Opting yourself out of Yellowpages.com is one of many important steps you can take to better safeguard your private information online.

Before we get into how to do that, let’s take a closer look at what purpose the website serves.

You’re probably familiar with the printed yellow pages that have been arriving on door steps for years. Yellowpages.com is the digital version.

The site is an easy way to look up information on both businesses and people.

• Business Listings – search any type of small business including restaurants, dentists, auto repair shops, veterinarians, and more. Businesses can list a profile that includes operation info, hours, contact info, photos, and even customer reviews.
• People Search – allows you to look up people by name, address, or phone number.

YellowPages is owned and operated by Thryv, a company that provides technology solutions to small businesses. No surprise there, especially considering the site’s emphasis on small businesses. If you’re a small business, then you likely want your business information to populate on the site, however, the average person probably prefers their personal information (addresses, phone number, email, age, etc.) to stay off the web.

For the purpose of this guide, we’ll focus on the people search functionality.

How did Yellow Pages get my information?

The YellowPages people search engine is actually powered by another data broker company, Intelius. This practice is pretty commonplace amongst data brokers.

Much of the same types of information can be found on different data broker and people search sites because they are all pulling from similar sources, including government and public records, social media sites, third party databases, and even other brokers.

What type of information do they have?

You can look up information on someone a few different ways: by name, by address, or through reverse phone number lookup.

A basic search on yellowpages.com produces a person’s full name, mailing address, and phone number. You can then click through to be brought to a more detailed report. This report includes a person’s age, additional known phone numbers, location history, work history, education, and known relatives. All of this information is available for free. 

From here, you can purchase a more advanced report that includes: 

• Full contact info (phone, email)
• Additional Aliases 
• Social Networks
• Neighbors / additional relatives
• Property records
• Criminal records 
• Bankruptcies
• Liens
• Judgements / lawsuits 
• Marriage / divorce records 

Having this type of information on the web puts you at a greater risk for identity theft, scammers, telemarketers, robo callers, and more.

Is this legal?

Because the information is a matter of public record, it is legal for sites like yellowpages.com to post your personal details. The law has simply not completely caught up with the prolific nature of the Internet. The good news, is that these sites will remove your information at upon request (more on that below)

Additionally, legislation has been slowly rolling out that serves to further protect consumer privacy on the web. Three particularly significant pieces of legislation include Europe’s GDPR, Vermont’s Protection of Private Info law, and the newest California Privacy Protection Act. Protection under GDPR only extends to EU citizens and it is a relatively complex law, but at its core, it requires companies that operate in the EU to not only completely erase any information they have on someone at their request, but it also allows individuals to request a copy of the information that the company had on them. 

Vermont’s law was significant in the US because it required any company participating in the buying and selling of consumer information to register with the state of Vermont. This provided the first visibility into data brokers and just how large the industry is. 

The newest registration, California’s law provides its residents the right to have their information removed from a company’s databases as well as request what information was originally collected and how. Although it only extends to California’s residents, it’s forced many people search sites to implement further private info removal processes.

Opt your information out of Yellowpages.com manually

Since Yellow pages is powered by Intelius, it’s best to opt yourself out of Intelius directly. This not only removes your information from Intelius, but from any other data broker site that it powers with its search engine (yellowpages.com for one).

It takes some time, but here is how to manually remove your information.

1. Navigate to  Intelius’ Opt-Out page.
2. Search for your name within their database
3. Select the record that contains your information 
4. Put your email in to submit the opt out request
5. Check your email for the verification email – this part is important, as your opt out request will not be processed unless you click the link in the confirmation email
6. It will take a few days for the opt out request to be processed and for the information to be removed

Keep in mind:

1. Check back to confirm the information has been removed – You won’t receive a confirmation that the information has been removed, so you will need to check yellowpages.com in a few days to make sure the info has been taken down.
2. It’s common for information to be reposted – since these sites gather their information by scraping other sources, it’s common for information to be reposted in some capacity even once it was removed. That’s why it’s important to continuously monitor Yellowpages, and other data brokers, to ensure that your information hasn’t been reposted. If it has, then you will need to go through the opt out process again.
3. Your name and info is on other sites similar to YellowPages – You will need to go through the opt out process with other data brokers as well. Each site has its own process. If you’re looking to do this on your own, Google your name to get a sense of which data brokers have your info.

Remove your info quickly with BrandYourself

The process of removing your info from sites like YellowPages can be time-consuming, especially when you consider just how many sites are out there that have your information. Each one usually has its own opt-process that requires different steps for each.

That’s why we developed our Protect Private Info tool — it finds and removes your exposed personal information on 50 of the most common data broker websites. Since it’s common for these sites to repost information, the tool also includes ongoing monitoring and removal to ensure your privacy is always protected.

Here’s how to get started: 

1. Get your free privacy scan

If you don’t already have a BrandYourself account, create one for free here. You’ll notice that we offer a few different features that speak to different aspects of managing your online presence, including tools to clean up social media, improve personal Google results, and protect online privacy. Navigate to the “Protect Private Info” tab

Put in your name and age to kick off your free privacy scan- we’ll also ask you to verify your location.

2. Upgrade to begin removing your information automatically

Once the scan is complete, we’ll show you what type of information we found and on which websites. For us to remove the information, simply upgrade to our premium Protect Private Info feature.

3. Breathe easy – we’ll take things from here!

There’s nothing else for you to do. We’ll send you regular email updates on our progress and you can check in any time on the status of your removals within your BrandYourself account. We’re constantly scanning the sites on your behalf and if we identify it has been reposted, we’ll remove it. 

Continue to be diligent about your online privacy

As we’ve mentioned, Yellow pages is just one of many sites that are posting your information online. Being aware of and opting out of sites that are publicly sharing your personally identifiable information (name, address, age, phone, email, relatives, etc.) is one critical step to safeguarding your privacy on the web.

Two other steps you should take:

• Stay up to date on company data breaches and exposure on the Dark Web – it seems every few weeks, you hear about a company who experienced a data breach resulting in the personal information of its customers/users being leaked to the Dark Web. These types of breaches elevates your risk of people using your info maliciously. While you can’t remove something once it’s on the dark web, there are steps you can take to mitigate some of the risks. We developed a Dark Web Scan that will notify you if your information has been involved in over 350 (and counting) known data breaches.
• Delete old accounts you no longer use – Over the years, you’ve probably signed up for dozens of accounts, newsletters, mailing lists, etc. You’re likely not even using many of the sites anymore (or remember signing up for them in the first place). It’s best practice to close out any accounts you don’t use to minimize the number of places with your information.  We released a free tool that helps you to identify old accounts you’ve created and helps you to clean them up – just access it in your BrandYourself account.

The post Yellow Pages: Opt Out & Personal Info Removal (2022 Guide) appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

Why reputation management is critical for CEOs

Managing your own reputation is just as important as taking steps to manage your business’s online reputation. “Thought leader” and “industry expert” are two titles that should accurately describe you. And the best way to showcase this is through your presence online.

When developing your online presence, make a point to project your expertise and leadership skills within your industry. Active CEO reputation management is the key to accelerating professional growth and opportunity for you and your business.

How CEO reputation management benefits you

As the CEO of your business, people look to you for leadership, but they also should think of you as the face of the company. This can be an asset or a liability depending on how you treat your online presence. So why not capitalize on the fact that customers, partners, clients, and media will be searching for you online? By building a strong online brand, you have the opportunity to capture organic traffic based solely on your role at the company. That means that building your personal brand is a must if you want to reap the benefits of this kind of exposure.

In addition to building something that you’re proud of, look at CEO reputation management as a way to protect yourself from current and future online attacks on your reputation.

By investing your time in CEO reputation management efforts, you prevent existing and future negative search results from ruining your name. Developing your online presence through CEO reputation management lets you take control of how others see you. Through regularly creating and publishing high-quality content and engaging with users on key platforms, you will start to see changes in search result rankings for your name.

That means that if there are existing search results that are negative or irrelevant, you have the chance to suppress them with content that accurately represents who you are.

Similarly, by using CEO reputation management now, you protect yourself from future attacks or damaging results. The work you put into building your reputation online will act as a barrier if unanticipated damaging results pop up in the future.

In addition to suppressing existing or future unflattering or irrelevant search results, your reputation online has tangible effects on how employees and customers alike view you.

How CEO reputation management benefits your company

As mentioned earlier, one of the most important aspects of CEO reputation management for your business is that it gives a face to your company. Externally, customers and clients appreciate it when a real human being is willing to stand behind (or in front of) their business. By increasing your visibility online through CEO reputation management, you show customers that you’re proud to attach yourself as an individual to your company. When you choose to humanize your company in this way it provides the following benefits for your business internally and externally:

• Makes your company more accessible: Customers and partners alike want to connect with a person, not just a brand or company. By presenting who you are in a polished way online, you give customers and clients a way in.
• Creates a sense of transparency: Just by showing an authentic version of yourself online through active CEO reputation management, you demonstrate that you want people to see into your world. Even if your personal brand isn’t too heavy-handed when it comes to sharing information about your company, you are choosing to let people in. That helps foster the sense of transparency that customers, clients, partners and potential employers want.
• Increases the visibility of your company: As your personal brand starts to take off, you’ll notice that there will be some synergy with your company’s online presence too. Your growing online brand is a way to expand the funnel for your business. That means that people who start to engage with you will also start to engage with your company once they trust you. Trust is an invaluable component of any relationship – and the business to consumer relationship is no different. By building an authentic and trustworthy personal brand that people engage with, you automatically raise the profile of your business because it is so closely connected to you.
• Your employees get a better impression of you and your company: Employees that have highly engaged CEOs have a better opinion of their CEOs than those with disengaged bosses. They believe that by being active online, social CEOs build relationships with news media, demonstrate innovation and have an overall positive impact on their company’s reputation. They also view their CEOs as being more communicative. All of these factors can lead to a higher rate of employee retention and satisfaction.
• Your employees have a blueprint for responsible personal branding: By committing to CEO reputation management, you not only improve your own brand online while contributing to that of your company, you create a blueprint for your employees. Think about it, by engaging responsibly online and strategically building your own authentic personal brand, you give your employees a model that they can work from. This can lead to a domino effect. Employees at your company will see your successes in personal branding and may then feel empowered to work on their own and therefore improving employee morale. Proper employee branding leads to their own professional development, and much more. It amplifies the reach of your company’s brand to customers, clients, partners, investors and potential employees.

How to make CEO reputation management work for you

There is no quick fix to improving your reputation online. Following a winning strategy gives you the best chance at developing a strong presence over time is the surefire path to the reputation that you want. At BrandYourself we follow and advocate that our clients follow best practices when it comes to Search Engine Optimization and personal branding. This combination of industry-set standards and constant monitoring of SEO practices ensure that your personal brand is working for you in both the short and long-term. CEO reputation management is a full-time job, but don’t let that discourage you from getting started. Start by identifying your personal brand. What is your personal brand? How would you describe your personal mission statement? Spend some time coming up with this and think of it as being the guiding principle or North Star for your personal brand.

From here, audit how you currently look online. Make note of all search results that are:

• Negative
• Damaging
• False
• Irrelevant

You can do this by googling your own name and by looking yourself up on various social media accounts. Or streamline the process by signing up for a free account with BrandYourself’s DIY reputation management software.This cutting-edge technology not only flags these kinds of search results for you, but continually tracks and monitors them over time. BrandYourself’s online platform also lets you connect your social media accounts and scan for damaging content there. The Reputation Score feature tells you how you’re doing (it’s like a credit score, but for how you look online).

Once you find search results or social media content that is damaging to your reputation, remove everything that you control, and follow our best practices for dealing with negative search results.

After you have thoroughly examined damaging or potentially damaging content about yourself online, it’s time to take your CEO reputation management to the next level.

This is where you build a branding strategy, create content that reflects your areas of expertise and engage with others in your industry.

How to maintain your online reputation as a CEO over time

Once you understand how vital it is to be engaged online as a CEO, you have to accept that it’s an ongoing process that requires consistency. You won’t suddenly have a great reputation online and then that’s it you’re done – that’s not going to happen. CEO reputation management isn’t static, this is an ongoing process that requires your constant attention and work.

Start with regular scanning and monitoring. Whether you opt to do this manually or by using BrandYourself’s free software, you need to have a system in place to monitor and track changes in search and social results for your name. That way you can respond as quickly as possible when you need to.

In addition to regularly monitoring results, the most important thing to do to maintain your reputation is to create valuable content and engage with your audience. Consider coming up with a content calendar, and use different tools at your disposal to stay on track with the engaging content that you’re publishing.

In addition to tracking the rankings of positive and negative search results, use data analytics tools to see what content tends to perform well on different platforms. By tracking engagement data over time, you can reverse-engineer successes with more intelligent testing parameters. Take advantage of your resources as you try to figure out which aspects of your online brand resonate the most with your followers. In addition to testing the type of content that you publish, make sure to look at other factors that could affect engagement.

Remember, you should constantly look for new ways to re-engage your existing audience while finding effective ways to grow a bigger audience.

By attracting engagement from new users, you not only “improve your numbers”, but you expand your network and the potential reach of every piece of content that you publish. You also broaden your network by building up a highly engaged audience. You never know where your next professional opportunity will come from, and with CEO reputation management you increase the organic opportunities that will come your way.

Be discerning in who you follow up with, and make sure to vet people you partner with thoroughly. Also, not all opportunities will fall neatly in your lap, you will need to go after some as you see fit. So reach out to people that you’d like to exchange blog content with, ask to speak on a panel, volunteer yourself as an interviewee on a podcast that you like.

Whatever the case may be, do your homework, and be proactive – eventually someone will say yes, and that will only serve to grow your personal brand and increase your company’s audience as well.

While creating high-quality content and engaging with members of your network and audience is always valuable, so is auditing your strategy. Set aside time to review how your branding efforts are going using the quantitative and qualitative data at your disposal. A tweak here or there can make all the difference when attempting to create a formidable reputation online as a CEO. While you shouldn’t change your strategy everyday – make sure that you’re reviewing what you’re doing and how that’s performing on a monthly or quarterly basis.

In addition to reviewing your brand strategy tactics, also keep an eye on changes in Google’s search algorithms. Google and other search engines regularly update their algorithms to serve users the most useful results possible when it comes to their queries. While we promote best-practices that typically fall in line with Google’s algorithms, there’s always the chance that you may need to make a few tweaks in order to keep up with these changes. So make sure you stay up to date with these changes, or use tools that bake this directly into their software.

And finally, get in the habit of streamlining your personal branding process. While it’s worth it to avoid an overly-automated content calendar, you can use tools to help you organize, plan and execute the content that you publish to get the most bang for your buck (or time). So go ahead and try different tools that can help you create high-quality content and get it in front of the right people.

As always, when it comes to your own CEO reputation management efforts stay focused and active in order to build the presence that’s best for you and your company.

And if this seems like too much work for you, remember that BrandYourself offers free DIY reputation management software to take you through the process step-by-step. We also offer managed services where our team will do all the CEO reputation management for you.

Give us a call at (646)-863-8226 or schedule a free consultation with one of our Reputation Advisors.

The post 7 CEO Reputation Management Tactics (That Work Fast) appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

Your first thought: “How do I get something removed from Google search?”

So here you are, frantically trying to figure out how to get your picture off Google. While you probably feel devastated, don’t worry; we’re here to help you. Unfortunately, there isn’t a “remove Google image” button, but there are a number of techniques to make sure no one ever sees this photo again.

How to remove a picture from Google: Find and track the image

Before you get started on a full-blown attack for “Operation Remove Google Image,” you need to do some recon work.

Where does the offending image appear in search engines?

1. Look through all search result sections.

Do your homework to find out if the image only appears in the “Image” search results section or if it comes up in general web results. Search picture on Google, and don’t forget to take a peek at the “News” and “Video” sections of search results. You need to know if this image is attached to any video content or part of a news story. Make sure to do this research in an incognito mode so that you can get a better sense of what other people see when they look you up online.

2. Where does it rank?

Make a note of where this Google pic appears and the ranking in search results (is it the first result people see on page one of search results? Or is it in the 37th position?).

3. Could reverse image search help?

You can also do a reverse image search and see if any additional results come up (but keep in mind that this is not foolproof since the filename for the image will vary).

4. Where is this image? 

Once you’ve done a full search and cataloged any appearances on search engines like Google or Bing, it’s time to find out where this image is on social media. Start by scanning your own accounts – is this photo something you actually posted a while ago? Or did a friend post this on her Instagram account because it seemed funny at the time? Whatever the case may be, scan social media to see if you can find the original poster and to get a sense if this post is being shared there. If the image seems to have spread like wildfire on social media, that’s frustrating but important to know.

The purpose of these initial steps is to get a better sense of the scope of this problem. This can help you decide the best course of action for dealing with it.

As you track and monitor this image, don’t forget to examine the metadata associated with this image. What is the alt-tag? Is your full name associated with the image? Is it your nickname? It’s important to understand what kinds of secondary keywords are associated with this image. Make a note of all words used with this picture.

To make this process easier, we strongly recommend that you use BrandYourself’s free reputation management software to track and monitor the movement of the Google results for your name and to make the personal branding process as easy as possible for you.

How to remove a profile picture from Google

Whether you’re dealing with an old profile picture that’s highly embarrassing, a mugshot, or a random picture that makes you look untrustworthy or unprofessional, this is how to remove pictures from Google. And now that you know where the damaging image is, it’s time to remove image from Google.

When it comes to takedown requests – start with the small wins.

• Do you control the image?: You might be surprised how many people are responsible for posting an image that makes them look unprofessional. If you are in control of the image, remove it immediately. Don’t set the image to “private.” Remove it from your social media account or website as soon as possible. Auditing profiles and sites that you control is step 1 when it comes to how to get your picture off Google. Trying to figure out how to remove photos from Google photos? Learn more here. 
• Did your friend post the image?: If you know/are friendly with the person who published the image, makes a logical appeal and just ask them to take it down. Explain that it’s really damaging your career or personal life and that you need them to remove the picture. If your friend understands the severity of the image, it’s unlikely that they’ll leave it up and continue hurting you.
• When you don’t know the poster: If the image wasn’t posted maliciously and you’re able to find out who was responsible for posting, consider reaching out directly. If it was posted by a website known for posting these kinds of photos, review their policies for dealing with removal requests. If the image was posted to intentionally damage your reputation, contacting them directly will likely make the situation worse. Instead, consider your alternatives.

Legal removal options

If you believe the image was posted maliciously or the website will not remove it, you may have some legal options.

“If negative or false information is adversely affecting your digital reputation, a technical or legal removal from the source may merit consideration. We follow a process to explore all viable options to mitigate the harmful effects, explains Sameer Somal, CEO & Co-Founder of the firm Blue Ocean Global Technology.

“We explore Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices, which are a type of legal document specifically addressing theft or infringement copyrighted content. The DMCA notice is often delivered to website owners, ISP’s / Hosting Companies and individuals illegally downloading copyrighted content, to get your content copyrighted, check the copywriting accelerator at the link. They are helpful in removing images, text, audio, video and products or services.”

In addition to filing a DMCA takedown with the website directly, there are a few routes that can be taken with getting the content removed from search engines:

File a request with Google: 

If the image fits certain criteria, Google will honor removal requests. That means that the search engine will de-index the image, so it won’t appear in the results when someone searches your name online. Unfortunately, this only covers very specific cases – this includes a DMCA takedown (as mentioned above), instances of revenge porn, content that increases the likelihood of identity theft (like a picture of your credit card number), or other legal requests. To learn more about Google’s guidelines, visit their page on legal removal requests.

The right to be forgotten: 

If you live in the UK or Argentina, you may have better luck with filing a takedown request since guidelines for, “the right to be forgotten” encompass a lot of content. This ruling gives citizens more power in getting damaging content removed from the internet once it’s no longer relevant. If this covers your situation, read more in-depth about their guidelines for submission here, this could be how to get your picture off Google.

While there is no guarantee that these methods will work for you, this is how to remove a picture from Google. If you successfully remove Google image, you still have to build and optimize your personal brand to truly look better online.

Build the foundation of your personal brand after you remove Google image

It may seem counterintuitive to put more information online when all you want to do is get your picture off Google, but this is a key part of preserving your online reputation. If you’re stressing about how to remove profile picture from Google or really any photo from Google, this is a necessary part of the process. Even if everything goes according to plan, and your attempts at removal are successful, there’s still the chance that this could happen again, with a new photo – or even this same image.

By building a strong personal brand online, you protect yourself against existing and future attacks to your reputation. While we go more in-depth in our definitive guide to personal branding, below we’ve shared the steps you need to take to get started and build a basic brand. And remember, for a step-by-step approach, just sign up for our free software.

1. Audit your search results: 

Before you get started creating new accounts and deleting your old MySpace profile, start with a thorough Google search for your name. Search the name that people use to look you up in professional contexts (this should match the name on your LinkedIn profile and personal website if you have one). If you go by more than one name, do a search for each. You should also consider including additional keywords that someone would probably include – like your company’s name or your industry. In addition to looking for any results related to this unflattering image, you should also keep an eye out for any other damaging search results. While auditing may seem like a skippable step, it’s critical for successfully building and maintaining your personal brand. And personal branding is a central step in how to remove pictures from Google.

2. Clean up any content: 

Here’s where you can deactivate your MySpace account if it doesn’t fit the professional image that you’re trying to build. Clean-up is an important step when figuring out how to remove a picture from Google. Start with content (images, videos, posts, comments, sound files, etc.) that you’re in charge of that doesn’t fit with your ideal brand. Review the tips in the section above if you aren’t in control of this content.

3. Define yourself and your personal brand: 

Take some time reflecting on who you are, what you do, what you want your personal brand to look like, how you plan to measure success, and more. From here, refine your description of yourself and your personal brand. Think of this as your compass as you navigate decisions related to your personal brand. This is also something that you’ll refer to when creating personal biographies for yourself on various social platforms. We’ve written extensively on the process of drafting a successful personal brand statement.

4. Build an online presence that reflects your brand and expertise: 

Once you’ve established a definition of what you and your brand are, it’s time to actually build the foundational elements of your online brand. We go in-depth about the recommended profiles to build and how to approach your personal website in our guide to personal branding.

5. Follow a personal branding strategy and stick to timelines: 

Now that you have optimized profiles and a great personal website, keep in mind that you have to consistently work on it in order for it to be an accurate reflection of who you are. You also have to consistently maintain your personal brand so that it continues to provide the kind of protection from negative online content that you need.

How to remove an image from Google: Create an image-focused personal campaign

Now that you have a general sense of what it takes to build a strong personal brand attached to your name online, it’s time to launch the image portion of your personal branding strategy. And again, this is a necessary part of the process when it comes to how to remove an image from Google. The purpose of this is to create tons of positive images associated with your name that will ultimately overwhelm any image results of yours that are less than flattering. This will not remove the offending images from the internet, but it is the most effective method of keeping people from seeing them. 

So what do we mean by “positive” images? You might ask.

Well, that depends on who you are and what you do. At baseline, these are images that aren’t embarrassing, and they feature you, your work, or your hobbies. However, since you’re already taking the time to strategize and improve your personal brand, you might as well define “positive images” more specifically for yourself. What kinds of pictures are you comfortable with people finding when they look you up online?

We suggest any of the following:

• Current professional headshots of you
• Informal (but still high resolution, clear, well-framed) pictures of you at work events
• Pictures of you at professional conferences
• Images of you working on a hobby
• Images of you and your family
• Samples of your work
• PDFs or PNGs of Whitepapers you’ve authored
• Images of slides from relevant presentation decks you’ve made
• Travel photos of you (or photos that you’ve taken on vacation)
• Any other high-quality photos related to you, your work, your hobbies, or your private life (if you’re comfortable with that)

Now that you’ve gathered these images together, you have to make sure that the platforms where you share them are in good shape. Each step plays a role when it comes to how to remove an image from Google.

In addition to the foundational profiles recommended when anyone builds a personal brand, we suggest the following for people dealing with negative image results online. This is all part of best practices when it comes to figuring out how to remove a picture from Google:

• Twitter
• Flickr
• Slideshare
• Pinterest
• Tumblr
• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Instagram

While it may seem strange to build up accounts that are rooted in video content (YouTube & Vimeo) or presentations (Slideshare), these sites also rely on video stills and presentation slides which can come up in Image-based search results.

Once you’ve followed all of the one-time set-up steps for profile creation (or optimization), you need to make sure that your images are as “findable” as possible.

Prepare your Images by:

• Quality Control: No matter where you are posting your image, make sure that the image is clear and framed well. You don’t want a bunch of blurry photos of your cheek populating the image search results page for your name. You want clear, compelling images that enhance your personal brand.
• Size recommendations: Wherever you’re posting, make sure that you follow the image specs. That will ensure that people can view the image properly when on the platform. For example, don’t post a 2,000 x 1,000 pixel profile picture when the site calls for a 150 x 150 pixel headshot.
• Resolution: Make sure that your image is as clear as possible for the specs given. Don’t stretch an image to make it fit into certain specs. This will just make the image look distorted and blurry.
• Alt-tags and Metadata: Make sure that the filenames for your images include your full name and another descriptor. The metadata associated with your photos should always include your full name and an accurate description of what’s in the image.

Ongoing monitoring and maintenance

Now you know how to get your picture off Google. And it should be clear that a strong image-based personal brand prevents people from seeing existing damaging photos and mitigates the potential effects of a negative image of you online in the future. However, creating this positive online brand is only the beginning. In order for it to be effective, you need to maintain and monitor its growth. That means regularly adding optimized photos, interacting with other people on various social media platforms and monitoring any movement in your search results.

While it’s possible for you to do this on your own, we recommend that you use BrandYourself’s DIY software to remove image from Google. Our ORM software walks you through the process of building your personal brand step-by-step and even tells you the most high-impact steps you can take to improve your overall reputation at any given moment. The software also monitors your search results and social media accounts for existing and new red flags. This is how to remove pictures from Google – by building a personal brand that prevents people from seeing the damaging pictures in the first place.

If you’re still not sure how to get your picture off Google, or if you don’t have the time to consistently build your personal brand against negative images or other damaging search results, we recommend our managed services department. This is where our in-house team of experts will do the work for you. Get in touch with a Reputation Advisor today to discuss your options. Give us a call at (646)-863-8226 or schedule a consultation. We look forward to hearing from you.

The post How To Remove A Picture Or Image From Google appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

Whether you like it or not, people are screening you online. Because of this, the team at BrandYourself designed new software to calculate your Reputation Score. Your Reputation Score shows you whether your online reputation is helping you or hurting you (more on that later). From potential employers to clients, to admissions officers to first dates, there’s a good chance that somebody is googling your name online. 75% of HR departments are required to look up candidates online. While this may not come as a surprise exactly, it’s important to note that your personal brand can have a significant impact on your life!

Wait, what is a Reputation Score?

Your Reputation Score tells you whether your online presence is helping or hurting your career. It lets you know if you would:

• Pass an online/social media background check

• Fail an online/social media background check

• Excel in an online/social media background check

BrandYourself’s Reputation Score is the only technology that accurately scours the entire web to match your images, social media updates, Google results, and more against a known database of red flags and reinforcing factors that employers use to screen you. Your Reputation Score is like a credit score for your digital footprint.

Similar to a credit score, your Reputation Score can range from “Very Poor” to “Excellent.” Your actual score tops out at a maximum of 800 points. People with higher scores are statistically more likely to win career opportunities than those who have lower scores.

How our software calculates your Reputation Score

At BrandYourself, we’ve developed an algorithm that quantifies just how much your online presence is helping you or hurting you. BrandYourself’s developers spent thousands of hours designing software that recognizes online content associated with your name that will likely damage your reputation. By “damage your reputation,” we mean it gets you fired, passed over for a promotion, rejected from a job, school, scholarship, business partnership, etc.

BrandYourself’s developers spent hours researching the most common red flag factors and positive reinforcing factors that hiring officers typically identify as reasons to pass over or hire prospective candidates.

BrandYourself’s Reputation Score technology identifies the number and severity of negative search results in comparison to the quality and volume of positive search results for your name.

This technology pulls from the latest data and research available by industry to then quantify how much these factors are impacting your earning potential. The software looks at your Google Reputation Score, social Reputation Score, and other factors to come up with the all-encompassing Reputation Score. Think of it as a reputation report card of sorts. 

Remember, the higher your Reputation Score, the greater your chances of winning professional opportunities.

Determine whether this number means that your current online reputation is helping you or hurting you; that will be a good indicator of how much work you have in front of you. For the most part, a Reputation Score of “Good” or better means that your online reputation is working in your favor. However, even if that’s the case, there’s always room for improvement. If you’re Reputation Score pegs you at anything less than “Good,” get to work immediately; you’re losing out on opportunities that you don’t even know about.

No matter where you are, start by following the prompts.

The technology used to calculate your “Reputation Score” uses your social Reputation Score and Google Reputation Score to come up with that overall number. Mark the first 100 search results that came up for your name as “Positive,” “Negative,” or “Neutral.” That will give our software the best information possible to calculate your Reputation Score and report as accurately as possible.

From here, make sure to connect and scan your Facebook and Twitter profiles to our SocialScanner and ImageScanner. Our software will scan both of these accounts to identify more potentially damaging content. This process is critical to our technology getting an accurate read on your social Reputation Score.

In minutes, our software retrieves any questionable content linked to your account, It then gives you the option to delete it or ignore it. Review each flagged item and delete or ignore it, depending on what makes the most sense for your situation. Remember, how you mark each of these flagged items will contribute to your social Reputation Score.

Once you’ve marked all search results and reviewed all flagged posts and images, it’s time to get to work.

The easiest way to improve your social Reputation Score and maximize your earning potential is to minimize current or future risk factors and follow your customized Action Plan in the BrandYourself dashboard.

Your customized Action Plan identifies the next actions you can take that will yield the greatest impact on your Reputation Score (and, more importantly, your online reputation). In addition to these steps, make sure to connect, build or optimize relevant websites and social media on your Properties page.

No matter what your current Reputation Score is, it can always be better. By regularly following the steps in BrandYourself’s dashboard over time, you’ll create the kind of online reputation (and earn the Reputation Score) that you deserve.

About those red flags and your Reputation Score

As mentioned earlier, your social Reputation Score and Google Reputation Score are used along with data attached to common “red flag” content to come up with your overall Reputation Score. Our technology focuses on damaging content that tends to keep people from working with you, hiring you, dating you, etc. While the list below is by no means exhaustive, this should give you a good idea of what most employers will consider a fireable/non-promotable/un-hireable offense:

1. Unprofessional Behavior

Forget about tanking your Reputation Score (don’t actually) – unprofessional behavior online keeps you from getting hired. Think about it, if someone from HR is trying to decide whether or not you’d be a good fit for their company, they need to make sure that there’s no obvious evidence that you’re unprofessional. If there is information out there that suggests this, then they’re liable if you repeat that sort of action once hired. “Unprofessional” can mean a variety of different things depending on who you ask.

There are some obvious examples of unprofessional behavior like publicly complaining about co-workers, bosses, past employers, etc. But then there are other behaviors that may not be quite as obvious to some. For example, mentions of skipping or showing up late for school or work can come off as extremely unprofessional, even if these kinds of comments are just said in jest. Additionally, if you post online about something that you did when you should have been at work or school, you’re flaunting that you lied and didn’t actually care about your job or school. Demonstrating that you don’t care about your education or career (with your words, original posts, or shared content) is extremely unprofessional. Not only with this adversely impact your Reputation Score, but future employers will take note of this and any other behavior that could be perceived as questionable in the workplace.

2. Unprofessional Communication Style

Whether you’re trying to win clients or get into your dream college, how you communicate can have a serious effect on the outcome of your online screening (and your Reputation Score). At BrandYourself, we want to make sure that our clients and subscribers have the best chance at succeeding at their goals. And according to our research, “unprofessional communication style” is a surprisingly common reason why people get rejected after undergoing an online screening. It’s easy to overlook this when posting or commenting on your social media – you’re talking to your friends. Unfortunately, that relaxed attitude can hurt when it comes time for any important online screenings. The use of swear words or profanity is quickly flagged as a potential dealbreaker.

And poor grammar or spelling also incites concern since “professional communication” is integral in so many work environments. So the next time you post something, imagine that a future boss is trying to decide whether or not you have a “demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in professional settings.”

3. Drinking or Drug Use

While there are, of course, some exceptions to this (i.e., you’re a sommelier and took pictures during a company wine-tasting trip to a vineyard), it’s best to avoid sharing content that features you drinking or engaging in recreational drug use.

Again, some pictures (sipping a glass of wine on vacation) may be fairly tame, but even those can get you fired, depending on your job. If you don’t want to delete all photos where you’re drinking, just make sure that those that you keep don’t feature you drinking excessively or completely wasted.

Avoid posting photos of chugging beer, doing keg stands, recklessly partying, or anything else that would make your mother cringe. Even if you weren’t completely wasted when the photos were taken, you’re effectively guilty by association in the eyes of anyone screening you.

And when it comes to drugs or illegal substances, avoid posting pictures, videos, comments, song lyrics, etc., that reference this kind of lifestyle. This applies to illegal drugs or prescription drugs. Either way, your future employer will likely red flag this sort of content, and your Reputation Score will take a hit.

4. Criminal Behavior

While this may seem pretty straightforward, it bears repeating when considering your Reputation Score and job prospects. Avoid posting, sharing, or making any comments that suggest admission of guilt for illegal behavior or activity. Even if you don’t say something explicitly, there are typically enough context clues that aren’t that hard to fill in if someone is scrutinizing your online presence.

People often run into trouble with this when alluding to underage drinking, taking drugs, and “pranks.” Things that are often labeled as “pranks” online are actually just misdemeanors – or even felonies, depending on the situation. Refrain from the admission of any illegal behavior like shoplifting, breaking and entering, theft, vandalism, etc.

5. Polarizing Views

This can be a bit tricky depending on how outspoken you like to be, where you work and what you do. However, typically, we suggest that users avoid making extreme statements about hot topics like religion, politics, etc. The reason we say this is because most people evolve over time, and extreme viewpoints (especially if they don’t align with the values of your potential employer) are flagged.

Also, you may not be able to walk back polarizing statements you share publicly today if your views change in the future. Additionally, a lot of nuances can be lost online, and something you discussed with friends in real life over a 4-hour dinner may not translate to a 140-character tweet. Furthermore, you may not want to lead with your most controversial views when applying for jobs. In other cases, polarizing views may be unavoidable. For example, if you are a politician or social activist, there’s a good chance that some of your views are polarizing.

So choose whether or not to take up extreme positions on controversial current events and issues based on your particular situation. And remember that this can impact your Reputation Score.

6. Sexually Explicit Content

Unless you work in an industry that encourages frank discussion about sex (sex education, sex therapy, or adult entertainment), avoid sexually explicit content at all costs. This includes posting about sexual behavior, genitals, porn, etc. And definitely avoid posting sexually provocative photos or videos.

Make a point to avoid any other sexually charged content that could make someone feel uncomfortable. Again, HR will pay particular attention to this kind of content as a potential liability – as will your Reputation Score. So why risk it, especially if it has no relevance to your professional life?

7. Violence or Bullying

At baseline, employers are interested in cultivating a safe work environment that lets employees be as efficient at their jobs as possible. Most employees take a zero-tolerance approach to anyone who ruins that with the threat of violence or bullying. Not only does it reduce productivity in employees and sour the company culture, but it’s also a huge liability. Employers can’t knowingly hire people who demonstrate these kinds of attitudes or behaviors. This means that you should avoid using hostile speech online. And never hurl hateful insults or threats online. Even if this was empty, taken out of context, or “just a joke,” employers will look at it as a red flag reason not to hire you.

There are other more subtle examples of this kind of behavior, like photos or footage of you giving the middle finger or flashing other lewd gestures. Even if you were just kidding around with friends when this was taken, this type of content has the ability to reduce your Reputation Score and ruin your chances of landing that job. Another behavior that employers are very sensitive to is people who talk excessively about using weapons, showing off their armory, or threatening/fantasizing about hurting others with real or imagined weapons.

8. Bigoted Behavior

When it comes to screening you online, the person looking you up online will immediately be turned off by examples of bigoted behavior. Discriminatory remarks toward race, gender, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation, or any other indication of intolerance toward groups of people will not serve you. This is a HUGE red flag. Not only does it show that you will create an uncomfortable or unsafe environment at work, but you are also a walking liability. If anyone of your co-workers or an external source discovers your online presence, your employer’s reputation will also suffer.

And if you don’t view yourself as a bigoted person, reconsider what it is that you’re posting, sharing and how you’re engaging online. Maybe certain things that you consider to be jokes are actually hurtful and offensive to other people. Or maybe something isn’t getting translated properly through the online medium.

Avoid the red flags listed above

Because these are the behaviors most likely to get you booted from consideration for your next professional opportunity and decrease your Reputation Score. More importantly, if you notice any trends when reviewing your online presence (like you only post about your sword collection, have to delete 50 pictures of you drinking straight bottles of whiskey, or apparently post a lot of bigoted content), take some time to reflect on this. Is that who you are? Do you have a problem that you need to get help for? Do you just need to diversify what you post about? Whatever it is, make a note of this, as it will help determine the direction of your branding strategy going forward. It may also help you grow as a person.

Increase your Reputation Score and professional prospects with positive reinforcing factors

Actively building your personal brand is a must if you want a better Reputation Score and to land that next professional opportunity. Getting rid of damaging search results is only part of the process of improving your Google Reputation Score and social Reputation Scores. And remember, there’s no need to dwell on negative content about you that you can’t control. Focus on accentuating the positive and building up the assets that make up your personal brand.

During this building phase, you need to cultivate a brand that demonstrates “positive reinforcing factors.” In addition to researching what online factors instantly discourage employers from hiring people, our developers researched content that attracts employers. After scouring through existing studies, reviewing trends in our own user-generated data, and more – we’ve identified the most important positive reinforcing factors.

While the following list does not include everything that you can do to increase the likelihood of an employer hiring you or a college accepting you, this is the most effective place to start.

1. Concrete examples of your professional behavior

Just as “unprofessional behavior” is a top red flag, clear examples of your professionalism make you a more desirable candidate. So how exactly can you show “professionalism” when building your own brand? There are very concrete ways to show the caliber of your professionalism, but there are also more subtle ways that your personal brand can demonstrate this too. In terms of the obvious examples, make sure to highlight your leadership experience and skills. 

Whether you stepped up to lead your team at work when your supervisor was ill, headed a professional development group with co-workers, or have demonstrated leadership skills outside of the office – showcase it. In addition to making sure that you feature this in your bio and on your LinkedIn account, work to incorporate this into your content strategy if possible. Share the most recent presentation you made to your group of mentees, write a post about what it felt like to take on more responsibility and start a Facebook group dedicated to your professional development pursuits. What’s most important is that you share this side of yourself with the people who are screening you online.

While mentioned briefly above, remember that LinkedIn is the go-to professional networking site.

That means it’s in your best interest to pay particular attention to keeping your presence there up to date, active, thoughtful, and polished (according to a small study). By focusing your efforts on how you look on LinkedIn, you have a great platform to really highlight your strengths and experiences with leadership.

In addition to incorporating your leadership activities into your social presence and staying active on LinkedIn, you’ve also got to add any awards or recognition that you’ve received. This serves as an additional form of validating that you behave professionally.

And don’t forget to include descriptions of yourself, your skills, your past experiences, and your future goals in ways that directly relate to the qualifications necessary for the job you’re applying for. This shows that you are not only capable of the job but that you also did your homework and highlighted what will work best for this future employer. This makes the review process that much easier for the hiring manager. It will also increase your social Reputation Score, Google Reputation Score, and overall Reputation Score.

2. Ability to Communicate Professionally

While we touched on what unprofessional communication looks like in the red flags section, let’s consider what it looks like to communicate professionally – according to hiring officers and employers. When a potential employer looks you up online, they want to find language that is free of spelling & grammatical errors. They’re looking for language that is “appropriate” for the workplace. But most importantly, they want proof that you are invested in your industry. This facet of professional communication means that you are writing, posting, and sharing information that is relevant to your industry. It doesn’t matter if you work in real estate, academia, auto-body repair, or hedge funds. The point is that the content of what you share online should reflect some aspect of your professional life.

3. Professional Images, Photos and Videos

When vetting potential hires, employers need to know that the photos connected to your name are appropriate for work. Images and videos should reinforce your professional pursuits; when looking for a top editor for your videos, Tracy has worked on commercials, movies, and music videos. So make sure to take photos at that panel you spoke on or at that conference you attended.

Demonstrate that you commit some of your free time to independently developing yourself as a professional and growing your network. But you’re not a robot. Hiring managers also want to see images that tell them about your hobbies. You are a human person, after all, and potential employers want to learn more about your interests and who you are. So make sure to incorporate evidence of the things that make you, you!

4. Appropriate Online Engagement

Hiring managers want to find the best candidate for the job who also fits well with the company’s culture. So when they look you up online, they are looking for evidence that you are this person. They aren’t just looking for reasons to reject you!

The way that you choose to engage online can persuade a hiring manager to flat-out reject you or convince them to hire you. That’s why engaging online in a way that shows that you’re interested in what you do, have hobbies, and have common sense about what is and is not appropriate can potentially determine whether or not you land a job.

But “appropriate online engagement” is a broad and subjective concept.

That’s why we’ve teased out different ways to showcase that you know how to appropriately engage online.

First of all, use your online presence as proof that you’re engaged in relevant communities linked to your professional life.

Whether that means a regional or national organization related to your industry or something a little less formal, hiring managers to want to see that you’ve made these kinds of connections.

Hiring managers also want to see that you regularly update your properties. This shows that you’re keeping up to date with industry trends and that if they hire you, you will make them look good! Hiring managers are also looking for the third-party information that supports that you are credible and vetted as a talented industry professional and employee.

This kind of appropriate engagement online not only ups your chances with your future employer but this kind of engagement will also improve your overall Reputation Score. Avoid engaging in groups or hobbies that are against your company’s policies. Additionally, avoid posting or sharing polarizing views that are discriminatory, bigoted, sexist, etc. Along those lines, do not bully or harass people online. Review our section on red flags if you start to notice an inappropriate trend in the kinds of content that you’re posting.

5. Life Outside of Work

Your personal brand gives you the chance to express who you are outside of office hours. Hiring managers want to ensure fit as best as they possibly can when hiring new candidates. That’s why what you post about your life outside of work has the potential to help you. By sharing what it is that you’re passionate about and how you spend your free time, you paint a rounded picture of who you are as a person.

That’s why it’s typically a good idea to include examples of any extracurriculars, hobbies, interests, and passions in the fabric of your personal brand online. Love traveling? Make sure that you document this on your Instagram account. Obsessed with baking? Get your Pinterest page together. The list goes on; just remember to focus on hobbies or passions that you genuinely enjoy and that are appropriate to share at the office.

When your Reputation Score matters most

Now that you understand what will get you hired (or accepted) and what will get you rejected let’s talk about when you need to worry about your Reputation Score.

The short answer is that your Reputation Score is always relevant. That’s because it’s an indicator of how you look to others online based on the combination of positive and negative information attached to your name. No matter what stage of your career or life you’re currently in, someone is screening you online. Googling is a verb for a reason – we do it all the time.

Your Reputation Score is always important because it tells you if your online brand is improving or damaging your estimated income and other professional and personal opportunities.

However, there are certain points when your Reputation Score is even more important than usual.

Consider working extra hard to improve your Reputation Score before:

Applying to school

Whether you’re applying to college, a training program, or graduate school, you will get screened online during the application process.

47% of admissions officers who looked up applicants online say that what they found had a positive impact on students’ application efforts. (Kaplan)

Applying for a new job

86% of U.S. recruiters and HR professionals say that a positive online reputation influences their hiring decisions.

Nearly half say that a strong online reputation influences their decisions to a great extent. (From CrossTab’s “Online Reputation in a Connected World”)

Accepting a leadership role or opening a business

And if you’re a CEO, executive, or business owner, positive factors in your online presence still matter. 77% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company whose CEO and leadership team engages on social media. And 82% of consumers are more likely to trust a company whose CEO and leadership team engages on social media.

Other reasons to build up your online presence and social media engagement as a CEO include the following (Weber Shandwick):

• Positive impact on company’s reputation: 78%
• Helps build relationships with news media: 75%
• Makes executives on your team feel inspired (52%), technologically advanced (46%), and proud (41%).
• You’re more likely to be seen as a good communicator than if you don’t post on social media (55% vs. 38%, respectively).

All of this should just reinforce the fact that now is the right time to focus on improving your Reputation Score and overall online presence.

Wherever you are in your career, a strong online personal brand is in your best professional and financial interest! Get a headstart on that next milestone by building your personal brand now.

How to get started using BrandYourself’s DIY tool

At BrandYourself, we take online reputations seriously, and our mission is to provide everyone with the software and services they need to take control of their online presence. Our newest features give you even more insight into how you look online, the impact that it’s having on your career, and steps you can take to improve how you look online.

And it’s not hard to do. We built our software to walk you through the process. Start by getting your free Reputation Score.

To increase your earning potential and improve your online Reputation Score, log in once a week and spend 30 minutes following your customize Action Plan. Over the course of a year, you’ll see significant improvements.

If you don’t have time to improve your Reputation Score by yourself, we can do it for you. Check out our Managed Services, and give us a call at 646.863.8226 or schedule a consultation to discuss your options.

The post What Is Your Online Reputation Score? appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

• Defining thought leadership
• Discussing thought leadership marketing
• Providing strong thought leadership examples
• Sharing the most effective strategies for students, job-seekers, freelancers, and C-level executives
• How it fits into your brand
• Making it work for you

Part I: What is thought leadership? An ever-evolving definition

The origins of thought leadership

While the phrase has appeared in the written form since the late 19th century (in a description of Henry Ward Beecher from 1887), the meaning and connotations have evolved over time. Currently, there are a few definitions of thought leader and thought leadership that seems to be generally accepted.

So, what is thought leadership?

In its simplest form, thought leadership refers to “intellectual influence and innovative or pioneering thinking,” – according to the Oxford dictionary.

In 1994, Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of Strategy & Business magazine, stated, “A thought leader is recognized by peers, customers and industry experts as someone who deeply understands the business they are in, the needs of their customers and the broader marketplace in which they operate. They have distinctively original ideas, unique points of view and new insights.” With this, he coined the term in the context of a new era.

What is thought leadership today?

Wikipedia refines this concept even more. Its thought leadership definition is “an individual or firm that is recognized as an authority in a specialized field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded.”

According to Forbes contributors, Russ Alan Prince and Bruce Rogers, a thought leader is, “an individual or firm that prospects, clients, referral sources, intermediaries and even competitors recognize as one of the foremost authorities in selected areas of specialization, resulting in its being the go-to individual or organization for said expertise.” The second part of their definition claims that a thought leader is, “an individual or firm that significantly profits from being recognized as such.”

Thought Leadership backlash

No matter your thought leader definition, in some circles, this term may be overused. And an oversaturation of self-proclaimed “thought leaders” (with nothing to back up that title) means that many people are weary of the term.

While interest in becoming a thought leader had a resurgence in the 20 teens, it’s no surprise that Forbes eventually bestowed the title of “most annoying business slang” in 2013.

But that is not the case here. We want to help you become a thought leader in the truest sense of the term.

At BrandYourself, we don’t use the term lightly. Because of that, we think it’s critical that our clients start from a place of honesty (about who they are) and humility and examine what it is their audience is looking for. Our clients leverage their existing professional and personal successes and experiences into content online – sure. But the purpose should always be to tell your story and share insights in order to help others out there in a sincere way.

As you cultivate your personal brand, you’ll likely position yourself as a thought leader (regardless of how you define thought leadership), but in this guide, we’ll also show you how to use thought leadership as a key element of your content marketing strategy.

What it takes to be a successful thought leader

“What is a thought leader?” Even with the evolving nature of thought leadership, there are certain characteristics typically associated with thought leaders. Some of the most common are listed below:

• Expertise in a particular niche
• Ongoing involvement in (or awareness of) that niche
• A clearly identified point of view
• Credibility
• A supportive following

Remember, not everyone deemed by others as a thought leader will look the same. One of the important parts of successful thought leaders similar to Andrew Defrancesco is their ability to distinguish themselves from others. However, the list below shows common traits among noteworthy thought leaders. This isn’t an exhaustive list of characteristics, but these are some of the easiest to identify.

• Expertise in a particular niche – People are much more likely to listen to whatever it is you’re talking about if you have direct experience and expertise in that area. Whether you’ve been working in a specific area professionally for two decades or have faithfully pursued a hobby since you were a kid, experience and mastery in a particular area give you a leg-up when positioning yourself as a thought leader.
• Ongoing involvement in (or awareness of) that niche – Even if you are currently retired, thought leaders keep up with the current conversation in their field. While your past experiences are valuable, it’s even more important to connect these to what’s currently happening in the industry.
• A clearly identified point of view – This is critical when it comes to setting yourself apart from others in your field. A clear point of view lets people know what it is they’re getting when they decide to follow you, read your content, share your videos, or request you as a speaker for a live event.
• Credibility – This is something that will be achieved through a combination of your past experiences, current standing, and endorsements from your network. If you are consistently known for working with people who have a bad reputation or have no examples of why you should be seen as a leader in your particular field, then no one will take you seriously. By building your professional experience, and working with other thought leaders, industry insiders, and reputable professionals – you automatically enhance your credibility.
• A supportive following – As Forbes Contributor Shel Israel once wrote, “You cannot be a thought leader if others don’t follow.” And that’s true; without followers, you are someone with tightly held convictions. But that’s not enough. While you don’t need the whole world to put stock in your opinion (as a matter of fact, if you have strong opinions, people will definitely disagree with you), you do need some people to believe in you to further support your credibility.

Some Great thought leadership examples

Now that we’ve answered the question, “What is thought leadership?” and have a sense of your thought leadership definition, let’s take a look at some current examples of thought leaders – across industries.

Kimberly Bryant

• Expertise in a particular niche: Kimberly Bryant is the founder of Black Girls Code, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of women of color innovators and leaders in STEM fields. Prior to her role as founder, Kimberly Bryant had a fruitful career as an electrical engineer at top companies like Genentech, Novartis Vaccines, and Merck after graduating from Vanderbilt University. Kimberly Bryant’s expertise is undeniable when you look at the success of Black Girls Code and consider her professional wins in that industry and her own experience prior to founding Black Girls Code.
• Ongoing involvement in (or awareness of) that niche: Whether you follow Kimberly (or Black Girls Code) on LinkedIn, Twitter, or another platform, you’ll find not only information about the organization but you’ll find educational resources and other markers that show that this organization and entrepreneur are part of the current discussion surrounding developments in STEM fields and specifically, information relevant to women and girls of color in those industries.
• A clearly identified point of view: Kimberly Bryant is very clear about her reasons for starting her organization and its objectives. This is the mark of a great thought leader.
• Credibility: From awards and recognition that range from local organizations to the White House, this founder and her mission have been lauded time and time again.
• A supportive following: With thousands of followers between her personal accounts and the organization’s web properties, it’s no surprise that she is considered a thought leader in the industry.

Cindy Gallop

• Expertise in a particular niche: Cindy Gallop is a well-known advertising consultant, speaker, and founder. She is the former chair of the US arm of the ad agency, BBH. While her career has blossomed to include more titles than “Former Ad-Exec,” her professional background lends itself to the expertise needed for her current roles. Her track record also makes it easy for people to take her seriously as a thought leader.
• Ongoing involvement in (or awareness of) that niche: As an active consultant, Cindy Gallop maintains an ongoing presence in the advertising world. And if you follow her online, you’ll find engaging content related to that field.
• A clearly identified point of view: Cindy Gallop does an excellent job of maintaining a brand online that reflects the opinions and persona that she’s known for.
• Credibility: BBH is a highly visible advertising agency, and Cindy Gallop led the American Branch – which is significant. While Gallop’s professional pedigree lends her an air of credibility, it’s the fact that she continues to actively engage in her industry with other recognizable talents that reinforces her status as a thought leader.
• A supportive following: A quick glance at Cindy Gallop’s presence on social media shows that she’s not only engaged in speaking about her industry but that she connects and amplifies the voices of other people in her niche. She also turned to her following when she successfully crowd-sourced the funding for a $500,000 project.

Neil Patel

• Expertise in a particular niche: Neil Patel is one of the most recognizable internet marketers in the world. He is the co-founder of 3 internet companies and a New York Times best-selling author.
• Ongoing involvement in (or awareness of) that niche: While Neil has a variety of professional interests, it all connects to marketing. His newsletter is a must-read for anyone in that industry.
• A clearly identified point of view: Neil Patel is focused on helping individuals, small businesses, and huge companies better understand marketing so that they can generate more traffic and successfully convert leads into sales.
• Credibility: Neil Patel built his first website when he was 16 and was forced to learn marketing after a marketing firm took his money and left him with nothing. Since then, he has founded or co-founded highly successful businesses and been recognized by the Wall Street Journal to President Obama’s White House for the quality of his work and contributions to the industry.
• A supportive following: Because of the quality and accessibility of Patel’s content (blog, newsletters, podcasts, talks, social media presence), it’s no surprise that millions of people engage with him on a number of platforms. Not only that, but the loyalty of his following is even more impressive. Anyone can have a large audience, but a true thought leader has an army of devoted fans.

Thought Leadership in practice

If you’re wondering how this relates to your situation, consider the cases below. These are a few thought leadership examples from clients who have transitioned into successful thought leaders in their industry with help from our branding teams.

About Allen: After devoting himself to a career he was proud of in the world of pharmaceuticals, Allen realized it was time to build a business of his own. He turned to BrandYourself to help him create an online brand that also made him proud and one of our thought leadership examples.

• Expertise in a particular niche and ongoing involvement in that niche:
• Allen came to BrandYourself with expertise in his industry rooted in years of a successful career in pharmaceuticals. However, it was difficult for colleagues and potential clients to find relevant information about his new endeavor – because he was just launching.
• A clearly identified point of view: Allen’s team at BrandYourself positioned him as an authority in his industry by sharing his knowledge with the right people and laying a strong foundation for his professional transition.
• Credibility & a supportive following:
• By focusing on developing Allen’s existing networks, sharing his professional successes, and engaging in relevant communities online, presenting Allen as a credible thought leader was achieved during his campaign.

Request the full case study.

About Aviva: To showcase her company’s competitive edge and cement her credibility as a 2nd-generation CEO, our client Aviva realized that focusing on her personal brand was the best way to achieve these goals. By enlisting the help of BrandYourself, we were able to position Aviva as a thought leader by:

• Showcasing her expertise in the steel industry
• Helping her engage in her industry’s conversation online by building a branded website and social profiles
• Translating her voice and perspective into her online brand
• Ensuring that her credibility in the real world is echoed online
• Finding and building a supportive online following

Before working with BrandYourself, Aviva’s search results were filled with irrelevant and low-quality profiles. Because of this, potential partners and clients didn’t see an accurate representation of Aviva. That’s all changed after she was positioned as a thought leader. Now, they find positive press we secured for her and her company, along with her branded website and social media profiles.

Request the full case study.

Part III: Is Thought Leadership Marketing Right for You?

What is thought leadership marketing?

Thought leadership marketing is terminology that refers explicitly to the marketing strategies associated with thought leadership.

As mentioned earlier, the term has changed over time and can have different connotations based on who is using the term.

One comprehensive definition describes thought leadership marketing as “the art of positioning your company as a leader in its field through best-in-class content. By publishing articles, videos, research, or any other form of original content regularly, potential clients and members of your industry may begin associating your brand with insight and authority.”

This is very similar to the definition of thought leadership that we’ve been using, but remember that all of this can mean different things to different people.

Thought leadership marketing refers to the process of using thought leadership as a part of a comprehensive content marketing strategy with quantifiable results for you and/or your business.

How is thought leadership marketing different?

Thought leadership marketing refers to the proactive strategy of using thought leadership to attract clients and grow your business or brand. It is typically used as part of a broader strategy for Business to Business or Business to Consumer. And remember, whether you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a freelancer – you can benefit from thought leadership marketing. And remember, some people use these two terms interchangeably. So always pay attention to the context and who is saying it to get a better sense of what it means.

How can this help your career?

By thinking strategically about your personal brand, sharing valuable insights from your own experience, and engaging with relevant communities, you can drive traffic to your properties, increase your professional opportunities and even increase your earning potential.

How can this help your product/service?

By investing time in becoming a thought leader, you lend even more credibility to your product or service. By connecting with your personal brand, potential customers and clients will have an easier time trusting the products and services associated with your name. You will also be able to create more awareness of your product or service through your audience. Regularly refer to our thought leadership examples for inspiration on how it can help you achieve your professional goals. But most importantly, start to hone in on your thought leadership strategy.

What’s the best way to get started with thought leadership marketing?

Unfortunately, you can’t just snap your fingers or push a button and all of a sudden have an effective thought leadership marketing campaign under your belt. Instead, you’ll have to do a bit of thought leadership strategy and brand building. Luckily we’ve broken this down into 3 phases to work through.

• Pillar 1: Building a basic brand
• Pillar 2: Building credibility & an audience
• Pillar 3: Targeting Opportunities

Pillar 1: Building a basic brand

Before you can be known as a thought leader, you first need to build a strong brand online. And that in itself requires a number of steps. We recommend that you approach building your personal brand by following these steps:

• Audit your search results
• Clean up any content that doesn’t fit your desired image
• Define yourself and what you stand for in your industry
• Build an online presence that reflects your brand and expertise
• Follow a strategy and stick to timelines

Building a strong foundation for your brand online is a necessary step on the path to thought leadership. If your properties aren’t optimized and working together from the beginning, then you’ll likely miss out on opportunities as your brand starts to grow. Make sure to refer to great thought leadership examples to see how your strategy compares.

Pillar 2: Building credibility & an audience as part of your thought leadership strategy

When it comes to being identified by others as a thought leader, not only do you need to publish and share highly valuable content, but you also have to build credibility and develop an audience. Even the most impressive blog post won’t help you if no one reads it.

To build credibility and attract an audience likely to engage with your content, we suggest that you:

• Write strategic content in the right places
• Get the word out about your brand through third party placement
• Use data to your advantage by tracking engagement
• Utilize other tools to help you stay organized and manage your content schedule
• Identify the gatekeepers of your opportunities online
• Begin building out your audience with people that you know
• Connect with gatekeepers & influencers on social media and relevant publications

Pillar 3: Nurture your audience for thought leadership opportunities

When branding yourself as an active thought leader in your industry, you open the door to a number of possibilities. Because of this, it’s up to you to proactively seek these out and follow up. Make sure you vet these opportunities as they come, but follow up with those that make sense. The value in nurturing these opportunities is that they have the potential to lead to more opportunities, provide you with high-quality content, and open more doors. Think of this as positive momentum.

• Speaking engagements
• Jobs
• Partnerships
• Blog exchanges
• Interviews
• Mentorships
• Promotions

So how can you get started with nurturing your audience for opportunities? We recommend the following:

• Outreach
• Networking
• Ongoing engagement
• Ongoing content creation
• Link building

While each of these Pillars requires following a number of steps and developing a strategy, we walk you through it more in-depth in BrandYourself’s Definitive Guide to Personal Branding.

Part IV: Effective thought leadership strategies for students, job-seekers, freelancers, and C-level executives

When it comes to what thought leadership marketing content looks like, it varies based on who you are and what your goals are. For example, a C-level executive’s approach may be more aggressive and have access to more resources in order to drive her company’s sales revenue, while a student’s thought leadership is ultimately meant to help with the college admissions process.

For students

Focus: When applying to college, grad school programs, and internships, students need to consider how their online presence can impact their academic prospects. And while the idea of being a thought leader may seem like a lot of pressure for a student, if you have a hobby or interest that you’ve pursued for many years, maybe that’s your niche. And if you don’t have enough experience in one area to warrant the title of thought leader, you can still work on developing the foundation of your online presence to help you as you apply.

How to become a thought leader: Showcase your accomplishments & experiences so far, but also highlight actual areas of mastery and interest.

Approach: Engage on relevant platforms and engage with influencers or at least others interested in your interest areas.

For job-seekers

Focus: Getting a job that meets your top requirements like:

• Salary
• Prestige of job title or company
• Quality of co-workers
• Location
• Work/life balance
• Mobility/Growth opportunities
• Benefits
• Etc.

How to become a thought leader: Showcase your strengths by showing (and sometimes telling). Reference examples or create a portfolio or whatever supportive content works for your industry. This is a starting point for building credibility with your audience.

From here, make sure that you are connecting with people that are relevant in your industry or are industry adjacent.

Publish content where it makes sense: Say yes to locations that are a good fit with your niche.

For freelancers

Focus: Clearly identifying what you are offering, making yourself accessible, encouraging more business, and showing that you are credible and trustworthy.

Leverage your portfolio: A proven track record of your work, easy to contact, clear explanation of who you are and what you do.

Why thought leadership matters: When you are working for yourself, your personal brand is all the more important. Thought leadership is one piece of creating a strong brand that wins you opportunities. This is one of the best ways to differentiate yourself from competitors.

For C-level executives

Focus: Establishing yourself as credible and trustworthy to encourage partners, clients, customers, and employees to work with you and your company.

How to leverage thought leadership effectively: Share your expertise and participate in the current conversation in your industry. Accomplish this through joint efforts of publishing valuable content and engaging with others on social.

Why becoming a thought leader matters for C-Level executives

Whether you’re the CEO, CTO, CFO, or maintain another highly visible role in your company, thought leadership should be a central component of your branding strategy.

You are lucky in that your title alone will lend you credibility and open doors to building a strong brand online. However, your title alone is not enough. Take your title, experiences, and skill set to demonstrate that you are a thought leader online.

Why this matters for you as a C-level executive:

• Clients
• Partners
• Prospects
• Company Profile
• Employee perception of your credibility

According to a study from Weber Shandwick, among executives with social CEOS:

• 78% believe this has a positive impact on their company’s reputation
• 80% believe it’s a good way of sharing news and info about their company
• 69% believe it makes a company a more attractive place to work and enhances credibility in the market.

While many of these stats refer to your overall online presence as a C-level executive, remember that your status as a thought leader falls directly under that umbrella of personal branding.

This and your status as a thought leader will both be expressed online through your image on various social media outlets and your overall web presence.

Robert Rose, Chief Strategy Advisor at the Content Marketing Institute, co-host of the This Old Marketing podcast with Joe Pulizzi, and a well-known leader in the marketing industry, breaks down successful thought leadership marketing into 3 levels.

1. Stage One: Industry trends – Create “high-level pieces that cover the coming or present trends within an industry, or the future state that the company is trying to inspire a company to change into.” He goes on to explain that the purpose of thought leadership is to “intrigue, inspire and drive someone to want to know more.”

2. Stage Two: The Messy Middle – Here, marketers “get inside the customer’s head and lay out the implications (good and bad) of the change being proposed.” The purpose of this kind of content is to actively “convince and motivate the change.”

3. Stage Three: How To – This kind of content expresses the thought leader’s point of view on a particular topic and talks in detail about undergoing a particular change. Publishing this kind of content is a way of identifying you and your approach from other thought leaders out there.

According to his interview in Inc, Rose thinks that real vision is needed for successful thought leadership and that executives need to build these three levels of content to “build trust and authority, and ultimately drive new business.”

Part V: How Thought Leadership fits into your brand

Now that you have a stronger understanding of what thought leadership is and how thought leadership marketing is done, take a step back to see how this fits into the bigger picture of your personal brand.

Thought leadership is only one aspect of your brand online.

What does this mean?

Your personal brand is the persona that you project to others based on your web presence online. This includes the combination of your engagement on various social media platforms, any content that you’ve published elsewhere, content that has been published about you, content that’s available online about people that share your name, and any other information that comes up when people google your name.

To take control of your own brand, decide what version of yourself you want others to see and build that up using the tools and strategies listed above.

Thought leadership is a way to build up your brand and actively seek out new opportunities as an expert in your niche.

How to map out your brand

Start by asking yourself some questions like :

• What matters most to me?
• Why do I want to have a personal brand?
• What am I comfortable sharing online?
• What am I known for already?
• What am I good at?
• What kind of strategy would support my 5-10 year plan?
• What makes me different from other people in my field?

Once you’ve started to identify who you are and what your goals are, you can create the kind of brand that is true to who you are and accomplish your objectives.

If you want to learn everything you need to know about personal branding, read our complete guide here.

Part VI: Making thought leadership work for you

When it comes to executing a thought leadership strategy, take time to build the foundation and put the work in to become known as a thought leader in your industry. Even if you’re still gaining experience in your field – think like a thought leader. Your story is valuable to others in a similar position and to those who have even less experience than you.

And always remember, there are different types of thought leadership, so something will work for your particular situation.

• Industry/Niche – Show that you are well-versed in your industry or interest area by creating valuable content about it. Create content that illustrates what it takes to be successful in your field.
• Product/Solution – Show how you, your service, or your product offers a solution to gaining traction in your industry. If you aren’t selling a concrete product, think of yourself or your services as the means of getting to the next level in that industry.
• Company – If you run a business, create thought leadership that clearly reflects your company’s culture and values. You can share insights from your company or clarify different aspects of your company’s culture. And remember, if you don’t run a company, think of yourself as the company and think about content that reveals insights from your own experience.

Create a strong foundation that you can build on over time.

How BrandYourself can help

Thought leadership works best when it’s part of a holistic personal branding strategy. At BrandYourself, we offer DIY reputation management software as well as managed services where our experts do the work for you. Whether you’re a seasoned executive or just starting out, we’ll offer a solution that’s right for you. Learn more about our free DIY software or schedule a consultation with a Reputation Advisor today to discuss your options.

The post What Is Thought Leadership? Everything You Need To Know appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

But just because millions of people own profiles on this network doesn’t mean that they’re active – nor does this mean that this network is for you. However, in the case of LinkedIn, roughly 40% of users (Source: Omnicore) interact with this platform on a daily basis. And in terms of quality, LinkedIn is the most-used social media platform amongst Fortune 500 companies (Source: Statista). And that’s just step one in understanding why it’s important to optimize your LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn is one of the best networks to choose when connecting with other professionals, clients, employees, partners, customers and employers. That’s why it’s in your best interest to optimize your LinkedIn profile – whether you’re a recent grad or a CEO.

Top 5 things to remember, before you get started with LinkedIn optimization:

• Fill out each section thoroughly
• Be honest when it comes to the information you share
• Ask for endorsements and testimonials from people you’ve worked with
• Reciprocate asks when appropriate
• Publish regularly and responsibly

How to optimize your LinkedIn account:

So what do we mean by “optimize your LinkedIn account”? LinkedIn optimization is about taking steps to up your LinkedIn account’s ranking in search engine results for your name. The goal behind this process is also to increase your visibility in searches performed on LinkedIn. In addition to increasing your online visibility, LinkedIn optimization also requires you to create an engaging and useful profile experience for the people who find it! Luckily, there’s a lot of overlap when it comes to addressing these three aspects of LinkedIn optimization.

Fill out each section thoroughly

If you want to optimize your LinkedIn account, make sure that you’re thorough in the information that you share. You don’t need to use up every single possible character that’s available to you. Instead of writing for writing’s sake, just take advantage of the character allowances so that you can tell your story in a thorough and engaging way. When it comes to describing past job positions, make sure that your role is described clearly. But more importantly, talk about what you brought to the table. Use any data and supporting documents that help tell your story. Try to quantify your value with the data that you include in descriptions of each section.

In terms of the sections that you will be filling out, start with the basic and build up from there. Start by uploading the following information when you begin LinkedIn optimization:

1. Your current job: Stick with your current job title here. If you are in the midst of changing careers or are currently unemployed, you can get a little bit creative with your title. Consider listing your current job title as “Consultant”. This should be true as you ought to be open to freelance opportunities as you transition into your next role. There’s no need to lie here, but “Consultant” or “Freelancer” is much more active than “Unemployed”. If you are employed, list your current job as your headline or choose something a bit broader outside of your present title – whatever works for you. This is step one if you want to effectively optimize your LinkedIn profile.
2. At least two previous positions: This is to strengthen your professional narrative. By providing at least two previous positions you show people your track record, your skill set and your growth. If you’re applying for your first full-time job out of college, you can still list part-time work, internships, volunteering or extracurriculars as part of your past experiences in detail if they relate to the jobs you’re applying to.
3. Your academic achievements, and any additional training or certification: List any academic institutions that you attended and what you studied as you optimize your LinkedIn profile. Make a point to include information about additional training or certifications that you’ve obtained outside of your degrees as well. If you didn’t collect a degree – definitely don’t pretend that you did. However, feel free to list institutions that you attended or include any programs that you were enrolled in.
4. Your profile summary: Here you have the chance to really get at the heart of who you are, what you’ve done and where you’re going. If your past jobs don’t naturally fit with what you’re doing now, you have a chance to make the connection for people. You also get a chance to highlight accomplishments that you’re proud of, and show what it is that makes you unique. This is like a mini guided-tour of who you are as a professional that makes it plain why people want to work with you.
5. A high-quality photo: While it may seem obvious to include a good picture of yourself, you may be surprised to see what kinds of pictures people upload to their LinkedIn profile. Again, keep it simple. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a professional photo shoot. Instead just get a friend to snap a clear headshot of you. Pay attention to elements like lighting (go for natural), background (keep it plain) and focus (you should look like yourself in this photo). Avoid taking a selfie, and try not to be overly-done up, or unprofessional. Make sure that you are the only subject of the photo when it’s taken – not you and your friends. It looks unprofessional when you’ve cropped your friends out of an image. Additionally, adhere to the requirements for the size of the image. You don’t want your image to have a poor resolution, or be too huge that the file won’t upload.
6. Informative descriptions in the Background, Skills and Accomplishments sections: This can get a little bit overwhelming of course, but fill out as many sections here as possible when they apply to your professional background. Stick to the most recent experiences and work backwards if you don’t have very much time to devote to optimizing your LinkedIn page to start. Make sure to pay special attention to the skills section. Not only is this an invaluable section for you to show off the scope of your talents, but filling out 5 or more skills gets you in front of significantly more people than if you don’t. By sharing your skills, you add more depth to your professional snapshot, and alert employers to your potential. This is also a chance for you to make LinkedIn keywords work for you. By identifying LinkedIn keywords that are in line with the next job or opportunity that you’re looking for, you increase your chances of a recruiter, partner or client finding you. Avoid using LinkedIn keywords that don’t actually reflect your experiences or skill level, but be conscious of the language that you use on LinkedIn.
7. At least three recommendations: Asking for recommendations is challenging, but just do it. Whether you ask someone to endorse your skills or write out a recommendation, go for it. Ask people from different areas of your professional life. Go for at least three so that people get a good sense of what you’re good at and who you’ve worked with.

LinkedIn profile optimization

When it comes to your basic profile, keep LinkedIn profile optimization simple. Use your professional name, where you live (or where you’d like to live if you’re applying for a new job), your current title and your 1 line explainer. Simple, right? When working on LinkedIn profile optimization, capturing the attention of your audience as quickly as possible is part of the strategy. That means that you need to be direct, succinct and enticing.

• Be honest when it comes to the information you share: Start with the big picture when figuring out how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. Begin the process from a point of honesty. Unfortunately, people tend to massage the truth or even flat out lie when it comes to their resumes. But that won’t really fly here. Honesty is key once you start your LinkedIn profile optimization. What makes LinkedIn different from your standard resume is that your former co-workers, classmates, professors and supervisors can see it! Because LinkedIn is a social network, people that you have worked with in the past can easily call your bluff. And even if no one confronts you about dishonesty on your resume, people who know the truth will seriously question your credibility if you choose to lie. LinkedIn also makes it super easy for future employers to check your references. Instead of risking your reputation, keep it simple by being honest. And remember that if you didn’t receive a certificate or diploma, you can still include any partial training that you did. You don’t have to say explicitly “incomplete”, just don’t include the certification if you never received it. And remember, if you’ve put in hard work, it’s not about exaggerating your accomplishments, instead, focus on finding ways to showcase what you’ve done.
• Ask for endorsements and testimonials from people you’ve worked with: Sometimes this can feel a little bit awkward. But don’t let that stop you. Endorsements and testimonials are key if you want to optimize your LinkedIn profile. And remember, if you’re working hard with your teammates and supervisor, they will be more than happy to endorse you and support you in this way. But before you ask everyone you’ve ever known to endorse your skills, or write longer testimonials for you, pause and reflect. Do you actually have a good working relationship with this person? If so, are they really the best person who can speak to your skills and abilities? When getting started with LinkedIn optimization, try not to get overwhelmed by quantity. Instead, focus on the quality of what people say about you.
• Reciprocate asks when appropriate: This may not be the first thing that comes to mind when figuring out how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. But be willing to endorse people that you’ve asked to endorse you if you have worked with them. When it comes to networking, avoid the one-sided asks, it should be mutually beneficial. Now don’t endorse someone if you haven’t actually been exposed to them in a professional capacity, but definitely support people when you’ve seen the caliber of their work up close. And always consider offering to endorse people who are at an earlier stage of their career. They may be too shy to ask for your help, or unaware of how much this could help them.
• Publish regularly and responsibly: LinkedIn is as professional as it gets. So when it comes to LinkedIn profile optimization, the ongoing element requires you to keep your profile up to date and polished. One great way to do this is by publishing original thought pieces relevant to your industry. While you don’t have to be extremely formal, keep in mind that your boss or employees will be able to see what it is that you’re publishing. So put some thought into what you’re writing and sharing. This shouldn’t intimidate you into silence, but consider adopting the mantra, “Pause before you post”. Is what you’re publishing relevant to you and/or your industry? Does it show that you’re an expert in your field or aware of current trends in your niche? Does this piece add value? These are the questions to ask yourself before publishing.
• Stay active: After you’ve undergone your foundational LinkedIn optimization steps, you have to stay active on the platform in order to maintain and improve your profile’s position in search results. You also need to stay active in order to maintain relevance in searches on LinkedIn. Use the momentum you’ve just generated in the first phase of LinkedIn optimization. Maintaining relevance on LinkedIn looks different for everyone, but it’s a must. For some people, scheduling a detailed description of their LinkedIn time in their calendars is the best way to keep up. For others, they’ll naturally check in for shorter blocks of time pretty frequently. Whatever is best for you, the important thing is to keep connecting, following, publishing, commenting, etc. Staying active on LinkedIn is part of keeping your profile optimized, but it’s also an essential part of maintaining professional ties and showing your stuff! Over time, you’ll figure out what tools and systems do (and do not) work for you.

This is how to optimize your LinkedIn profile. Updating and optimizing your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have to be a chore that just eats away all of your non-existent free-time. Instead, approach LinkedIn optimization with a focused strategy to make sure that the right people will find current information about you online that’s in-line with your professional brand. And make sure that you follow the initial LinkedIn optimization steps as well as our 5 tips on best practices listed above once you’re ready to take full advantage of everything LinkedIn has to offer.

To learn more about how to optimize your LinkedIn profile, sign up for BrandYourself’s free DIY reputation management software. BrandYourself’s online platform will walk you through the entire process of optimizing your LinkedIn profile, and remind you to keep it fresh. If you don’t have time to optimize and maintain your LinkedIn profile, BrandYourself also offers managed services where our in-house team of experts does the work for you. Give us a call today at (646)-863-8226, or schedule a free consultation with a Reputation Advisor so we can find the best reputation management solution for you.

The post How To Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile Like A Pro appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

It’s common for court records and legal proceedings to find their way into search results – and if you’ve been involved in any type of legal proceedings, then you likely have a listing from PacerMonitor.com showing up when you Google your name. 

Based on the nature of the legal proceedings, a pacer monitor court record could be putting your online reputation at risk. 

You’re going to be Googled — by potential employers, clients/customers, business partners, colleagues, and more. What they find could impact their impression of you, especially since a court record on PacerMonitor doesn’t provide much context to the situation (For example, if you were wrongfully named in a lawsuit). 

We put together this quick guide to provide you with more info on what PacerMonitor is, how they got your information, and what your options are for dealing with them.

What is PacerMonitor?

Pacermonitor.com is a website that allows for you to search for information on federal court cases. This includes bankruptcy, civil, criminal, district, and appellate court cases. We call these types of sites “legal aggregators”.

You can search and do basic research on a court case for free, with the option to upgrade to an ongoing subscription for full access to the case docket. Customers of pacermonitor typically include lawyers, law firms, finance professionals, and professional research firms. 

The issue is that court dockets on pacermonitor.com are indexed in Google, despite the majority of information on the site being behind a paywall. This is more than enough to leave a lasting impression on someone looking you up, considering information about the case is right in the search results, including the parties involved. Here’s an example of how pacermonitor cases look in search results: 

Additionally, PacerMonitor offers people the opportunity to purchase one-off case documents for just 5 dollars. So, if someone really wanted to access the information, they could.

How do they collect your information?

Court proceedings are a matter of public record. Pacermonitor, and other sites like it, scrape federal and state government databases to compile court record information (this is why we call these sites “legal aggregators”).

What to do if PacerMonitor is showing up for your name in Google.

While it’s no longer possible to quickly remove your info from PacerMonitor, you can mitigate the issue by suppressing the listing farther in search results. To do this, create positive info about you online.

So how do you go about building an online presence? The process can be broken down into 3 steps: 

1. Build positive websites and profiles that you would want people to find when they look you up.
2. Optimize the sites and profiles for search engines
3. Continue to create positive content over time (blogging, social media activity, rich media creation, etc.)

Our experts can handle this entire process for you. Schedule a free, no pressure consultation to get an assessment of your Google results.

Other sites like PacerMonitor that have your information

There is A LOT of information available on the web. A Pacermoniter listing is probably one of many pieces of information about you online. It’s crucial that you’re aware of what information is out there about you (and on what sites they are) so you can make an action plan for cleaning everything up.

Legal aggregators

Pacermonitor is one of many legal aggregators that compile information on court dockets. If you are already on pacermonitor.com, then it’s highly likely that information related to your court case are on these sites as well. The big ones include Docketbird, Justia.com, Law360, Casetext.com, Courtlistener.com, Trellis.law, and Unicourt.com.

What to do about them: Fortunately, it’s possible to get these removed from search results — and quickly. Give our experts a call to get started: 646-863-8282.

Data brokers and public record sites

Recent years have seen a prolific rise of the data broker. These are sites that allow users to search and find personal information on another individual (phone number, email, age, address, relatives, acquaintances, public records, employment history, education history, income, marital status, criminal records, and more). Many of these sites provide access to basic information for free with the opportunity to purchase a more detailed report. Some of the largest and most popular sites include MyLife, BeenVerified, Spokeo, Whitepages, Intelius, and Truthfinder.

These sites also aggregate court records, so the information found on the pacermonitor listing, will also show up on many of these data broker websites.

What to do about them: You can opt out to remove your information from data brokers. Each site has its own process that you will need to follow to remove your information from the site. You will need to take an inventory of each site, go through each opt out process, and then monitor your results to ensure the information doesn’t crop up again. It’s a tedious process but worth it to safeguard your privacy online. 

We created a tool to make this process easier. Our Protect Private Info tool removes your private information from 25+ of the most common data broker sites — and includes ongoing monitoring and removal. You can learn more about that tool here.

Complaint/ review sites, government websites, blogs, press, etc.

An unwanted search result can occur on any type of website. The court case could be covered by a local newspaper or a legal blog, blow back from the case could result in negative reviews or complaints, or the negative could be unrelated to the case that’s on PacerMonitor.

What to do about them: With the exception of legal aggregators and data brokers, getting search results removed is typically not an option. Your best option here is to suppress the unwanted results farther down where they are less visible. This involves creating and maintaining positive content that, over time, will bury anything unwanted.

The post How to Remove PacerMonitor Court Records From Search Results appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

Most common data brokers (and how to opt out of them)

Click to access the free opt out instructions for each data broker/people search website.

Whitepages.com                          Thatsthem.com                          Addresses.com      

Mylife.com                                    FamilyTreeNow.com                 Archives.com 

BeenVerified.com                        Anywho.com                              Nuwber.com

Intelius.com                                  Addresssearch.com                  PeopleSmart.com

InstantCheckmate.com              PeopleSearchNow.com            FastPeopleSearch.com       

Truthfinder.com                          TruePeopleSearch.com            USPhonebook.com

YellowPages.com                         Zabasearch.com                        Allpeople.com

USSearch.com                              Clustrmaps.com                        IDtrue.com

Spokeo.com                                  Peoplefinder.com                      Peoplefinders.com

Acxiom.com                                  Peoplelooker.com                     Privateeye.com

Instantpeoplefinder.com           Publicrecordsnow.com             

Additional data brokers

411.com                                          Ancestry.com                            Advancedbackgroundchecks 

Arrestfacts.com                            Arrestfacts.com                         Backgroundalert.com

Blockshopper.com                       Checkpeople.com                       Checkthem.com

Corporationwiki.com                  Courtrecords.com                      Cyberbackgroundcheck.com

Cubib.com                                    DOBSearch.com                         Epsilon.com   

Golookup.com                              Hauziz.com                                  Homemetry.com

Infotracer.com                              Jailbase.com                                Lexisnexis.com

Locatefamily.com                        Lookupanyone.com                   Manta.com

Neighbor.report                           Newenglandfacts.com                NJparcels.com

OkCaller.com                                Peekyou.com                               Peoplebyname.com

Peoplelookup.com                       Peoplewhiz.com                          Persopo.com

Phonebooks.com                          Phoneowner.com                       Publicdatacheck.com

Pipl.com                                         Publicinfoservices.com             Publicrecords.com

Publicrecords360.com                Radaris.com.                               Rehold.com

Revealname.com                          Searchpeoplefree.com              Smartbackgroundchecks.com

Searchquarry.com.                       SocialCatfish.com                      Spydialer.com

Spyfly.com                                     Truecaller.com                           USA-People-Search.com 

ZoomInfo.com

What is a data broker?

Data brokers, quite simply, are companies that buy and sell consumer information and data. 
There are a few different types of data brokers that leverage this data for different purposes: 

• Marketing & Advertising – these data brokers focus on the marketing power of data. They compile databases containing consumer profiles (demographic info, online behavior, spending power, etc.) and sell this information to companies specifically for marketing purposes.
• Risk-Mitigation & Fraud Detection – these data brokers use consumer data to offer ID verification & fraud detection to other companies. They are also able to use consumer profiles to provide insight to a company as to the “risk” of working with the person in question. One common use case of this technology is a bank getting a risk report on a consumer before issuing a loan.
• People Search Sites – consumer-facing websites that allow users to search and find information on an individual. 

What to know about people search sites

Let’s take a closer look at people search sites. These are the most public-facing types of data brokers. You’ve likely seen them on the web or even used one of them to look someone up.

There are quite a few of these sites but some of the more popular sites include Whitepages, MyLife, BeenVerified, Spokeo, and Intelius. 

They vary in terms of the type of information you can access but info can include your address, phone number, relatives, social media history, education, court & criminal records, income, property records, and more. Most allow you to access some basic information with each search and then charge a premium for access to a full report. 

These sites pose an additional risk simply because anyone can access this data. 

Use cases may range from conducting a background check on a new babysitter to scoping out a new love interest, to general curiosity about what info you can find on someone. However, malicious use cases may include data mining for identity theft, or even stalking.

How do data brokers collect information?

Data brokers go about collecting information in a number of ways. They may collect it themselves or buy it from other companies. They also scrape the web and other third-party sites for publicly accessible information.  

Some specific sources include public and government records, social media sites, purchase history & info, self-reported info (surveys, contest entries), and web behavior — just to name a few. 

Data is big business so the methods by which these companies are compiling data – and the technology they use to do it – are constantly evolving. 

What type of information do data brokers collect?

Most people aren’t aware of the true extent of information that is being bought and sold.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the types of information that a data broker may have about you: 

• Name
• Address 
• Phone 
• Email
• Age 
• Employment history 
• Education 
• Relatives 
• Net worth & income
• Neighbors
• Marital status 
• Court & legal records
• Arrest & criminal records
• Mugshots 
• Speeding tickets
• Voting records 
• Social media profiles & activity
• Buying behavior 
• Household data 
• Property records

Are Data Brokers’ practices even legal?

The short answer? Yes. Since data brokers and people search sites are largely pulling from publicly available sources and data, they aren’t necessarily illegally obtaining the information.
As with most areas of technology and cyberlaw, the law is behind the quick evolution of the technology by which they obtain this information–and the extent of the information they retain. Until recently, unless a data broker fit the qualifications of a “credit reporting agency” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (most don’t), then there was little regulation of their behavior.

However, there has been some foreword progress in legislation that is a step in the right direction. 

Vermont’s Protection of Private information Law

Enacted in 2018, Vermont’s law was one of the first chips to fall. It required that any company participating in the buying and selling of consumer personal data of Vermont residents must register with the state and allow for consumers to opt-out. Within just a few months, over 121 data brokers registered with the state.

For many, this law provided the first glimpse into the world of data brokers and uncovered just how prolific the amount of personal consumer data is out there. 

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

GDPR went into effect in 2018 and is related to the processing and recording of personal data. A lot goes into the regulation but the key takeaway is it provides guidance as to the responsible collection and processing of EU consumer data. It allows people the right to not only receive a copy of the data a company has about them but to also have it erased from the company’s database. 

Protection under the regulation applies to citizens of the EU but the responsibility to adhere to the regulation applies to companies worldwide who work with the personal data of EU citizens. The regulation brings lofty fines for a company’s failure to comply.

The California Privacy Protection Act (CCPA)

The latest in regulation is the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that went into effect in January of this year. It’s intended to provide California residents more visibility into the information that companies have retained about them as well as the ability to have that information removed and prevented from being sold. This applies to any company that collects consumer’s personal data, does business in California, and satisfies one of the following thresholds:

• Annual gross revenues above $25 million
• Buys, receives, or sells the personal info of 50k consumers or more 
• Earns more than half of its annual revenue from selling consumer personal info  

These legislatures are a move in the right direction by forcing data brokers to step up and better empower consumers to take control of the data they have on them. 

What’s the risk of having my information out on the web?

We’ve touched on it already, but the more information publicly available about you, the greater chance you have of experiencing identity theft, hacks, stalking, unwanted spam, robocalls, and more.

The rise of data breaches makes us all even more vulnerable – an estimated 15 billion records were exposed in data breaches in 2019 alone. 

We’re not here to fear-monger, but it’s important to be aware of these privacy risks.

For example, the exact type of information found on data brokers and people search sites, like your mother’s maiden name or where you went to high school, can be paired with information exposed in a breach to answer key security questions to your bank account. 

Has your information been involved in a data breach by another company? Try out our Dark Web Scan feature to see if your personal information has been exposed on the dark web through a known data breach. Get your free scan.

Data Broker Opt-Out Timeline – How Long Does it Take?

Once you submit an opt-out request to a data broker or people search site, it can vary site-by-site for how long it takes for them to honor the opt-out request and remove your information.

Some sites will be instantaneous or within 24 hours. Some can take as long as 30-45 days to honor the request. On average, you can expect removal to take between 3-5 days. The reason it varies is because each site has its own removal request and review process – there’s no required uniformity across how data brokers handle opt-outs. 

If you still see the listing up after some time, reach out to the data broker via their support channels. 

Continue to Monitor Your Online Privacy

Even once you’re removed your information from data brokers, it’s crucial that you stay on top of actively protecting your privacy. This is important for 3 reasons:

1. The listing may stay in search results for a while – Even if the listing is removed from a data broker’s website, it can still appear in Google search results for some time. This is because it can take time for Google to “re-crawl” the results and notice that the information has been taken down. This isn’t a permanent issue by any means, but is something you should be aware of.
2. It’s common for data brokers to repost information – This is an unfortunate reality that we see quite often and for a number of reasons. Two main reasons include:
   1. How data brokers acquire personal data in the first place. Since data brokers are constantly scraping from so many different sources to fuel their databases, then they may inadvertently repost a record about you if your information crops up again on one of those sources.
   2. There may be multiple records of your name with different information. Since data brokers are pulling from so many different sources, it’s possible that some of the sources may have different or even inaccurate information. This can sometimes result in a data broker having two or more records on an individual. Most times, an opt-out request will take care of both records, but there are instances where you may need to go back and submit another opt-out request for the second listing.
3. There are additional privacy risks outside of just data brokers – Data brokers may pose some privacy concerns, but it’s important to stay vigilant about other areas of your online presence. We’ve already discussed the risk of data breaches — in line with this, you should be mindful of what accounts you have created over time. Every time you buy something on a website, download an app, or sign up for a newsletter or “free offering”, you are creating an account with your information. If you think back, it’s probably A LOT. We created a free tool that identifies old accounts that you’ve signed up for and helps you to delete them. This helps mitigate the risk of your information being involved in a future data breach. Check it out here.

In Conclusion 

Now is the time to take better control of your privacy online. The first step is to understand which data brokers have your information (and the type of data they are storing), then you can begin the process of opting out. Fortunately, BrandYourself’s Protect Private Information feature makes it dead simple. Get started here. 

Still not sure where to start? Give us a call at 646-863-8226 to speak with one of our experts. 

The post Data Brokers & People Search Sites: How to Opt Out (Free Guides) appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

And it makes total sense.

It has become normal to look up other people online for one reason or another. You might want to do business with them, hire them, or go on a date.

What do we mean by normal? Here’s a stat for you:

One billion names are googled every day.¹

Yeah.

But here’s the issue:

While there’s no doubt that Google site provides the answer to almost everything, but it is not 100% correct all the time. It’s not that easy to find out who is searching for you online. And if you don’t know the right tricks to use it can get frustrating very quickly.

You know people are looking for you, and you just want to find out who they are. That isn’t too much to ask is it?

We don’t think so.

In this post, we’ve put together your best options for finding out who is searching for you online. We’ve tried and tested these a lot over the years and we can promise they’ll bring you plenty of new insight.

Just A Heads Up

Uncovering who searched for you is not straightforward. There’s no tool that gives you all the information you want at the click of a button.

So here’s what you have to do:

First, take all the methods we list below and use them. Set up the monitoring tools, optimize your profiles, and let them start collecting information.

Once that’s up and running you can start piecing it all together.

We’ll go over this a little more at the end of the article, but you basically will combine all the info you have to figure out who’s searching for you online (or come up with a best guess).

With that being said, there are some big benefits of knowing this information you might not be aware of.

If you’re only interested in finding out who searched for you out of curiosity, you should shift the way you view this.

Knowing who’s looking for you can help you identify possible career opportunities and follow up with interested parties more effectively.

Think about it, if you’re trying to do a business deal with someone and they look you up online that means they might be interested.

If you apply to a job and someone from the company googled you, that means you’re on their radar (and possibly open to a follow up).

If you look at it through this lens, this information can help you.

Big time.

It’s worth the effort it takes to get everything set up (honestly it’s not that bad) and once it is, you don’t have to mess with it anymore.

Now let’s get into each method you can use to find out who’s searching for you.

How to Know if Someone is Searching for You on the Internet

1. Set Up Your BrandYourself Profile

Creating a BrandYourself profile is a great way to uncover who’s looking for you online.

This will get you access to a bunch of awesome stuff, but one of them is the ability to set up a public profile.

When you create this profile (and follow the optimization instructions) it will have a strong chance of showing up in search engines.

This means when someone looks you up they might decide to check it out. When they do, you will instantly get information about that person displayed in your dashboard.

Depending on the situation you might not get all the info like names or companies, but you will almost always see the location.

This alone is extremely helpful when trying to figure out who’s searching for you.

Also, you get additional optimization suggestions for any other profiles you might be setting up. This includes LinkedIn, which we’ll be talking more about in a second.

To set up your BrandYourself profile head over to this page and drop in your name.

2. Piggyback Off Of LinkedIn

Another one of the quickest ways to find out who’s looking you up is to get your LinkedIn profile firing on all cylinders.

If you don’t have one, it’s time to make one.

If you do, it’s time to make it better.

You see, LinkedIn profiles provide a couple of major benefits that help our cause in a big way:

• They rank very well in Google (when optimized properly)
• There’s a feature that shows who visited your profile (among LinkedIn users)

This means if you can get your profile to show up at the top of Google for your name you can start collecting some valuable information.

Think about it:

Most of the people who are searching for you are doing it through Google. However, LinkedIn is also extremely popular.

This means there’s a decent chance that whoever clicks on your profile when they Google you will also be a member of LinkedIn.

If they’re signed in when they do this, you’ll see who they are in your dashboard.

The same thing goes if they look you up on LinkedIn directly. Although it can be tricky to figure out who searched you from Google and who did it from LinkedIn, the source doesn’t matter a whole lot.

If someone wants to look you up they’ll find a place to do it. The most important thing is that you have an idea about who they are.

The Difference Between Free & Premium

When using this method there’s an important distinction you need to make between the info that’s accessible to you.

If you have a free account with LinkedIn you have some limitations when it comes to keeping tabs on who searched for you.

The main limitation is you can only view five people who looked you up on the network at a time. In addition to that you get some very high level information like total profile visits and the number of times your profile appeared within LinkedIn search results.

Depending on what you’re looking for (and your popularity online) this might be enough for you. It’s on you to make that call.

So what do you get with premium?

Premium accounts allow you to see an unlimited number of profile visits as opposed to five. This is great for anyone who gets searched online often, or if you only want to check this information on occasion.

There are also some other bonuses like viewership trends and industry data that you might find useful.

How To Make Your Profile Work For You

Once you’ve made your decision on what kind of account to go with (free or premium) it’s time to optimize it.

This step is crucial.

You need to get your profile to show up in your personal search results. That’s the only way you can fully use it to find out who is searching for you online.

If it doesn’t show up, no one will visit it.

In order to do this, you need to optimize your LinkedIn profile as effectively as possible. This isn’t as hard as it seems, and we’ve laid out the steps in this post.

When you’re done, it will probably take a week or two for Google to pick up on these changes.

3. Set Up Google Alerts

Using Google Alerts will help you find out more information about who is searching for you indirectly.

Here’s what we mean by that.

While it won’t give you a direct look at each person who is looking you up, it will give you more info about why.

When you set up Google Alerts you will be notified when there are new mentions of your name online. This will be pretty much anywhere Google can crawl.

If you’re mentioned in an article on a small blog, a large news site, a forum, you’ll be notified.

This allows you to get a better idea about:

• Who is searching for you
• Who is writing about you

This isn’t a perfect solution on its own, but it’s helpful when you add it to the other methods above. Context is important and given how difficult it can be to figure out who is searching for you the more info you have the better.

Setting up Google Alerts is easy. Just head over to the main page (using a Google account) and drop in your name.

Here’s something to remember:

Include every variation of your name that you think might be mentioned. Some examples are:

• Your current full name
• Nicknames
• Formal titles
• Maiden names

This will help you cast a wider net when pulling together an idea about who is searching for you online and on Google. If you just include one variation you might miss out.

4. Make Use Of Your Own Website

This is where you can take things to the next level.

There are a ton of reasons why having your own personal website makes sense.

However, in this case, we’re only interested in the benefits it can bring you due to the amount of control you have.

First, let’s address the essentials.

Like your BrandYourself and LinkedIn profile, your personal website has to be well optimized (more on this here).

The principles are the same. It has to show up when people are searching for you first.

Once that’s taken care of there are a number of things you can do with your personal website to get insight into the people that are looking you up.

Set Up Your Analytics

Getting your website set up with Google Analytics is incredibly powerful. It allows you to get information on who visits your site as well as what they do while they’re on it.

There are so many different pieces of information you can get from Google Analytics that it would be hard to include them all here. For our purposes you will likely find the location and audience behavior section useful.

Connect With Your Visitors

If you want to know who is searching for you, asking them to get in touch is a great option.

This might seem overly simplistic, but it works. People don’t think of this because they have an image in their mind of someone shady looking them up (who doesn’t want to be seen).

Most of the time it’s the exact opposite.

A lot of people who search for you on Google are genuinely interested in finding out more about you and will have no problem introducing themselves if you ask.

This can be through a contact form (or just listing your email address), a pop-up, or a request to get in touch via social media.

You can choose whichever method you prefer (or a combination of all) to get the ball rolling. The most important thing to remember is to make the contact request prominent.

If you hide your contact form or email on a page that’s hard to find, no one’s going to reach out to you. Put it front and center so they have an opportunity to see it and make a decision to reach out or not.

Oh, and keep it friendly.

A little blurb that says you would love to connect and chat about your industry goes a long way. Don’t interrogate them and try to find out their purpose (remember most people mean no harm).

One of our favorite methods for this is to have a slide in form that shows up in the bottom right of the page. Here you can thank them for visiting your site and invite them to reach out if they’re interested.

This does a great job of grabbing their attention and asking, without being too pushy.

Finding Out Who Is Searching For You

Now you have the tools you need to figure out who is searching for you (or at least get a good guess). The next step is to piece it all together.

There’s no exact science to this part of the process. It’s all about applying common sense to the information you have.

For example:

If you applied for a job interview out of the state and see that someone from the same area has searched for you online, you can put two and two together.

Too easy? Let’s try another.

You notice that someone viewed your LinkedIn profile. But how do you tell if there’s something to it, or if it’s just a random profile view?

You can find some basic information from their LinkedIn profile and cross-reference it with other data you have.

Maybe someone from the same company searched for you on Google and found your BrandYourself profile. Or you got a recent visitor from that area to your personal website.

This might mean it’s worth reaching out and making a connection!

As we said, it’s all about making the best of the limited information you have. So long as online privacy law stays roughly the same, this is how it’s going to be.

Here’s What To Do Next

As you can see, finding out who searched for you is not as impossible as it may seem. Sure it’s not a piece of cake, but if you want to figure it out it’s definitely possible.

Since a lot of these tactics are reliant on snagging valuable real estate when someone is searching for you on Google, we recommend that you get started right away.

It can take a little bit for a new page to show up in search engines, so the sooner you hit publish the better.

The very first thing you should do is set up your BrandYourself profile.

The reason you should start here is that it’ll help you move seamlessly into optimizing your LinkedIn profile so it’s ready when someone searches you online.

After you have those set up you can move on to the other two recommendations we included.

We hope this helps you figure out who is searching for you online! We know it’s a bit tricky, so if you ever have any questions feel free to get in touch with us on social media.

The post Find Out Who Is Searching For You Online And On Google appeared first on BrandYourself Blog | ORM and Personal Branding.

What is a personal mission statement and how do you write one?

A personal mission statement could be a sentence, a paragraph or an essay that explains your purpose. The best personal mission statement examples can also be a quote or mantra that speaks to how you want to live your life. Your personal statement should change over time, but the idea is to provide a clear description of who you are and your overarching goals.

The point of creating a mission statement for yourself is to make it easier to see if your actions are in line with your core ambitions. So what is a personal mission statement? A guiding principle that makes it easier to say no to things that don’t support it and helps you to focus your time and energy on the things that truly matter to you.

While most personal mission statement examples are typically made solely for the eyes of the person who wrote it, sharing the statement could help others better understand the author. By publishing your personal mission statement, you provide insight into what you value and how you choose to prioritize your time and efforts.

People that look up to you may be inspired to reflect on their core values and create their own personal statement. And people who want to work with you may get a better sense of projects that you would actually be interested in. No need to rush and make your personal mission statement public, but if it makes sense for you, go for it.

How to write a personal mission statement

When it comes to writing a personal mission statement, it’s easy to put it off – after all, summing up who you are and what you want out of life in a sentence or two can be a little bit intimidating. But don’t worry, all the best personal mission statement examples will and should change over time as experiences shapes who you are. So the best advice is to just get started. Here’s how to write a personal mission statement in no time.

1. Schedule some quiet time to just write. Do this once a day for a week. Maybe this is just for 5 minutes or you get into it and find that you need 30 minutes or more. Make sure that you schedule this time for when you aren’t rushed and can focus on just this. Write in a place that doesn’t make you tense or distracted.
2. Start with a question. What’s important to me? What do I want my legacy to be? What does my ideal day look like? Who would I do anything for? What am I grateful for? When do I feel the calmest? What makes me feel powerful? What makes me different from other people? When do I feel most useful? What makes me feel alive? What do I wish I made more time to do? What am I great at? What’s something I haven’t done that I want to do before I die? If I had an extra hour each day, how would I fill it? Who inspires me? Why? Who do I want to inspire? Why? What am I most proud of? The list can go on forever, and your questions can be as broad or as specific as you want. The point of this exercise is to get you to reflect on who you are now, who you want to become and what you’re willing to do to get there. Use concrete examples when you can, and don’t judge your own answers.
3. Review your entries after you’ve been journaling for about a week. What patterns are emerging? Is anything standing out as a top goal? How does that connect to your greater purpose? Use these entries to figure out your life’s priorities. This should be for your professional life, your personal life, and your own passions and interests. You can also name a top priority for who you are physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Whatever works for you.
4. Make a statement. Now that you’ve reviewed these entries, you should be ready to craft your own personal mission statement. According to author William Arruda, you can think of your personal mission statement as, “The value you create + who you’re creating it for + the expected outcome.” A great example of this is CEO Amanda Steinberg of Dailyworth.com. Her personal mission statement example is, “To use my gifts of intelligence, charisma, and serial optimism to cultivate the self-worth and net-worth of women around the world.” That’s how to write a personal mission statement that recognizes your value and identifies how you intend to use those talents. If you don’t feel ready to draft your personal mission statement just yet, continue to steps 5 and 6.
5. Hung up on identifying “the value you create”? Just ask around. Look to people who really know you, and people who you spend a lot of time with in different contexts. Ask them what you do well. Ask for specifics, especially when it comes to less tangible skills – like charisma or creating a supportive environment.
6. Look to your idols. Research the people that you admire to see how they live their lives, and what practices helped them along the way. Do some detective work to find some examples of personal mission statements from the people that you look up to. There’s a good chance that you’ll find something. There’s no reason for you to copy their mission statement word for word, but hopefully, it will inspire you to write your own.

Your personal mission statement is important, so dedicate the time that it deserves. Even if it isn’t perfect, do your best and remember that you can revise your statement as needed. To see how to write a personal mission statement up close, and for more inspiration, take a look at some of our favorite examples in the next section.

Some of our favorite personal mission statement examples

No matter the industry, successful leaders craft personal mission statements. That’s why we’ve assembled great personal mission statement examples from media, technology, education and the arts. If your field isn’t listed above do some research on your own. It’s easy to find great examples of personal mission statements if you do a quick Google search of people you admire.

• Oprah Winfrey: As a media mogul and CEO of OWN, Oprah Winfrey has stated that her personal mission statement is, “to be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.” While Oprah may not spend most of her time in a traditional classroom, her work as an interviewer, motivational force, and author fit into the framework of her personal mission statement.
• Elon Musk: “If something’s important enough you should try. Even if the probable outcome is failure.” Tech industry heavyweight Elon Musk is known for his massive successes through innovation. Musk is the founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; and co-founder and CEO of Neuralink. While this quote may not showcase his own aptitudes, Musk’s personal mission statement emphasizes that risking failure is worth it when something is important to you.
• Malala Yousafzai: This young Nobel Prize laureate and activist has said, “I want to serve the people. And I want every girl, every child to be educated.” Malala’s personal mission statement examples are broad, but her actions as an advocate, author, and activist all clearly link back to these objectives. This is how to write a personal mission statement that easily lends itself to being shared publicly as it gets at a larger vision.
• Ai Weiwei: This contemporary artist has stated, “It’s not about the work, it’s about saying something.” When the artist was asked about which of his pieces he was most pleased with, this was the response. And one could argue that this covers the full body of his work as an artist/activist.

Now that’s how to write a personal mission statement!

Writing a personal mission statement in different places

Unlike the personal mission statement examples above, remember that you don’t have to share your personal mission statement with anyone if you don’t want to. However, your statement is a useful starting point as you start to craft your “about me” sections and mini-biographies on various social media platforms and on your website. Now that you know how to write a personal mission statement, customize your bios and mission statements based on where you are sharing them. The tone will likely change, as will the length. Consider your audience and the common practices based on the profile. There should be a common thread within each bio that somehow connects to your original personal mission statement.

In addition to acting as a template for your various bios online, your personal mission statement should also figure into the execution of your overall strategy for your personal brand. Just like the examples of personal mission statements above, yours should get to the core of who you are in real life, but it should also influence the overall cohesion of your online personal brand. If you already have a presence online, consider using your personal mission statement to conduct an audit and find the connective tissue among each part. If your current online personal brand is all over the place, come up with a new strategy that centers around your personal mission statement.

Just as you’ve seen in the earlier examples of personal mission statements, the core of what you write should show up in your work, your personal life and your personal brand.

Now that you know how to write a personal mission statement, it’s time to focus on your personal brand. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been actively growing your personal brand online over the past decade or you never gave it a second thought – it’s time for an upgrade. You’ve spent time identifying your own guiding principles, now you need to make sure that your online presence reflects this accurately. Your approach in developing an effective personal brand should be the same whether you want to share your personal insights, increase your earning potential or suppress negative search results.

Pillar 1: Build your basic brand

You’ve spent time learning how to write a personal mission statement, now it’s time to create a brand that works in tandem with this. When building your personal brand, start by auditing everything that’s already out there. Scan your search results in Google, and really review what pictures, videos, posts, comments, etc are out there about you on social media. Take stock of all this and pay close attention to content that is damaging, irrelevant or personal. That’s probably not in line with your overall goals, and the best personal mission statement examples don’t have this, so get rid of it. Clean up the content that doesn’t fit the professional image you’re trying to project. Once you’ve cleaned everything up, work on a regular strategy to consistently publish high-quality posts, and engage with your growing network. Put some thought behind your strategy, change it when you need to, and stick to timelines.

Pillar 2: Earn credibility & build an audience

Once you get a handle on creating and sharing content that’s in line with your personal mission statement, it’s time to kick it into high-gear. People aren’t going to read, share or engage with your personal brand if it doesn’t feel authentic and if you don’t seem credible. To earn credibility, focus on writing relevant content in respected publications and industry blogs. Also, use data to your advantage and repeat successes. Taking steps to prove your credibility is one part of building a loyal audience. You also need to expand your network and connect with gatekeepers, social influencers and strategic publications in your industry. Not only will you learn about your industry from these people, you will also learn more about your target audience. If they eventually endorse you that will also help you earn more credibility at large.

Pillar 3: Target growth opportunities

As your personal brand grows, so will your professional and personal opportunities. As these opportunities present themselves – keep your personal mission statement in mind. If they don’t align, then it’s not worth your time. Also, remember, that in some cases these things won’t just fall in your lap, they’ll require you to take steps to make it happen. New opportunities could include speaking gigs, jobs, partnerships, blog exchanges, interviews, mentorships, promotions and much more.

The best personal mission statement examples are central to your personal and professional growth. It reminds you of what is important to you and empowers you to prioritize your time accordingly. Identifying a clear personal statement that resonates with you is also a critical part of developing a strong personal brand online. Whether you’re having trouble finding the time, motivation or direction to figure out how to write a personal mission statement and build your brand we can help. Get in touch with one of our Reputation Advisors today to discuss how BrandYourself can help you. Give us a call at (646)-863-8226 or schedule a free consultation.

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