Have You Googled Yourself?
July 10, 2007 by Susan Gunelius
Filed under Marketing
The internet has grown to play a pivotal role in communicating your business and personal brand. In fact, many customers and employers turn to the internet to learn about your business or personal brand before they make a purchasing or hiring decision.
What does that mean to you? If you haven’t already done so lately, then it’s definitely time to Google yourself. Simply visit Google.com and enter your business or product brand name, or enter your own name. See what the results show you about your brand. Do the results reflect the brand image you want to convey?A Google search can be particularly interesting in terms of your personal brand. I know hiring managers who Google applicants before inviting them in for an interview. The results might not make or break your chances of landing your next job, but do the results say what you want them to say about you?
Take a few minutes to Google yourself to be certain your brand is portrayed correctly in the online world.
There seems to be a lot of chatter about this lately. The way I see it, folks have two options: either they can make every effort possible to hide their online presence altogether and thus avoid social networks, blogs, and other communication means — or they can make the effort to cultivate your online persona and make sure that the top results for your name are in fact reflective of you, and in a positive light.
Personally I’m in the second camp, and I enjoy the fact that a search of my name will turn up my blog first, where I can control the content and the spin.
I completely agree with you. I think staying anonymous online is a missed opportunity to build your brand.
“blogs are the new resume”, they say.
That is so true!
When I used to Google my name it said I was the mayor of New York’s spokesperson — so I always thought that would make me look good. Now, sadly if I search my name plain old stuff I write pops up — but nothing I’d be upset if someone saw. Wait:
Okay, I just did it in another browser for kicks and oddly enough you and I are on the second page together — based on the Fuji post you did; cool huh.
Prescott is on the right track. There is no choice any longer as to whether we have a digital identity or not. The choice is, do we want to allow the robots to construct our online identity or do we want to be in charge of the process? Zoominfo.com for example collects info on as many people as it can, by hoovering the web. It’s a first port of call for a lot of recruiters checking people out. Yet I find otherwise well-informed people who don’t know about Zoominfo.
I absolutely agree, Des. I think it’s essential to make the effort and develop your online identity or else someone else might do it for you.