How To: Build Your Online Personal Branding

December 18, 2009 | Sarah Chong   http://www.penn-olson.com/2009/12/18/how-to-build-your-online-personal-branding/

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• online branding blog
  Great post. Clear and concise. Seems like these days it all starts with building your personal branding online. Saw an interesting post this week (sorry, forget URL) reminding people that your personal branding will be there for potential employers too and they suggested to be cautious or inappropriate photos or comments. Being searchable is often overlooked, and a process that can take some time.
  
  A couple tips to being searchable with Google...
  - acquire your preferred username quick. It's a land grab, so hopefully yours is available to be consistent across all social platforms you use.
  - write a few articles and submit to article directories. Be sure each submission is unique.
  - engage in a forum or three with your signature link to your blog.
  - comment on (relevant) blogs on a regular basis.
  
• sarah_chong
  Wow those are great tips! Thanks for sharing. I especially agree with your first point. I have a common first and last name and that really doesn't help me get my desired username.
  
  The other points are great for building credibility and presence. We can't be cooped up in our own profiles, websites and blogs, we have to step out and reach to people.
  
  
• Dan Schawbel
  Sarah, great job with these tips. Be searchable is the one that stood out to me. If people can't find you, how are they going to be able to do business with you? Awareness is the key and it's the first step in the customer purchasing decision.
• sarah_chong
  Hey Dan! You are right. We can now search for anything online. And if people can't find you, you can't be that important, or credible. Also, it is vital for us to embrace this fact and work on what we want people to see when they type our name in that search engine.
  
  Thanks for the comment!
• ilijabrajkovic
  I think #1 is the most important. Great article!
• sarah_chong
  Agreed! Thanks for reading! (:
• Social Networking Software
  Well said Sarah, all your points are very important when first starting out and even for seasoned veterans. I especially like your last point on building credibility, I have found those four suggestions to be very helpful, but I also suggest social networking, but not just on Facebook, but on niche sites and learning from others in your field.
  
  
• sarah_chong
  Hey thanks for the advice. You are right, social networking is important beyond Facebook, LinkedIn and the like. They have to find specific communities in their industry.
  
  And learning is definitely important. I have seen people with great personal branding (they even sell their personal branding products such as keychains and stickers) and I still have so much more to learn from them!