost your career profile.
To create an online presence, you need a personal website or blog like www.yourname.com which you can own by first registering a domain name at 007names.com or godaddy.com.
Call in the web developers who are skilled in latest design and software technologies to design your site according to your specification and taste. A branding expert can help out with the layout and design concept.
With a website or blog you can do virtually anything you want. You can blog and write about just anything there is in the world. Write about your values, work, projects you’re managing and your area of expertise etc. You can teach what you know best or you can even raise money for charities and participate in community development programs. Bill Gates writes at thegatesnotes.com while Richard Branson updates his blog at virgin.com/richard-branson. Your values and purpose should resonate through your website or blog.
Once your website is up and running, you can start communicating your brand.
Write articles relating to your field for publication in the print media like newspapers, magazines or online writing sites like hubpages.com, ehow.com, infobarrel.com or helium.com. You can also upload them to article directories for wider reach.
Read and comment on blogs related to your area of expertise. When you’re an expert at something, understanding the work of others related to your field will be easy. Leaving valuable comments on other people’s blog will increase traffic to your website where people can learn more about you.
Network and build quality relationship with top bloggers in your area of expertise and let them know they can recommend you when necessary. This world is so small and you never can tell who will facilitate your next big break.
Establish your presence and leverage on social networking sites like facebook, twitter, linkedin, diggs and myspace to help build your visibility on the web.
Make sure you’re known for one thing on the web. Don’t be a jack of all trade master of none. Build your website around your core area of expertise. Value quality over quantity. Be consistent with your actions and keep to your promise if you make any. Always deliver as at when due. Let your personal integrity resonate through the world wide web.
With the rate at which the world is advancing, we all can no longer be separated from technology. Google will soon become a reference point when the time comes to know who you are. If you discipline yourself to carry out the above tasks consistently for one year, your career profile will be on the rise and I can bet that when next you or someone Google your name, the world wide web will pop out amazing data about your exploits.
What else are you waiting for? The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time to plant a tree is NOW. Start NOW
Do you know any other way you can increase your visibility on the web? Please share via the comment box below.
Cheers
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