At a meeting a couple of weeks ago, one individual raised an interesting discussion about the importance we place on being able to research others online.

She had been invited to have a one to one with someone, and decided to do a bit of searching to find out what she could about him.  The first place she started was on LinkedIn, and found a very out of date profile, with very limited information to go on.  So off she went to Google.  Same story.  Very little information and what there was was out of date.

So what was her view?  It made her question his credibility.

Is this now the world we live in, that if someone does not have a clear online presence, we immediately think they are hiding something?  Or do we see it that they are just too busy to keep up with it?

The the first place we turn to when looking for information is online, and if we can’t find it, very often we will not go any further.

So what does that mean for us?

Well it means that for any Business Owner or professional, it is crucial that we monitor and manage our online presence.  You must know that when someone types your name into Google, the results that come up are the things YOU WANT to come up.

If you don’t have your own website (or one that your name is mentioned in much)  LinkedIn is one of the easiest ways to manage this.  Create your profile to give the best first impression of you, and optimise it so that it will be the first thing people will find when they search for you.

You may not be able to control what people say about you face to face, but you can work to put your best face forward online.

So go and Google yourself (or better yet ask someone else to) and look at how the results will look to an outsider.  Happy?  Great.  Not impressed?  Get on there and make some changes!

If you would like to find out how to get the “Perfect LinkedIn Profile” click here

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