UPDATE – CNN writes about “Googling your Date”
Google your name! What do you find?
This is an important thing to do. Your clients and potential clients are “Googleing ” you – don’t you think you should know what they are finding?
Here are a few examples:
I started by Googleing myself (Stephen Jagger) and found the Ubertor blog, my Meetup.com profile, one of my personal websites, a few Meetup.com groups that I’m part of and the Yankee Blog Swap that I took part in a few months ago.
I Googled “Kris Berg” and found her blog, her website, a blog she contributes to and a few music references.
I Googled “Marty Pospischil” and found his website, a couple of his niche web sites, a blog article about him and a few other references to him.
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Don’t like what you found? Quickest way to change it is update (or create) your profile in some popular social networking websites. Start with meetup.com, upcoming.org, activerain.com and linkedin.com. Update your profile by adding some pictures, biography, testimonials, etc. Give it a few weeks and the Google yourself again.
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4/6/2007 at 4:24 pm
Heh, I was just doing the “vanity search” with my mom and sister. Apparently I’m online a bit 🙂
4/7/2007 at 1:08 pm
Good post. I see lots of real estate agents who are thrilled by being found when they input their name. So what – who really searches for a real estate agent by name? Your thoughs on what people see opened my eyes. I research my clients, do they research me? If they’re smart, they do.
4/12/2007 at 2:11 pm
You’re exactly right, Sam. The average user won’t “discover” an agent by searching for their name first; likely they’ll come across that agent while searching for properties or the like. Or perhaps from mail-outs, open houses, signage, or other marketing materials.
But the important thing to remember is that the smart ones are doing their homework, and Googling by name to get a better idea about who they’re dealing with.
It’s also a good practice for ensuring that everything that has been published about you online is favorable. Anything that isn’t – is an opportunity to make it right.