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?

...But You Can't Hide

An Australian court ruled this week that if a defendant cannot be found, Facebook is now a viable medium for tracking them down and serving court papers.

As you put your digital fingerprints online, you are leaving a permanent bunny trail of data behind. Not only are online actions irreversible, but they are making staying hidden more and more impossible. Everyone can make one of two choices about their digital fingerprint:

Option 1: Your online actions are unguided, unplanned, and unorganized. You forget that people are watching you and are forming a picture of who you are based on your online activities.

Option 2: You make an effort to create a purposeful picture of yourself online. As Jeremiah Owyang points out, Google search results are the new business card. When people search you, they can often put together a pretty good picture of what you are about. Not only can you not stay hidden, but now you must carefully craft what you want a 6-second picture of yourself to look like, as well as a more thorough investigation.

A few ideas to consider:

• What does your MySpace/Facebook/[insert social media community] profile say about you to potential employers? Your blog readers? Your extended family?
• Do you own www.yourname.com?
• Do you make it easy for an employer or company to get a quick picture of what you are about? A more detailed picture?
• Are any of your non-actions (or poor choice of actions) making you hidden or unqualified from certain opportunities?
• What are you going to do in the New Year to position yourself for success?

You cannot hide. But you can chose how you want to be seen.

FOR-EV-ER

We've been talking a lot lately about your online fingerprints. The things you do, say, participate in, post, and bookmark will all go on your permanent record and cannot be undone. There is little opportunity to take back what you have done or say you were "just kidding."

Case in point - NME posted some interesting news this morning about Coldplay, quoting a Chris Martin discussion in which he mentioned a possible band breakup in the next couple of years. Although they have already taken the news down (and replaced with a blank page), the information is already all over the internet.

Even if you try very hard to reverse an online action, it can be hard to undo. Before you push "send, "publish," "post," or "save," make sure that you would want your grandkids (or future employers) to see it.