Seven Wonders of the Search World Part 2

This is part 2 of 7 in a series on online personal branding and search education.

 

Somewhere along the way, I learned that there was nothing more important that my name.  I don’t know exactly who taught me, but in my pre-internet world, (even pre-electricity) you were only as good as your name  (great tips for all, but especially real estate agents, at this posting) – and what others said about you in your circles of influence.  And your name was something you had control over – in large part – by how you handled yourself in relation to keeping your word and upholding professional and personal integrity.

 

However, in the past 14 years, and especially the past decade…the world of being as good as your name has changed – and drastically.  Now, “You’re Only as Good As Google Says You Are.”  And Google (and other search engines) watch your every move, even all you are Googling…lol!

 

They allow people to find out when someone mentions you, for better or worse, in a blog, on a website or in a paper – or even on the new cadid camera, Google Maps.  You can combat this by using RSS feeds to notify you when your name and your company name turn up in the news.  They chronicle your activities, both professional and personal.  Protection of your name is so important now, colleges have courses and are writing student body emails about it - recently we spoke at UGA to a class about the perils of Facebook.

This all leads to:

FACT #2.  Your name is the most precious thing you own

 

Your name is how people search for you and refer to you.  Even if you own a store called the Beer Neccessities- you are still Bob Carlson - the owner, and the person people refer to.  They say – “you should go see Bob Carlson – he has a shop up near you – called Beer something…”  People do business with people, not with businesses.  They refer to people, and not businesses.  There is a need for people to relate to each other – and we do it through names.  We do business with people we like – and we refer to those we really like.

However, we also use Google as our barometer of meeting, greeting and doing business or establishing relationships in the first place.  We’re all becoming more and more accustomed to the action of Googling all we don’t already know about – and so, as always, we suggest you have a guard up – and you be sure to protect your name online – and control what the web says about you.

 

Check out the first installment if you missed it….and as always, please leave comments, good and bad – we want to hear from you….

 

Andy “Google Me” Greider is a marketing consultant and new business director with Carroll/White and radio show host of business growth solutions show, Uniqueness is Power. Andy is also Brand Manager with qAlias, plus he is a serial entrepreneur, author, blogger, inventor of the Gorelephant and networther.