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Managing Your Reputation Online

Managing Your Reputation Online

The results that appear when recruiters and hiring managers search for your name online may determine whether or not you get called in for an interview. To improve your profile online and increase your career opportunities, take advantage of blogs and social networking tools.

Determine Your Message

Now that you know where you stand on the digital scale, consider your personal brand -- that is, how you want to be known both online and in the physical world. Take stock of your strengths, particularly those that are unique to you, as well as your personal and professional goals. Having a clear personal brand that you want to communicate to the world will help you determine the most effective mechanisms for promoting yourself online. For example, if you want to distinguish yourself as a thought leader, you need to make smart contributions to the blogosphere. Exposing your interests and thought process will help you establish a virtual rapport with like-minded individuals and attract the right kind of opportunities, such as speaking engagements at conferences. When you do get asked to speak at an event, make sure your bio gets listed on the conference website, which will improve your online profile.

Tools of the Trade

A blog is one of the best tools for improving your online identity. It's better than a static website because it is written in your voice. Communicating in your voice will ensure that your Web profile is unique and consistent with who you are in the physical world. A blog also provides evidence of your expertise and achievements. You can write about your work (without divulging secrets) and share your insights about industry news. Thus, it serves as a digital portfolio. People want to see that you are on top of the happenings in your industry, that you are well connected and have solved problems that are similar to theirs. Your blog is a long-term career management vehicle. As such, you must regularly update content to keep in touch with your target audience. It doesn't have to be daily, but you should aim to post no fewer than three times a month.

To make your blog work even harder for your personal brand, give some thought to optimizing it for search engines. Think about the keyword phrases that people will be using to find someone with your expertise and make sure those keywords appear in the title and body of your blog post as well as the keyword box on the page where you compose your post. There are a number of tools that allow you to see how frequently those terms are used in searches. If they are too common, then it will be difficult to stand out online using those words and phrases.

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