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5 Easy Ways to Build Your Digital Reputation
By Fauzia Burke,
President of FSB Associates
Social media has given us great ways to protect and build our digital
reputations.
Today we have the ease of searching conversations, the
ability to set alerts to help us monitor our names, the constant
availability of learning opportunities and more ways to communicate
and interact with others. All of these tools, which were not available
just a few years ago, now make it possible for us to be proactive in
maintaining, building and protecting our good name. Here are five easy
ways to do just that:
#1 Set Goals
I am sure you have done this already, but just in case, first do a search on Google for your name in quotation marks. It is important to
see what comes up on the first page. The first page of a google search
result is precious real-estate. Then set up a simple spreadsheet so
you can keep track of your digital footprint. Do a little research and
spend some time collecting numbers. How many Facebook followers do you
have? What kind of traffic do you get on your site? Once you have the
numbers you can then decide on your goals.
Are you interested in growing the numbers of links/connections/ followers or do you want more one-on-one engagement? Or are you more
interested in getting retweets on Twitter (which, as Guy Kawasaki said
recently is "now the sincerest form of flattery"). Once the goals are
in place, track the results in the spreadsheet and adjust as needed.
#2 Learn
To accomplish any of these goals, you are going to need to learn. The
new world of communication is moving quickly, which naturally lends
itself to a couple of advantages. First, there is a lot of room for
experimentation, so use your talents and skills to communicate in your
own unique way. Second, this experimentation has led to collaboration,
and smart people are sharing information all the time. Make sure you
make time every day for "learning." Look over sites and information to
keep up with the developments in social media. Currently I am taking
part in an online conference, called Social Media Success Summit 2010
and am learning a lot. And among the many sites I visit, one of my
daily stops is: PR Daily News: Public Relations news and marketing in
the age of social media.
#3 Develop Content
To communicate 24/7, which is now the expectation and the norm, you
need to develop different types of content. Blogging is a great way to
share your knowledge and collaborate with others. However, blogging
can be a big undertaking. Blogging expert Denise Wakeman recommends
that you blog 3 times a week. If that is a daunting task for you, try
guest blogging on an established site or blog in your industry.
Another way some of my clients have developed content is through
books, ebooks, whitepapers, audio recordings, slide presentations and
videos.
#4 Build Relationships
Building and maintaining relationships has never been easier. Those of
us in sales and marketing have always known the value of relationship
building, but now everyone needs to make it a priority. Make sure you
have profiles on LinkedIn, and Facebook. Twitter is a fantastic source
of information, and an excellent place to learn. People on Twitter are
eager and happy to help each other. To get tips on effective
communication on these sites, I look to Cindy Ratzlaff who has a daily
video tip along with regular blog posts on her site. Social media is
an excellent way to build relationships, but don't forget the value of
face to face meetings, phone calls, hand written notes, and emails.
It's good to focus on important clients and influencers, but leave
room for the "accidental" connections. Social media networking can be
serendipitous, you never know which person may lead you to a new
connection or client.
#5 Monitor
Social media alerts (Google or Social Mention) are a great way to monitor your name and/or industry. If something important happens in
your industry you'll know about it and can comment. If someone says
something positive, a thank you goes a long way. If there is negative
chatter starting up around your name or company, alerts keep you on
top of it and you can jump in and take care of things quickly. I also
use Addictomatic which is a great site for big picture monitoring.
There are many tools and resources now that can help us to become
better communicators and better guardians of our reputations. I know
it is a big undertaking, but the question to ask yourself is: If you
are not investing in yourself, why should anyone else?
© 2010 Fauzia Burke
Author Bio
Fauzia Burke is the Founder and President of FSB Associates, a web publicity and social media firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors. Founded in 1995, FSB's mission is to give authors
an opportunity to promote their work to an eager, targeted audience
online. FSB is based in the NYC area. For web publicity and social
media news, follow Fauzia on a new Twitter feed: @WebSnapshot,
Facebook and The Huffington Post.
For more information please visit fsbassociates.com.
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