Notes

10 Ideas to Effectively and Proactively Manage Your Online Reputation
Until very recently, only the people with access and influence, or some level of luck were those that could take advantage of publishers along with other contacts to greatly help them promote their work and personal image. The same was true of television and print media, that have been considered two of the most powerful tools because of their influence and capability to manipulate perceptions through content.

But, with the recent "democratization" of communication, associated with the development of the Internet and the emergence of several online tools and applications, the way companies and people interact, collaborate, communicate, play, work, share information, trade products or services has changed. And that change is profound.

Nowadays, anyone with internet access and a willingness to be proactive also to put some passion into learning how these tools work has the capacity to gain a voice, add visibility to the outside world and to create, share, distribute and publicize his / her own ideas, preferences, opinions, successes, experiences, and knowledge. As well, it became another method for promoting who we have been and to "influence" the way we wish others to perceive us as individuals so when professionals.

It also facilitated the procedure of establishing informal relations and dialogues with individuals who we may or may not know, or who were once inapproachable due to that fact that they were reserved or perhaps shrouded by influence games and secret contacts.

Due to the ultra-competitive world in which we live today, it became increasingly very important to each of us to attempt to find and use creative ways to create buzz about ourselves, and that can help us to differentiate and stand out from the crowd and your competition while communicating those factors, qualities, characteristics which make us unique and valuable. Obviously, section of the solution is based on effectively managing and monitoring the web reputation for our own private brand.

Simultaneously, we ought to also be cautious and check whether the information that exists online and what others say about us is correct and represents a clear, positive and relevant image of who we are really. Especially when there is a greater likelihood that someone, such former colleagues, recruitment companies, friends, family, ex-boyfriends, teachers, consultants and others, would use Google to try to discover things about us.

Even when it continues to be impossible to totally control what others say about us, we can and should make an effort to at the very least be better ready to respond, minimize and possibly prevent the effects and confusion that might follow from misinformation. You'll find nothing worse than having incorrect, embarrassing or negative information associated with our name, particularly at a time when reputations can be created and destroyed online in under seconds and at the speed of 140 characters.

For all this, I would like to ask you if you ever Googled your name between quotes on Google.com? If yes, did you like what you found? In the event that you haven't done this yet, what exactly are you waiting for?

Make sure you do it and then browse the 10 practical tips below on how to better manage your online reputation.

Contrary to what lots of people think, it's no more enough to simply create profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. You must go a little further and complement this with other types of proactive and well structured tactics

1. Register your name: For under $10 a year, it is possible to reserve and register your name as an online domain through services such as GoDaddy.com; DomainsInSeconds.com; Joker.com; Registera.com; IWantMyName.com; Register.com; etc. Preferably select one which ends with.com or. net (or. co,. tv) being that they are the ones that search engines respect most. If your name is fairly common and is no longer available contemplate using your middle initial or a shorter version of your name or even an invented word that can be easily associated with your personal brand. Thing about also investing in a "hosting" service that lets you build a website where one can set up your credentials. Then make certain you list your website or blog on relevant websites, se's and directories such as for example technorati, blogcatalog and mybloglog

2. Build your own "window:" develop a website or a blog that connects your web domain with your name using WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, BuddyPress, LiveJournal, Tumblr, etc. This will allow you to have a online location where you could not merely write and share your ideas, stories, experiences, wisdom and knowledge on a particular subject, but also boost your credibility, reputation and authority with se's, especially if your articles and comments start being shared by others in other social networks and thereby obtain "back links" (links that time and connect right to your website). Make sure to include your name in the description and title of one's blog, along with relevant tags in the titles of one's articles and understand that "ideas are worth nothing until other people find out about them" - Bo Fishback

3. Registered as a member: create, claim and secure your brand name on several social networks that are highly indexed in Google. Make certain you complete your profile form completely to increase your visibility, in case you don't become a very active member.

Start by examining "List_of_social_networking_websites" on Wikipedia to become acquainted with the countless tools and internet sites that are available. It's essential that you devote time investigating how exactly to highlight your brand. For example, the main ones in Brazil are Orkut and Orca but in the United States the top are Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and Portugal may be the Hi5.

Then go to KnowEm.com or checkusernames.com - to understand in which popular internet sites (you can find currently over 400) your name continues to be available also to claim, reserve and protect it.

Facebook Username and fanpage - a social network that already has more than 50 million members worldwide and where it's possible to use a large number of applications associated with your personal profile. It also allows you to start creating our very own and your preferences.

Twitter - a social network that offers a micro-blogging service where users are allowed to send, share and read messages referred to as "tweets" with a maximum of 140 characters. Users are also able to ask and answer questions and answer comments.

LinkedIn - a business-oriented social network that's mostly used for establishing contacts and for networking on a specialist level.

Flickr - allows the integration and sharing of personal photos and videos which might be embedded in blogs or other internet sites.

Google Profiles - a free service that makes personal profiles on Google's search engines and facilitates the control of some type of information that can appear associated with your name.

Digg - a social news website where users can discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting links and stories, and at the same time, it offers the opportunity to vote and touch upon those.

Hi5 - a social network where users can find, interact and stay static in touch with friends while having fun with them.

MySpace - a social networking that became very popular in america in June 2006 and where users can meet friends/colleagues/new people, listen and create music playlists for free, share photos, watch videos, etc.

Naymz - a professional social networking platform which allows its users to connect with other professionals that participate in specific networks.

StumbleUpon - an network which allows its members to discover, classify and recommend personalized Webpages, photos and video.

Friendfeed - a genuine time feeds aggregator that consolidates news, internet sites, blogs & micro-blogging updates, and RSS feeds.

Ping.fm - a straightforward and free micro-blogging service which allows members to update content from/to their various internet sites in the blink of an eye.

Tube Mongul - a free service that provides an individual place to upload video to the major video sharing websites.

YouTube - a free of charge service that enables you to store, view, comment and share online video. Alternatively there are certainly others like http://www.vimeo.com and Ustream.tv - http://www.Ustream.tv - a network of diverse channels providing a platform for video and online events.

Skype - a software that allows users to create voice calls, including video conferencing, over the Internet. Calls to other users in the service are free, but, for instance, calls to landlines could be made right after paying a user fee.

eBay - a shopping website where people and businesses trade a multitude of products and services worldwide via an auction system.

Friendster - a social media service which allows users to get touching other members while maintaining contacts and sharing content, including videos, photos, messages and comments.

Friendfeed - allows you to create a source of personalized content (articles, photos, etc.) which can be shared with friends.

Ning - an online platform that allows people to create their own internet sites. The service can be tried for free during 1 month, but after that, a little monthly fee applies.

Include a short biographies about yourself online, such as for example Wikipedia.org; knol.Google.com/ke and Squidoo.com.

And since the first impression is definitely one that everyone could have of you, be sure to:
- Fill out your profile completely and carefully on each social network
- Use a photograph that presents you in a specialist and consistent way across all the social networks... remember that "a picture still is worth a thousand words".
- Include links and addresses from the major internet sites in all contacts that you make, including on your email signature.

4. Get involved: Don't be online by just creating a simple online profile. It's necessary to be involved and to take part in discussions in groups, fan pages, and forums which are linked to your topics and interests by posting comments, answering questions, disseminating and sharing interesting content, establishing relationships, and getting together with others.

Many of these activities are necessary and will help us get the attention of our target audience and make them interested in getting connected and getting together with us. If this happens, the likelihood of being followed and the likelihood of seeing our views and messages being broadcasted beyond our very own network of contacts (networking) will gradually increase.

The secret also involves being excellent storytellers - a person who is interesting and can inspire, motivate and capture the eye, heart, mind and interest of others. We ought to try to offer something free of charge that can bring added value. Use titles or subjects in our own blogs or from other websites for reference which are relevant, innovative, and controversial.

Consider writing books and opinion articles for magazines, blogs, newsletters or influential websites on current or relevant topics for your target audience. And, spread those via links to your own website or blog.
Also, try to be quoted in specialty articles and consider providing consultancy services.

Make a PowerPoint presentation on a specific topic and try to book yourself into seminars, conferences, television programs along with other events where you can be considered a guest speaker. Make yourself open to answer questions and discuss your own views and experiences. Equate to make that same presentation on websites like slideshare.com since, according to Gary Vaynerchuck, every conversation that you start is another opportunity to talk about your passions.

5. Monitor: Learn to read (between your lines), listen, and observe what others are saying about you, your individual brand, and the problems that are relevant to you. Try to identify which blogs, forums and personalities are the most important in a particular field and/or deserve to be followed. This type of monitoring allows us to become better informed about new trends, potential threats and better prepared to respond, innovate, adjust, change and adapt to new realities and situations if necessary. Here are some tools which will help:

- Google alerts - allows the creation of email alerts for your selection of query or topic and based on the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.). It is advisable to create alerts on your own name, your website/blog, your "competitors" and the topics which are relevant to you.

- Google reader - is really a service that lets you add and access content from your own favorite websites in one place.

- Search.twitter.com - allows you to see what's happening or being said instantly on the topic that you want search about - contemplate using it for your own name/brand.

- Backtype.com - is a social analysis platform that helps companies better understand their social impact, and warnings when a specific name is mentioned on blogs' comments.

- Socialmention.com - is a real time internet search engine for all social networks user-generated content: blogs, comments, bookmarks, events, news, videos, etc.

- Boardtracker.com - provides notifications whenever a specific name or topic appears mentioned in discussions, in forums and IMs alerts. Cost: 39 USD per month but the first 30 days are free.

- Blogsearch.google.com - is really a technology that helps an individual search and explore the blogging universe more effectively in order to discover what's being said about any subject of interest.

- Tweetbackup - is really a tool that allows to free up our twitter account. They recently started offering a monthly premium subscription for $1/month.

- Collecta.com - is a real time search engine time which includes results from blogs, micro blogs, news feeds and photo sharing services on a particular topic, name or website.

And if you ever have to provide or analyze statistical data on your website or audiences from other sites, use compete.com; alexa.com; pagerank.net; quantcast.com and googlerankings.com

6. Be real: behave online in the same way you do every day. Act with good manners, respect, professionalism, honesty, friendliness, consistency, dedication, adaptability, reciprocity, etc. Be a leader when you are authentic and by showing that you care, respect, and so are thinking about learning more about the opinions, ideas, values, dreams, vision of others. That way you will be able to fully capture their interest and their willingness to connect to your own brand.

7. Be careful: usually do not put anything online that you'll not want your mother to see about you or your brand. Remember that Google never forgets and it's virtually impossible to remove content from it. Therefore, think and be careful with the words and the comments you post online. 1 day, you might regret having done it. Also, be cautious with those you meet and talk to online. Try to disassociate yourself from any person that may have a negative effect on your image. Tidy up your profile from spammers and questionable websites - and don't take sides in heated discussions, if you don't are ready to defend your situation today or even tomorrow. Finally, review the privacy settings of each of the social networks you use so that you could stay static in control of the general public information that appears with your online profile. Example: utilize the application PrivacyDefender for a graphic image of the sort of information to talk about online.

8. Do something - follow the maxim of not leaving for tomorrow what you can and should be doing today. Don't forget that just how we act with regards to situations makes an impact, especially if this is a less desirable situation. For instance, when one makes a comment that's misinterpreted, the great thing to do would be to act immediately and clarify the problem. Remember what happened recently with BP CEO's comments that created a mini-crisis for that company that is considered by many a report case in PR.

If there is less worthy content, make an effort to use the "guideline" to eliminate those. An alternative is to directly contact the writer of the blog or website and have to have the information corrected (example: Correction: we got confirmation that xx had not been fired but thrilled to defend myself against new roles as the zz at company zz).

9. Plan - Establish, in your daily life, a time to learn, participate, comment which will help others remember you as well as your name/brand. Make time for your desired objectives and list ways to achieve them. Spend money on consistent messaging and relevant content that is updated regularly. Never quit to evolve and improve everything you do and know (even when you succeed). Don't allow success blind you, and become willing to continue steadily to strive to improve and to try new things.

10. Do not quit - Be patient and persistent because these steps require commitment, dedication, also it takes time to obtain the desired results. Be prepared to repeat all these tips again and again so when often as needed.

But sooner or read more , you will see that your effort will be rewarded. All you have to to do is to simply live up to your passion and do what you have confidence in. Start managing your reputation today, dare to risk, and become prepared because you may be contacted by someone out of the blue. It happened to me already and it will happen to you. (Just let me know when.)

Copyright (c) 2010 Miguel Carvalho

Miguel Carvalho holds a Masters in Business Administration from Universidade Catolica Portuguesa and a MS in Organizational Leadership from Mercy College. Having more than 14 years experience in marketing, he's works as a PR Manager in NY for the past six years. His interests include marketing, social networking, branding, organizational leadership, pr and strategic communications. More descriptive information is available at his personal website [http://miguelcarvalho.co]
My Website: https://youclerks.com/tips-for-making-your-insurance-commercials-even-more-pointless/