Did you know that 37% of all employers will check your social media accounts before hiring you? It’s true. Which means that if you’re not managing and monitoring your online reputation, you could be holding your career back.
What follows are several tips on how to manage your online reputation. I’ve also included TV interview I did with HLN that provides several additional tips and techniques.
Okay, ready for the quick tips? Here goes:
- Google Yourself: The first step is to do a search on Google, Bing and Yahoo to find out if there’s any unflattering information available online. That’s a great place to survey the landscape. And remember, unless you’re well-known, you’ll need to Google your name as well as the city you live in (or some other identifier, such as the high school or university you attended).
- Write (Real) Book Reviews on Amazon: When I Google “Jamie Turner,” I often find links to old book reviews I wrote on Amazon. If you want to manage what shows up on page one of Google, consider reading a book and writing a helpful review about it on Amazon. There’s a chance that the review will show up when people search for your name. (Note: Don’t fake a review since ultimately you’ll be found out. Instead, read a darn book — like mine — and write a genuine, heartfelt review.)
- Update Your LinkedIn Profile: Your goal is to provide as much positive information about yourself online, so be sure to update your LinkedIn profile. By doing so, you’re providing prospective employers the best information possible about you and your background.
- Buy Your Domain Name: Domain names are cheap, so be sure to buy your name with the .com, .net, .biz and .org suffixes. If there is negative information online that you want to prevent others from seeing, you might consider building a blog or a website around your name with an updated bio and information about some of the positive things you’ve done in your career.
- Join Social Networks: The larger your online footprint, the better you’ll be able to manage your online reputation. Be sure to go beyond the obvious social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter — instead, expand your presence into Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr and others.
Ready for some additional tips? Check out my interview on HLN where I provide several other ways you can manage your online reputation.
Jamie Turner is the CEO of the 60 Second Marketer and 60 Second Communications, a marketing communications agency that works with national and international brands. He is the co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile” and is a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.
View Comments (8)
Thanks Jamie for the post. Amazon reviews can be very helpful, as are visually oriented social media sites.
I agree -- Amazon reviews are under-utilized. Thanks for sharing, Steven!
Hmm.. never thought of the Amazon review angle. Coincidentally, I have been reviewing quite a few books recently.
Thanks, Venkyiyer!
Well hello Jamie
Googling yourself regularly is a great idea and something I should start doing again on a scheduled basis to see if the personal and business sides of my online activity are painting the picture I wish.
As for LinkedIn, the fad for randomly endorsing others makes me cringe and one reason I have dropped my usage of the site and instead using the social networks.
Hi Igor -- You're not the only one who dislikes the endorsement aspect of LinkedIn. I've seen a lot of pushback on that. I suspect they'll get rid of it someday in the future.
Thanks for your thoughts and for stopping by!
Hi Jamie. Great tips! To build your online reputation, you need to build credibility first through social proof such as case studies, social mentions, testimonials, and more. One of the best I’ve seen recently was a YouTube video called "I HubSpot because… Global Plastic Sheeting” by Nana Hinsley (a Hubspot customer). I loved Nana’s real story about how she grew her business after learning about a website from Hubspot. What are your thoughts on it?
HI Adella. Thanks for letting me know about the YouTube video. I'll check it out, but I'll have to do it next week since I'm heading out the door for a speech in Boston. But thanks for bringing it to my attention!