up as much as you can. If you find nothing unsavory, then this part is easy!
You can’t do anything to remove content that has
nothing to do with you. So if you have the same
name as a famous porn star, your only solution
is to flood the internet with things you want customers to see. It’s much better for searchers to see
pictures of you as well as the porn star, than to just
see the porn star and wonder if that’s you in your
night job.
Create New Accounts
The next part of the process is to create new accounts and profiles, especially for subjects which
are relevant to your business. If you make ceramic
jewelry, creating a profile on a fly fishing forum
isn’t going to do much for you. But you certainly
want to have a beautiful profile on Etsy (even if you
don’t sell there anymore, it’s still a valid destination
for search engines.) Remember, your goal in this
exercise is to flood the internet with “hits” that are
relevant to YOU and will even possibly get customCreate a New Story
ers to YOU.
Make sure you create a Google profile and get
Next you want to create a suitable “story”. Get a
a Google+ account. Create a Google+ page for
good picture taken of yourself and get a copy of
your business. Get a Twitter account. Get a Pinterit that’s cropped to no less than 300x300 pixels.
est account. If you have a website, make sure you
You don’t want a tiny, fuzzy profile picture! Now
have listed your URL in every profile. Not only can
think about your business logo, business name,
and your bio. You’re going to need this for the next people find you more easily, it helps establish you
step. Give some thought to crafting an impression with online legitimacy. You don’t have to be active
in these different sites, but do go ahead and create
of what you want your story to be. In general, I
recommend using your own picture for the profile profiles. Not only does it give another legitimate
Google hit, but it also keeps others from creating a
picture for you, and your business logo for profile
pictures for a business account. You can have both profile with the same name sometime in the future.
in many cases. I have both a personal and a busiAlso create a Flickr account. Flickr is not for promoness Pinterest, for instance.
tion, but you still want to have a profile and some
pictures uploaded. The more places that Google
Update Current Profiles
finds you, the more hits there will be in a search for
your name or business, and these hits will hopeNow that you have created your “identity”, make
fully outnumber those of other people with the
sure that you update all your online accounts to
same name. Flickr is highly indexed by Google
have a profile photo or business logo, URL, and
and Yahoo. So it’s really important to include your
bio information. Remember to change your Etsy
name and business names as tags on your Flickr
“about” and Blogger profile, too! Use sentences
containing appropriate keywords for your business pictures. Even if your name or business name isn’t
unique, searches will include your photos because
if possible. Feel free to include information about
most people DON’T tag their photos!
your hobbies and such. There’s nothing wrong
with letting customers know that you are a real
Go Forth and Plant Seeds
person.
Make sure that your website profile includes your
Now that you have crafted a great online presname. This way people can connect the person
ence, participate online. Comments left on blogs
they know on a Facebook group with the blogare searchable. The same with comments on many
ger that they know. I’m amazed how infrequently
forums. This is good if the blog or forum is relevant
people do this.
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