When was the last time you Googled yourself?
I was asking around a few months ago for some personal recommendations of a business coach/mentor. One guy came highly recommended from someone who was working with him at present and I was given his name and contact details.
I always like to check someone out online before phoning them to see for myself how they represent themselves. So I eagerly put his name in to Google.
He didn’t have a website, which was a little disappointing as I felt that I needed to work with someone who marketed themselves online. But I decided to have a further look, as he was recommended.
There was a linked-in profile, but not up to date. There was the odd reference on Ecademy but that was all. Then on page 2 on his Google search I found a link to his Christmas letter which he obviously sent out via link to a webpage. Not only could I read his Christmas letter, I could read the past 6 year letters in all their glory – photos, personal references, the full works.
A quick scan and I realised that he wasn’t to be the right personality fit with me.
What is the moral of this story? Check yourself out on Google today and see what comes back. You may not be able to control everything that you find and yes, there may be other people out there with the same name. But if someone out there was to Google you, what would they find out about you and your business?
It’s worth a look!
Got a comment to add? I would love to read your thoughts and ideas.
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I always google my new clients, or contacts, – often nothing comes up, but I have found out that one of my clients is a lady – not that she told me that. – For my name, which is rather common, I annoyingly have only been as high as page 12, currently no mentions of me until page 18, and then for a comment I wrote on a gardening blog, – if you type in Claire Brown, plus gardening, plants or Horsley/Guildford, then i’m right up at the top, but any tips for those of us with very common names?
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One trick a lot of authors & bloggers do is to use their middle name or initial as their writing name. This is not because they are being pretentious ;o) but in fact it makes it easier for people to find them on google if they have a common name.
One other way is to do what you have done, Claire and contribute on other blogs or get articles published on sites that are ranked highly by the likes of google. Having profiles on the big networking sites such as LinkedIn & facebook also help, as these pages are more likely to come up higher on the search than your contact page on your website, for example.
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