Holy F. S. I Was Just in A P.C.

@2drinksbehind is following 41 people on Twitter; the F/F ratio doesn’t matter. He doesn’t need to search out anyone for the rest of his life after his on-the-minute tweet from inside the Denver plane when it crashed. He’s got 1,582 followers and a NBC Nightly News interview to prove it. In the spirit of his post, “Holy fresh strawberries,” what is going on with the news?

Mike Wilson describes himself in his Twitter profile as a “hobbit child,” and apparently this media exposure is an “experience of a lifetime in more ways than one.”

News has no bounds, reaching into the citizen journalist file and pulling out tragedies like the plane flying off the Denver runway, and earlier on, the Mumbai attacks. Are publications writing these social media stories in hopes of re-gaining print circulation numbers? I feel news is so desperate now that they can print stuff like this without censorship. Some people are outraged about news' nonsensical approach nowadays, as these comments to this article suggest.

I do have to say, though-- if I were in a plane crash and wanted to let the world know about it, I’d use my Twitterrific and I would probably #$%@ my pants too.

5 Tips For Standing Out Online If You Are John Smith

In followup to my last post about managing your online identity, I thought it would be helpful to give a few ideas on how to set yourself apart when others are already using your name. I have it easy with my name, so I have significantly less complicated of a task than if my name were John Smith. Both these men have the same name and both are on the first page of Google image results. It is possible to stand out even when you have a lot of competition.


Here are a few tips on how to stand out if your name is John Smith:

1.) Start early. The early bird gets the worm. Hopefully by getting a leg up on others, you will be able to purchase www.yourname.com or other important sign in names that will become more and more curcial in the future. Find the tools that could be important for your future career and secure a placeholder there under your name. If you've missed out on www.yourname.com already, consider an alternative. A few other valuable URLs include yourname.tv, yourname.name, yourname.info, or yourname.net.

2.) Create your individual brand. No matter if you share a name with someone else, there is only one you. You have to let people know who you are as an individual by showcasing your areas of expertise, interest, and specialty. There is already a famous John Smith, but he is known for being a soldier and sailor, not a marketer, veterinarian, weatherman, small business owner, or blog writer. Consider branding yourself with a logo or other visual element that would easily stick in people's minds.

3.) Tell, but also show. Your profile should give a good description of who you are, but you also need to show what you have done. When people search your name, will they find your blog comments in places that enhance your brand identity? Consider which blogs you would want to be associated with and make a conscience effort to connect yourself with the writers and conversation. Make sure all the conversations and projects you are involved in get linked back to you.

4.) Learn how to use SEO. There are many tricks and techniques for how to optimize SEO on your name (too many to cover here). One important factor to keep in mind is what words or phrases you want to be associated with your name. Are you a real estate agent? Every time you create a website, profile, or relevant post, make sure the phrase "real estate agent" and others are in the tags. One tool for improving the tags you are using is Quintura. By typing in a keyword that you might use as a tag, you will be able to find other keywords that are regularly used in conjunction with yours. By using tools like these to add more related tags to what you are already using, you can improve your chances of being found.

5.) Consistency. If you really want to create a solid picture of yourself, focus on consistency. Make your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc profile pics and descriptions all the same. As people search you out, the consistency will help them find you and create a complete picture. It can be very easy to confuse people with an disjointed picture. By connecting all the places you are active, you will create a bigger and more organized picture of yourself.

I need more suggestions from you. Ideas?