Manal RichaWith the large diversity of online resources, one can get lost not knowing where and how to get started.  You also want to make sure that you are aware of who is saying what about you and keep it all under control.

Googling yourself would be a good place to start.  Find out what kind of information is out there about you and what people can find out about you when looking you up.

Also look up yourself on other search engines such as ZoomInfo and Wink. In addition, you need to be aware of the hundreds of online resources that contain information about you, some of which won’t be accurate and might be mixed with someone else’s information.  MyPrivacy is a great tool that helps you locate where you are listed especially in some of the Internet white pages. It also allows you to remove your data from these websites.

Create a separate email address for your online/social media inquiries.  Once you sign up with a social network, you will be bombarded by Alert notifications, Direct Messages, Add as Friend, Events Announcements and more… And believe me, you don’t want all of it mixed with your professional/business email correspondences; or do you?  With all the Free Email providers out there, chances are, you will be able to find one that meets your needs and expectations.  Check out Gmail, Yahoo or Live, for example.

Furthermore, you need to stay on top of the discussion and be aware of what is being said about your, your brand, your services and/or company.  Use Google Alerts for daily notifications on conversations happening about you.  Simply you will be notified automatically when you are being referenced on a website.

Manal Richa
Founder of The MarCom Network - www.MarComNetwork.com
CEO of BreakThrough Networking, Inc. - www.BreakThroughNetworking.org