We have all heard and talked about “Online Reputation Management” – essentially from a small business ORM point of view. So this piece is more about how you manage your own reputation [and not sidelining business] as a personal brand operating online.
But what is Personal Reputation Management anyway?
In simple parlance, it is the art of taking reins of positive, enduring conversations that reflect your brand’s purpose and personality online whist weeding our negative and irrelevant blather that doesn’t resonate with your brand’s definition.
So guess what, we are all faced with these recurring questions when we are developing our personal brand online; some of them are:
- What will my ideal customer thinks of me when he Googles my name?
- Will my ideal blog reader follow the CTAs on my Web site and take action toward the next step?
- Are my social media pages conveying my personal muse with some relatable pattern of content that I am sharing online?
- Is my business reflecting my personal brand’s mission and story via the right content curation and creation hacks?
- Is my personal reputation unleashed in the positive light?
- And I listening to what my ecosystem is saying and taking corrective actions to ensure that there is an engagement built over a period of time?
- Are my social media pages visually appealing?
- Are people reading my blogs or articles that I so tirelessly publish about my industry?
- Do people consider me as a thought leader in my business niche?
- Is my personal Web site updated with stellar content, design layout and logo to give an excellent user experience to my audience?
Well, the questions and be more and many, but the underlying thought is how you are shaping your ‘personal’ brand’s reputation for your customers and target audience in the most strategic way.
Having positive regurgitation – in the form of comments, endorsements, guest blogging, social media posts – of your brand’s personality online triggers conversations that lead to business conversions over a period of time.
The goal of personal reputation management is to clearly define what your brand stands for and how you want it to be perceived by your audience.
The perception is however subject to what you want your audience to form your brand’s impression.
Ways in which you can make a positive commentary online for better business success?
- Focus on not just building a network where your brand finds its resonance; focus on creating great content: that eventually draws in people who naturally connect with your musings.
- Get your domain name out and write your story – with the right blend of emotions and rationality.
- Either outsource your reputation management work to an experienced agency or a bunch of individuals who can day in and day out monitor what has been said about your brand.
- Set up Google Alerts on your name so that you can keep pace with who is talking about you and what you are communicating over a period of time.
- Curate content alongside publishing your own.
- Consult with personal branding experts who are adept at figuring out how your brand is performing digitally.
- Design your content calendar based on what trends are taking place in your industry so that you can create better conversations to connect with your audience.
- While content is the king, SEO is imperative; after all, focusing on promotion is equally important as creating epic content. So do an intelligent SEO activity that staves you off from anything irrelevant or baseless about your brand and springs up only what you want your brand to showcase.
- Seed consistency with respect to your brand’s narrative – be it visuals, logo, graphics, layout, design and content – on all the social media pages: that way people can find a common ground to contact you, with confidence.
- Connect with PR professionals who can get you some positive media coverage – both in online media and print media. Remember: Good PR is great personal branding – one that is not hoopla or hype, but honest.
How are you managing your reputation online?
Let me know!
