Web search engine | Personal Visibility

Posts Tagged ‘Web search engine’

What’s Your DQ?

Posted: October 1, 2015 in business, career, First Impression, Job Search, linkedin, Networking, online, Personal Brand, Personal Branding, personal development, personal improvement, popular, search engine, Self Help, Self Improvement, trending, visibility
Tags: Bing, Facebook, google, Instagram, Klout, linkedin, Twitter, Web search engine, you wouldn't go out looking like that

Just because you have a LinkedIn profile doesn’t mean your personal branding and visibility efforts are complete, however, you’re off to a great start! A great start because of LinkedIn’s 380 million strong membership base, visibility, ease-of-use and maybe the most important reason: the embedded search features that facilitate your discoverability. Having a completed profile and professional headshot on LinkedIn is a giant step toward bridging the gap between your “virtual” or online presence and your offline persona. However, the important question is this: What is your discoverability quotient?

If you’re like many people, you’re probably on Facebook , Twitter, Google+ (really?), Pinterest, Instagram and a handful of other networking-related sites. You may not be as active as some people you know, but odds are you’ve at least set up a profile to see what all the noise is about. If you are reasonably active, you may have created a Klout account to measure your so-called “social influence” or even uploaded your headshot to Gravatar and registered on Google Profiles to make yourself more “discoverable” by search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo? If you’re really on top of your game, you’ve created a account with GoDaddy and purchased your name as a dot com (or .net, .me, or all of the available extensions).

The truth is, you probably have a little bit of yourself spread around in several different places on the web with the result being a very fragmented digital footprint. Odds are, most of your personal profiles are not as complete as they could be, your information is inconsistent and this lack of a coordinated effort is suppressing your visibility. This makes for something less-than-optimal in terms of results when someone searches for you online. News flash! More people than you might think are searching your name: friends, co-workers, new acquaintances, business associates (before, during or after the meeting), vendors, a prospective employer, a committee member, a recruiter, and so forth and so on. Remember, passive recruiting is rampant today and with the internet being the new first impression, you’ll likely have one just chance to make a quality impression and you should be the best version of your online self. More and more its the first step in meeting someone.

With an ever expanding digital footprint, how do you coordinate your overall presence, improve your search engine discoverability and maximize your personal branding and visibility efforts? The most efficient way to accomplish this is by using one of several personal branding sites to help coordinate and amplify your visibility. BrandYourself and About are two of the more popular platforms. These sites allow you to create a comprehensive profile and once completed, either has the appearance of a personalized website. If you happen to own your name as a dot com, all the better as that adds a high level of personalization.

Here’s the really cool part––the purpose of these personal branding sites is to link all of your online activities together under a hub and spoke type of approach in order to maximize your visibility with the various search engines. These sites allow you to link all of your online activities and profiles for the purpose of optimizing your visibility. Your discoverability quotient will improve significantly.

Who doesn’t want to be discovered?

You Wouldn’t Go Out Looking Like That Would You?

We all have an old but favorite pair of sweat pants and a not-for-public tattered shirt we lounge around the house in, right? Particularly when we know that no one is around and the likelihood of being face-to-face with anyone other than an immediate family member is a minimal risk. You have that look don’t you? No shower, maybe a little pillow-hair and looking pretty scary versus your normal “together” self. You’d never leave the house in that condition, would you?

In terms of image, there’s one thing we all have in common: When we have an important social event, a business meeting or client interaction we put our best foot forward in terms of appearance. And on those really special occasions we might even get a fresh haircut and purchase something new to wear, all in an effort to make a quality impression. We hedge our chances of success by carefully controlling the image that we portray to others. While we might all have different looks for different occasions, one thing’s for certain, if we know someone important is looking at or evaluating us we go out of our way to be on our best behavior and make certain we look our best. We naturally want to impress as it seems to be both common sense as well as an intelligent act of self-promotion.

So, what about your online persona––your so-called digital footprint? The ubiquitious presence you now have with all of your online profiles, activities and interactions? And those profiles are visible 24/7 to anyone in the ~~world~~ galaxy that decides to look. And yet many choose to have a crappy photo or no photograph at all, complete with sketchy background information including grammar that could use some serious wordsmithing. You’re on display to the world around-the-clock and you’re presenting yourself in the equivalent of that old pair of sweats and tattered shirt. Really? We can probably all agree that an incomplete and poorly worded profile won’t provoke much confidence with an opportunity giver looking at your profile. People with these types of profiles should rein in their expectations as there’s very little chance of an offer––of any kind.

Search engine functionality has improved to the point that anything and everyone can be found. If your profile is constructed properly, positioned strategically and coordinated with the proper keywords and phrases, you will be found so, you might want to be looking the digital equivalent of professionally-polished. Passive recruiting has always been popular among search firms but the transparency caused by today’s search functionality has given worldwide access to anyone interested in performing a search. That includes the larger search firms all the way down to the one person HR department. It could even be a start-up looking for advisors or a board looking for expertise. Someone, somewhere is attempting to match people with opportunities. Are you discoverable? Moreover, are you presentable? Meaningful people with meaningful opportunities are looking for people just like you. That means you might want to be the most presentable virtual version of yourself when they do look your way…

Take a digital shower, comb your online hair and put on your best virtual outfit.

Be the best version of you!

Distinguish Yourself!

“A picture is worth a thousand words” refers to the notion that complex ideas can be conveyed with just a single still image. However, the notion doesn’t make reference to the conveyance being positive or negative, only complex. Complex because an image is able to convey what might otherwise require several pages of text. Having an effective around-the-clock virtual representation of yourself is critical in today’s online environment. Fortuitous, self serving and just plain smart––no matter your circumstances. Particularly if a person wants to reach beyond their intimate group of face-to-face interactions and leverage this powerful megaphone known as the internet. Here’s a fact: With the explosion of social media, people have an ever-increasing network of contacts. Intimacy is positively losing out to efficiency, both personally and professionally. Some people continue to struggle to balance their relationship with technology but we are all on an inexorable path with technology’s prowess––might as well put it to good use.

Its been said that words and pictures live in harmony. So, imagine a quality image combined with compelling words––all used as a powerful and effective representation of you; for you. Words and pictures that allow a reader to effectively negotiate their interpretations and judgment about who you are, particularly in the absence of opportunity for personal interactions. The internet allows you to reach well beyond your normal sphere-of-influence. It allows for around-the-clock, world-wide visibility. Put together properly, it allows you to separate yourself from the vast sea of online sameness in order to stand out and maximize your discoverability. The obvious goal being to create a positive influence on the reader and motivate them to want to know more.

With search engine functionality continuing to improve, you can and will be found, particularly if someone is searching specifics. However, its one thing to be found by a name search, its all together something different to be found by a skill search. And you definitely want to be identified in multiple searches. You want to show up on more than one list, particularly if someones looking for someone like you. Both offered and considered opportunities are key––its always nice to have choices and the more the better. Advantage you. Don’t give up on that! There are lots of opportunity-givers that might not yet realize you are the person they’re looking for––make it easy for them. Be the most dresssed-up digital version of yourself! Know this: it’s work-in-progress but you should make refinement a priority. It will be that important! Get ahead of it by recognizing the opportunity and making your online persona a priority. There’s no better use of technology than the promotion of your own well-being and livelihood.

It’s your story.

Make the words count.

Are You Discoverable?

The entire professional world is lurking online––searching, parsing and taking advantage of search engine efficiencies offered by the latest technologies to help them find the right person for a myriad of opportunities––social and professional. Face-to-face interaction has mostly been relegated to some later date when one passes the first impression gauntlet in the virtual world. If When someone sees how you portray yourself online, what kind of first impression will you make?

Will they be intrigued and want to learn more about you or just yawn and move on to the next person? In today’s world, passive recruiting is rampant and opportunities are plentiful as the economy continues to improve. Employers and recruiters have better tools than ever with which to search and discover and with a pond like LinkedIn to fish in; why would they need to look anywhere else? LinkedIn is a quarter of a billion strong and growing in terms of membership and in the absence of a little forethought and planning as to your profile content, you simply blend in to the vast sea of sameness. You won’t get that all important second look, much less an offer. In today’s free-agent marketplace, online recruiting of the passive kind is your friend… you can always say no.

Search engine functionality has improved to the point that anything and everyone can be found. If your profile is constructed properly, positioned strategically and coordinated with the proper keywords and phrases, you will be found so you might want to start looking the digital equivalent of professionally polished. Passive recruiting has always been popular among search firms but the transparency caused by today’s search functionality has given worldwide access to anyone interested in performing a search. That includes the larger search firms all the way down to the one person HR department. Maybe it’s a start-up looking for advisors or a board looking for expertise. Someone, somewhere is attempting to match people with opportunities… are you discoverable? Moreover, are you presentable?

Believe it or not, people are looking at your profile and googling your name far more than you might think. Just know this: Whether its a coworker, neighbor, recruiter, boss, or friend, you never know who’s looking so be prepared and take advantage of the tools available to you. These tools can and will work on your behalf around the clock––just like having your own agent and publicist. What could be better than that?

Ask yourself this simple question: Are you positioned squarely in the path of discovery? One thing is for certain in today’s world… being visible promotes opportunities.

Don’t miss out on yours!

What The #%*! Are You Waiting For?

The entire professional world is lurking online––searching, parsing and taking advantage of search engine efficiencies offered by the latest technologies to help them find the right person for a myriad of opportunities––social and professional. Face-to-face interaction has mostly been relegated to some later date when one passes the first impression gauntlet in the virtual world. If When someone sees how you portray yourself online, what kind of first impression will you make?

Will they be intrigued and want to learn more about you or just yawn and move on to the next person? In today’s world, passive recruiting is rampant and opportunities are plentiful as the economy continues to improve. Employers and recruiters have better tools than ever with which to search and discover and with a pond like LinkedIn to fish in; why would they need to look anywhere else? LinkedIn is a quarter of a billion strong and growing in terms of membership and in the absence of a little forethought and planning as to your profile content, you simply blend in to the vast sea of sameness. You won’t get that all important second look, much less an offer. In today’s free-agent marketplace, online recruiting of the passive kind is your friend… you can always say no.

Search engine functionality has improved to the point that anything and everyone can be found. If your profile is constructed properly, positioned strategically and coordinated with the proper keywords and phrases, you will be found so you might want to start looking the digital equivalent of professionally polished. Passive recruiting has always been popular among search firms but the transparency caused by today’s search functionality has given worldwide access to anyone interested in performing a search. That includes the larger search firms all the way down to the one person HR department. Maybe it’s a start-up looking for advisors or a board looking for expertise. Someone, somewhere is attempting to match people with opportunities… are you discoverable? Moreover, are you presentable?

Ask yourself a simple question: Are you positioned squarely in the path of discovery? One thing is for certain in today’s world… being visible promotes opportunities.

Don’t miss out on yours!

Surely People Know Who I Am!

In a couple of words… probably not! Don’t kid yourself. One of the more profound observations made by the well know TV host, Dr. Phil is the fact that people don’t think about you nearly as often as you might think! However, when it comes to personal visibility it’s not really about those that know you well enough that they might be prone to think about you. It’s about those that don’t know you at all or all that well.

It’s this group that you must learn to nurture and develop. It’s this group that can produce unexpected but extraordinary opportunities. Opportunities that you’re likely missing out on and you don’t even know it. The funny thing is, the opportunity givers don’t know they’re missing you anymore than you know what you’re missing. Let’s bridge that gap, huh?

You’ll get around to it, you say? You’ll start soon? You’ve been meaning to do it? Bullshit. Personal visibility campaigns are just like diets and exercise––we all dread getting started and we put it off as long as we can! And yes, it is a lot of work. And no, it won’t be as bad as you think in terms of getting started––it never is. And just like every diet and every exercise program, you’ll be glad you did and it will be worth it. And once you finally get started you’ll want to build and build and build––that’s a fact.

Face this fact: You’re on an inexorable path to a more and more comprehensive relationship with technology and it’s not so much a matter of IF you’ll adapt or not. It’s really a matter of how far behind you’ll be before you finally choose to get started. It can either be a proactive decision to get engaged now or you can wait until the decision gets made for you––the latter being the drag-along option. Don’t get left behind!

Before you know it, your profile and social resume will be complete and properly displayed on a number of connectivity platforms. With these platforms working together your visibility will be significantly enhanced, your name will be showing up on the first page of the various search engines and if you play your cards right––your name might just appear when someone googles your profession or principal skill set… that would be the pinnacle of personal branding and visibility! The visibility platforms at your disposal like LinkedIn, AboutMe and Brand Yourself are significant and very effective at telling your story in a compelling and meaningful way. Establish a presence on all, perfect your social resume content and optimize your visibility––the sooner the better.

Be assured of one very compelling fact: There are important people out there looking for the right person to match with their current opportunities, so make sure they have the best odds and opportunity to find you––you’ll both be better for it.

It’s time to start scheming, don’t you think?

You Wouldn’t Go Out Looking Like That Would You?

We all have an old but favorite pair of sweat pants and a not-for-public wrinkled shirt we lounge around the house in, right? Particularly when we know that no one is around and the likelihood of being face-to-face with someone other than an immediate family member is a minimal risk. You have that look don’t you? No shower, maybe a little pillow-hair and looking pretty scary versus your normal “together” self. You’d never leave the house in that condition, would you?

In terms of image, there’s one thing we all have in common: When we have an important social event, a business meeting or client interaction we put our best foot forward. And on those really special occasions we might even get a fresh haircut and purchase something new to wear––all in an effort to make a quality impression and hedge our chances of success by carefully controlling the image that we portray to others. We all have different looks for different occasions but one thing’s for certain… if we know someone important is going to be looking at or evaluating us we go out of our way to be not only on our best behavior but we make ourselves look the best we possibly can. We naturally want to impress as it seems to be both common sense as well as an intelligent act of self-promotion.

So, what about your online presence? Your digital footprint? The seemingly ubiquitous presence you now have with all of your online profiles, activities and interactions. And those profiles are visible 24/7 to anyone in the world galaxy that decides to look. And yet many choose to have a crappy photo or no photograph at all, complete with background information that is sketchy and in many cases with grammar that could use some serious wordsmithing. You’re on display to the world around-the-clock and you’re presenting yourself in the equivalent of that old pair of sweats and wrinkled shirt. Really? We can probably all agree that a sketchy, incomplete and poorly worded profile won’t provoke any confidence with the person looking at your profile or social resume. People with these types of profiles should definitely rein in their expectations, as there’s little chance of an offer… of any kind.

Search engine functionality has improved to the point that anything and everyone can be found. If your profile is constructed properly, positioned strategically and coordinated with the proper keywords and phrases––you will be found and you might want to be looking the digital equivalent of professionally polished. Passive recruiting has always been popular among search firms but the transparency caused by today’s search functionality has given worldwide access to anyone interested in performing a search. That includes the larger search firms all the way down to the one person HR department. Maybe it’s a start-up looking for advisors or a board looking for expertise. Someone, somewhere is attempting to match people with opportunities… are you discoverable? Moreover, are you presentable?

Meaningful people with meaningful opportunities are looking for people just like you and you’ll want to be the most presentable virtual version of yourself whenever they might choose to look your way.

Seriously, take a shower, comb your hair, put on your best outfit and make yourself presentable!

Do You Run Toward the Fire?

Posted: April 17, 2013 in business, career, First Impression, Job Search, linkedin, Networking, Personal Brand, Personal Branding, personal development, personal improvement, popular, Self Help, Self Improvement, visibility
Tags: brand, branding, college grad, credibility, Facebook, first impression, google, Google Profiles, job search, linkedin, marketing, Meta element, networking purposes, Personal, personal brand, personal visibility, popular, reliability, Search engine optimization, social media strategy, Social network, technology, tom mccollum, Top 40, Web search engine

I will help you jumpstart momentum…

I don’t care who gets credit; I just want to win…

I catalyze businesses poised for growth…

I run toward the fire…

These attempts at describing personal attributes have each appeared in an actual online profile or what is now known as a social resume. Good or bad, maybe even over-the-top, they were an effort at not appearing average. When it comes to personal branding, you can’t afford to be timid. Figure out what’s special or extraordinary about you and tell the world with every tool available–just be authentic! Choose your words carefully and avoid those overused buzzwords that seem to appear on almost every social and hard copy resume. Words like those that were identified as the Top 10 most overused buzzwords on LinkedIn in 2013: Creative, Organizational, Effective, Motivated, Extensive Experience, Track Record, Innovative, Responsible, Analytical and Problem Solver.

How do you describe you? What’s remarkable about you? Are you famous for something (even among your friends)? What makes you interesting? What do you do well? If you were a company, how would you advertise your product? Would you have a social media strategy and what would it be? Would you be on Facebook and LinkedIn? Twitter? Yes, yes and yes–of course you would! And, you would carefully construct your ad and promotional package to reflect the characteristics, attributes and benefits of your product. You would clearly communicate what’s unique about it and why people should buy it, right? Most importantly, if you don’t raise the value, you have to cut the price. Price should be interpreted as a job offer, salary increase or any number of other potentially compelling opportunities. YOU are the value.

Just remember this: Whatever you do, avoid the vast sea of sameness–you want to stand out, not blend in. You want to stand out not only for who you are but for what you do. It’s one thing for your name to appear at the top of a google query or at least on the first page of results when someone types in your name, but its something all together different (and quite impressive) for your name to appear on the first page of results based on a google inquiry of a particular profession or position. Imagine if someone googled “CEO”, “attorney”, “administrative assistant” or “screenwriter” and your name appeared on or at the top of the first page! That would be the pinnacle of personal branding! We wouldn’t want to set our sights any lower than that, right?

[Technical Point] As you think about and develop a list of words and phrases that best describe you, it’s important to contemplate certain keywords that will likely match the search criteria that others may be entering into one of the search engines to find you. It’s important that these keywords are woven into the fabric of your profile–headline, body and summary. There was a time when those more sophisticated than others, related to enhancing search results would use all of the obvious keywords in the associated meta-tags but meta-tags have become so polluted that the major search engines now virtually ignore them and look for keyword matches throughout the actual document. OK, enough of that. While you don’t have a crystal ball, you should give serious thought to your key words and phrases–they make a significant difference in your search relevance. Remember, editing is work-in-progress, on-going and never ends. The good news is the fact that YOU are your only product and hopefully a high priority. And, working on something this important is always easier to get into and stay excited about. You deserve you’re full attention.

So, give serious thought to the words and phrases used in your branding efforts. Don’t be humble or timid when developing your brand but do avoid being arrogant and that means choosing your words very carefully. Furthermore, your brand is your value promise and you have to market the you-know-what out of it to everyone, everywhere, everyday. That includes not only the people you work with but your entire virtual network. If you take advantage of all the tools available to you, they will work on your behalf around the clock. They are your full-time agents in other words and who couldn’t use that? Remember, personal branding is not an exercise in humility.

Be bold, not bashful.

Don’t aim to be average, you might just hit your target.

Personal Visibility – The Power of You!

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Posts Tagged ‘Web search engine’

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