What Do Your Google Results Say About You?

November 25, 2008 at 12:28 pm | In People, Personal Branding, eBrand, social media | 4 Comments
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I spoke with Paul Dunay last night, who is the Global Director of Integrated Marketing at Bearing Point, as well as a B2B technology marketing blogger. During our call, we talked about people’s Google results and what that says about them. Our conversation sparked this post, which deals with identifying your current “Google results” situation and deciding what you want to show up for your personal brand.

There are a few main reasons why you should pay attention to your Google results:

  • Journalists are Google’ing topics to find sources for their articles.
  • Managers are Google’ing your name to ensure you are legitimate and as an evaluation of your skills.
  • Bloggers are Google’ing your name (or your topic) to either find out more about you or to link to one of your posts.
  • Admissions officers are Google’ing your name to verify that you don’t have digital dirt.
  • Parents are Google’ing your name because they love their children and to see if their children’s friend (possibly you) isn’t a convict.
  • Teachers are Google’ing your name to see if you’re a good resource to speak to their class.
  • HR is Google’ing your name to ensure you’re writing doesn’t go against company policy.
  • Coworkers are Google’ing your name, when they should be working on projects!
  • Males/females are Google’ing your name before and after your first date to see if they should go on the next.
  • YOU are Google’ing your name because you love yourself too much ;)

Analysis of my/Paul’s Google results

If you Google my name, you will see a page that represents me quite well. I’ve purposely arranged my Google results to best reflect my brand. Frankly, I have to do this, in order to show everyone else how to do it and because I’d lose credibility if my results were flawed. My blog ranks #1, which shouldn’t surprise you because of the amount of links and content. The other results reflect my professional resume (LinkedIn), as well as the Fast Company article that put me on the map and my other websites: the magazine and my branded homepage.

If you Google Paul’s name, you get his popular blog first, which has a lot of links and content. Then you get his main page or, as we call it, “personal brand page.” This page contains Paul’s entire life and is blessed with many social media elements. Aside from that, you get his LinkedIn resume and a few contributing articles he’s written for various publications. Basically, the results match him perfectly.

So what does your Google results say about you? Are you happy with them? Google yourself right now!

Battling Recession 2.0 by Becoming the CFO of Your Brand

November 25, 2008 at 1:45 am | In Interview, People, Personal Branding, Success Strategies, social media | Leave a Comment

Today, I spoke with Kimberly Palmer, who is an senior editor for the U.S.News & World Report. She has a great view on what it takes to be financially competent. I brought her out today to talk about the recession and what we can do as brands, in order to be financially secure and protected during these rough times. We are all CEO’s of our own brand, so being the CFO is one of the roles we must play. Read the interview below to have a clear idea of what your next steps should be!

On this blog, we talk about being the Chief Financial Officer for the brand called you, meaning that everyone is their own business and needs to understand personal finance. How important is it for people, not just entrepreneurs, to understand money management?

To me, being able to manage your money is the same thing as being able to manage your life. Money lets you do things — big things like going back to school or starting your own business but also smaller things like being able to afford a babysitter for a day, which can translate into bigger things. If you’re in control of your money, then you can be in control of your life.

Of course, “being in control of your money” means totally different things to different people. Some people love to know they can afford a huge vacation once a year, or expensive dinners out every Saturday night. I’m so risk-averse that for me, being in control means having a six-month emergency fund in the bank.

You’ve written about “recessions 2.0” before. How do you define it and what is your future outlook on the economy?

The economic mood that we’re all feeling — with the stock market down so much, job markets tightening, and fears of deflation — is new to people who experienced mostly economic boom times throughout their adult lives, which is almost all of us. I use “Recession 2.0″ as a short-hand way of describing that mood – that “ugh” feeling that makes me want to crawl into bed on days that the stock market plunges 5 percent (or more).

While there’s not much good to say about a sluggish economy, there are some ways to cast a positive light on it. I’ve heard from people appreciating little things like home-cooked meals, relationships, and quiet evenings at home more. Those are all definitely good things.

As for my outlook, I think that we’re up for some extended sluggishness for at least another 6 months — so all we can do is make the most of it, which for me, means retreating into my kitchen.

What can we start to do today to prepare ourselves for recession 2.0?

  • Generate an emergency fund that could hold you over for 6 months.
  • Pay off all your debt.
  • Save at least 10 percent of your income, in addition to 10 percent for tax-protected retirement funds.
  • Take up some cheap hobbies, like cooking, knitting, or just hanging out with Scrabble.
  • Plan a “stay-cation.” Use the library, volunteer (giving makes you feel richer).
  • Focus on relationships.
  • Clean out your closet.
  • Create a home you love.

As an entrepreneur, should one seek a financial adviser or try to handle all their finances on their own? Does it help to learn more about finance, so it’s easier to deal with an adviser?

Anyone running their own business has enough tax complications to justify hiring an outside expert. In fact, most people benefit from consulting with a personal finance planner, unless you’re the kind of person who loves reading Suze Orman books on your spare time. But I think everyone should have a basic understanding of money and investing, if only to make sure you don’t get taken advantage of.

How can social media tools help fight the poor economy?

At least one way social media can combat the sluggishness is by serving as an effective marketer for all the amazing new websites, products, and ideas to come out of this slowdown. For example, among the personal finance social networks, there’s been huge growth in websites and chatter on twitter and other media all about dealing with the economy — without social media tools, it would be harder to be aware of what other people were doing.

——
Kimberly Palmer is an senior editor for the print and online Money & Business section of the U.S.News & World Report. She is the author of the personal finance blog Alpha Consumer on www.usnews.com, and weekly on-air guest on WTOP-FM, the top news talk radio station in Washington, D.C. She has written about trends in the credit card industry, personal finance, consumerism, retail trends, creativity in the workplace, working mothers, and paying for college.

Palmer has been interviewed on Court TV’s Star Jones, C-SPAN, FOX Business Network, KTTV FOX 11 (FOX News Los Angeles), MSNBC’s News Live,and Retirement Living TV’s Daily Café, as well as major metro radio stations.

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