Who Are You On the Internet (Part 1)

I originally had this being one post but it quickly became too long. I have the intention of this being the first of two/three posts.

Who Are You On The Internet (Part 1)

With the internet, we are now able to access an infinite amount of information. Any question we ever had about the world can easily be answered with a quick +Google search. Including in this information is us. People can find out our interest, past job history, or who we hang out with this weekend. This has created a world where we can easily be ruined by what people find on the internet. Some of this can be posted by others or ourselves. An angry customers may post an untrue comment about a small business and ruin their reputation with future customers. A hiring manager may see a recent grads drunk photos on Facebook and not hire them for a job. This means that people now need to watch their personal brand.

What is a personal brand? Your personal brand is how the world sees you. Hopefully, this is who your really are and not what other people create. It can be influenced by three important factors. First, it is affected by what you show the world. Second, what others say about influences your brand. Finally, what others don't say about you can affect your brand. You can take actions to move these in a positive direction.

Below are some concepts, I have used to improve my own personal brands. I am not a expert in this subject so these are just ideas that have worked for me.

Step 1

Before you can begin improving your personal brand, you have to believe that is important. This is the reputation that 99.9% of the world will see first. Even people that know you may be affected by what you post on the internet. Your grandma isn't going to look at you the same way if she sees the drunk Friday night pictures of you. Also, if you are not taking charge of your personal brand then it is probably going to tumble. I don't know too many people going on the internet to compliment people/businesses. Most of the time, we want to use the internet to bash people. So make this an investment and you will be rewarded.

Step 2

The first action you need take with your personal brand is to decide what it says about you. This is often called a personal branding statement. When people create a professional personal brand, they use it for resumes and Linkedin profiles. I like to use it as a guiding light for who I want to be. From Jessica Holbrook Hernandez and J.T O'Donell I snagged a few ways to creating a powerful Branding Statement.

When developing a statement, start by considering who you are. What are you passions? Why did you pick your friends? What did you go into your professional field? What are the positive impacts you want to make on the world? All of these should influence your statement. Next, look at how your past will lead to your future. Show the world that you have always been the person you are showing online at that you intend to be that person while improving yourself. Finally, consider the three words that the closest people to you would say about you. Use the answers to these questions to create a short personal branding statement.

Once you have written your statement, review it and make sure that it has WOMP. I borrowed the idea of WOMP from J.T. If your statement has WOMP, then it has World of Mouth Potential. I have read this to mean that when people find you, they can not stop talking about you. If a recruiter finds you on Linkedin, then they go straight to the hiring manager and talk about you. When someone friends you on Facebook, they see your profile and want to set you up with all their friends. Be someone that others want to talk about.  When your personal branding statement is fine-tuned, then you can use it as a guiding light to how you create the rest of your brand.

Step 3

After creating your personal branding statement, you then need to determine who you already our on the internet. This can easily be done by doing a +Google Search of your name. When I did this for myself, I figured out two things. First, that it is not easy to find bad pages of me. That’s good. Most of the pictures I’d prefer employers and certain family member not to see are hide to find. Second, it is not easy to find good pages about me. This is bad for basically the same reason. I have not made it easy for people to see all the great work and activities I have done. During my professional career, I have worked on a lot of difficult projects and succeeded. These projects allowed me to gain new skills I will use at future jobs. In my personal life, I have had several accomplishments that show the type of person I am.

After you have determined your place on the internet, you need to develop a plan to improve your place on the internet. I admit that did not originally do this so I am giving you my recommended ideas with 20/20 hindsight. I will briefly state each step in this step and then go into each in upcoming steps.

First, clean up the current internet you. Most of us wouldn’t hire or become friends with the person we find.

Second, start using new media. Many forms of media let you be the leading source on who you are.

Third, develop a plan for updating. You are not the same person you were six months ago so don’t let the internet say you are.

Finally, recruit others to improve your brand. No one will believe all the great things you say about yourself if others are not verifying the information.

In the next post I will get into how you effectively complete these four activities. Expect this in a day or two.