The news stories in 2012 have been largely about organizations and influential individuals who have ‘fallen from grace.’ In most cases, the people and groups who have tumbled did little or nothing to protect their brand. For those of you who think branding is insignificant, I suggest you look at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation troubles or Penn State University’s ethical shortcomings surrounding the Jerry Sandusky trial. It wasn’t too long ago when mistakes were forgotten about as soon as yesterday’s newspaper was gone. With the invention of social media, public mistakes live online forever and are only replaced when someone else messes up. To be fair, unless you are a celebrity of some kind, most people won’t know of your mistakes unless you broadcast them. But, when is the last time you viewed your online presence through the lens of a human resources manager?
Unfortunately, when people post things online they often forget that their audience could be greater than what was originally intended. Even with strict privacy settings, the ability to ‘share’ anything online is always at the front of my mind. I have often used Twitter and Facebook to share sentiments of which I agree, but I rarely think about the people on the other end who might disagree with what I post. I think sharing opinions is vital to the success of social media, but we must keep in mind that those viewing your profile might not like everything you post. It’s a risk most people take, as it seems that most profiles I view offer political views or social commentary regularly.
It came as no surprise to me that a Web site called Brandyourself.com offers users a free account and a chance to 'clean' up their online reputation. By using search engine optimization, the site increases brand awareness by creating an online profile that users write to broadcast skills and objectives. It makes sense to me that business professionals should want to promote the best parts of themselves, but I never fully realized that search engine results that rank highly but have nothing to do with you can also hurt your reputation by pushing 'good' links about you farther down in search results. This site searches for you and lets you rank your results as positive, not me, or negative. Based on your answers, the site offers advice on how to build a profile (and can even link to your LinkedIn profile). I think it's a really great idea for individuals and businesses, regardless of where you are in your career. There are companies that will help with your online reputation at a cost, but this site is user friendly and free.
Have you looked into your online brand yet? If so, let me know your experience in the comments section.
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