| Personal Internet presence? Why should I care about | | | | next employment opportunity. |
| a personal Internet presence? I don't want recruiters | | | | Consequently, employees need to be responsible for |
| bugging me. | | | | their own value proposition, their own brand image, |
| Unfortunately, this is what most people early in their | | | | their own PR. Too many professionals make the |
| professional careers think about a personal Internet | | | | statement, "I'm not very good at selling and/or |
| presence. | | | | marketing myself." Getting good at selling and |
| Whether you want recruiters bugging you or not, | | | | marketing yourself has high return on investment in |
| isn't the point about being found on the Internet. The | | | | the context of making the most of a professional |
| point is the world of business is changing rapidly, and | | | | career prior to retirement. |
| the Internet is driving the change. The Internet is | | | | Leveraging the Internet to create visibility for your |
| about access to, and the ability to communicate, | | | | skills, abilities, and value proposition is actually simple - |
| information (i.e., there is a reason the Internet is | | | | no matter how early you are in your career. |
| called "The Information Highway"). | | | | Everyone is an expert at something. For individuals |
| The Internet is the go-to resource more often than | | | | early in their careers, it is simply being expert at |
| ever to find answers to questions that start with: | | | | solving the problems and answering the questions |
| who, what, where, when, why and how. | | | | you are faced with every day. |
| Being associated with the answers is a good thing in | | | | When you find yourself answering the same kinds of |
| the context of your own professional value | | | | questions, or addressing the same category of |
| proposition. Most certainly, just being associated with | | | | problems, write them down. Then write about these |
| the answers isn't good enough anymore. You need | | | | topics, and publish them on the Internet in blogs or |
| to be visibly associated with the answers. In today's | | | | articles. Simply make sure you are being generic |
| business reality, that means being associated with the | | | | enough to make sure you aren't violating your |
| answers via content that can be found on the | | | | employer's non-disclosure agreement. |
| Internet. | | | | Take it one step further and don't simply create |
| Again, so you ask, "I still don't get it. Why should I | | | | Internet content. Actually learn how to create visible |
| care?" | | | | content people can find when they do relevant key |
| Answer: Most business professionals at all levels | | | | word/phrase searches in Google and other search |
| within corporate hierarchies are paid by employers, | | | | engines. The great thing about this learning curve is |
| clients, and customers to contribute towards | | | | you don't need to be a technologist to learn and |
| delivering results. How do we deliver results? We | | | | understand a few basic principles you can leverage to |
| deliver results by solving problems: our employer's, | | | | create visible content that effectively establishes |
| co-worker's, client's and/or customer's problems. | | | | your visible personal Internet presence. Anyone can |
| It is becoming less and less common professionals | | | | do this. |
| spend their entire career working for one employer. | | | | Leverage content publishing sites: |
| Too many people let their careers happen to them. It | | | | Example: Networking platforms like Ecademy whose |
| is becoming every more important a professional | | | | blogging content benefits from high ranking in search |
| take personal responsibility over their career | | | | engines. |
| advancement versus leaving it up to their employer | | | | Example: Ezine publishing sites like EzineArticles whose |
| to advance their career based on merit and/or | | | | article content benefits from high ranking in search |
| opportunity. | | | | engines. |
| Create an awareness of your ability to contribute to | | | | Combine this with cross linking URLs within content |
| delivering results drives opportunity - within and | | | | you create, and building key word/phrase association |
| outside of your current employer. Create a buzz that | | | | in the search engines by hyperlinking key word |
| causes people to say, "I want that individual on my | | | | phrases to the URLs of the content you create. |
| team." | | | | Don't fail to leverage the Internet to create a visible |
| This is important when it comes to your next project | | | | value proposition. Take ownership of your brand |
| assignment with your current employer. Being on the | | | | image and PR. By implementing these simple principles, |
| best projects often translates into the best pay, the | | | | you'll be building a base of visible content, and as a |
| best raise, and exposure to the next best project at | | | | result, a visible personal Internet presence that will |
| your current employer - let alone exposure to your | | | | propel your career beyond those who don't. |