The BNET (Business Network) feed this morning outlined a terrific service from
Google: A
Google profile. It is exactly what it sounds like: A personal profile that appears when someone does a Google search of your name. If you are like me --- constantly trolling for new clients and industry connections --- a standardized profile collecting all my information in one place is worth its weight. But since it’s from Google, it’s FREE. Nice.
My advice:
Create one now to make certain that you can assist anyone searching for you via Google can easily find you. And find the information they want about you quickly. It’s not infallible, since on some searches you come up on the first page, and others your link may come up on the second, but regardless, YOU are providing a comprehensive profile with the key information you want to convey to potential clients (and friends who may have lost contact with you).
Google now lists name-search results in a Profile section at the bottom of the query page. By creating a profile, you can stake a claim to that section and, hopefully, steer searchers to the real you.
If you load a photo, the search link inserts it so people who’ve met you will know they’ve found the right person. A profile also lets visitors send you messages (but doesn’t give them your e-mail address — nice bit of privacy protection there), read your bio, get contact information (whatever you care to provide), and see any links you care to share.
And of course, a profile provides an easy opportunity for you to promote your business.
Check it out. The links are embedded (and underlined) in this blog. You have nothing to lose, and ultimately, everything to gain!
“The most effective way to do it is to do it." --Amelia Earhart, American aviation pioneer