Have you Googled yourself lately?

When was the last time you searched for your name on Google? I did so recently and discovered another person whose last name is my first name. There were a number of entries about him mixed in with references to my blog posts, my articles and my activities on various sites. Which would not be too much of a worry, except that my namesake was in the news, and not for something good...

The first place many people will go to find out about you is NOT your website, but Google. This is why it is very important to keep an eye on your Google name search. They may Bing you (the Microsoft search engine), but for the sake of this discussion I will assume Google and Bing work the same way.

Whether you have a website or not, your professional activities leave a trail on the search engines. I have a habit that when I hear a name, I go straight to my favorite engine and search them. When I search on a person's name, I look for three things:

a. Is this person who they say they are: Checking addresses, phone numbers, company name (You would be surprised that sometimes I find people who are fraudulently presenting themselves)

b. Is this person professionally active: Quality of content, frequency, do they have a personal site, their LinkedIn connections, Facebook friends.

c. What do others say about him/her: Does the name appear on other people's sites, in other events, newspapers, articles and other media.

Here are some tips to improve the impression a person will get when they Google or Bing your name:

1. Have an account on Big Three social media sites:

Most of the time, on Google, you will find that it is not your web site or your blog that comes up first, but rather your social media pages such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Search engine ranking algorithms seems to give significant weight to these sites. Whether you use social media or not, open an account on these systems and include your contact info and a short description of yourself. This has the added advantage of "reserving" your name on these sites so that a namesake doesn't take it over.

2. Make sure your website and blog tags and keywords are current:

Your META tag provides the short description that appears in Google or any search engine, after the title of your site or blog. In most cases this is easy to update (check the parameters or settings of your web site or blog system). Use this space to include the short form of your positioning or "who and do what" statement as well as your phone number. Update the keywords to include your full name, short name and combinations, including initials. With a clear tag and quality keywords in the header of your site or blog (which you can update yourself), you will already have a jump on your namesakes.

3. If you are buried lower down on the search page results, focus on creating frequent and relevant content:

Most search engines take into account how often you update your sites and blogs to determine where they appear in the search order. If your name is getting buried by your namesakes, start updating your blogs more often (ideally every day or two) with content focused on your area of expertise. Post your articles on aggregation sites (like EzineArticles.com) The search engines will pick up on your content relatively quickly and move you up the page.

4. Don't sweat the "SEO" (Search Engine Optimization):

Remember, we're talking here about people who search your name because they've heard of you through word-of-mouth or referral, which will account for a big percentage of searches about you at this stage of your business. This is why I'm not a believer in hiring people to "search engine optimize" your site unless you are doing big volumes (thousands of dollars) through the internet already.



As a solopreneur, most people will hear about you through word of mouth or referral before they find you on the search engines, which is why most people will want to Google or Bing your name to see if you're for real. By following these simple tips, it will be you that comes up at the top of their search, which will reinforce your credibility and help you get more and better clients.

Listen to KeysToClarity Radio Monday 21 Sep 7PM Eastern: Tribes

I will be interviewed by Louise Crooks of KeysToClarity Radio tonight at 7PM eastern on the subject of building trust and credibility by being the leader of a tribe.

KtC Radio: Be Ordinary or Extraordinary: It's About The Power Of Your Tribe

...are you really reaching your clients effectively?...

Date:	Monday, September 21, 2009
Time:	7:00pm - 8:00pm Eastern
Location:	http://bit.ly/132uP5

Phone:

3479456963 Call-in number

Description

As a professional, your clients assume you're competent. But how can you become the "go-to" person they will seek out and choose first? The difference is in how you build a community around your message and your vision.

Building a community is more than just the number of followers you have on Twitter or the number of Fans on Facebook, and it is more than mastering Social Media. Building your tribe is about engaging them in conversation and urging them to take action. The larger and more engaged your tribe becomes, the stronger your credibility.

Community-building does not require massive marketing budgets or exotic tricks. It especially does not mean putting up a false image in order to be "popular". The value of your tribe is in how you, and your community, stays grounded and real. In this session we will discuss some practical techniques about "tribe-building", as well as some pitfalls to avoid.

Other points we will discuss:

- before you can start making offers you have to build trust and credibility
- the way to build trust and credibility is to engage a tribe in conversation
- things to do in building a tribe (creating space for conversation, creating a clubhouse, etc)
- things not to do with your tribe (spamming, personality cult)

Coach Davender Gupta is a "Venture Catalyst" and Business Leadership Coach who guides people with big dreams to power their vision from Passion to Profit. Come and join us to get some real insight as to whether the actions you're taking in your soul-o-preneur business is building you clientele effectively. Feel free to contribute questions & comments in the chatroom or call in 347-945 6963.

Direct Link to show (to listen live or to the recording): http://bit.ly/132uP5

Experts are a dime a dozen but authorities are priceless

I'm coaching a group of solopreneurs through the Book Yourself Solid system and we're currently working on the section "Who Knows What You Know And Do They Like You?", about building trust and credibility with potential clients.

One of the questions that Michael Port asks in his book is "In what areas are you currently an expert?"

The word "expert" often brings up lots of energy (usually negative) because of the association between expertise and knowledge. But is there a real connection between expertise and education?

When I was an engineering officer in the Canadian Air Force, I had advanced degrees in my field. I could design lens arrays and calculate resolution errors. I could program image recognition algorithms and write the specifications for a video processing system. But when it came to troubleshooting and fixing the complex equipment in the lab or on our aircraft, I could not hold a candle to my technicians. I swear, just by looking at the gadget and shaking it a bit, they could figure out what was wrong and get it working again in a snap, whether the problem was mechanical, electrical or electronic.

I could design the equipment, but they knew how to build it, get it to work and keep it going in tip-top shape through punishing use. Which skill set was the most useful to our lab's clients?

My gut reaction when someone claims to be an "expert" is to say "oh yeah? Prove it! Show me your papers!" I bet your prospects feel the same way, because they are bombarded by so many who claim to be experts. Then your prospect starts playing the credential game with you. Yuck.

I don't want clients who doubt my experience. And the way to do this is to shift the energy by moving from being just another expert to being an authority

Here's one of my Davenderisms:

"An expert is someone who has mastered a lot of knowledge. An authority has the bruises and scars that prove the knowledge really works."

In my lab, I was an expert because of my education, but our clients (and I) trusted the technicians even more because they had authority based on their ability to create results. I was necessary to the operation of the lab, but they were indispensable.

And with my current entrepreneurial coaching business, I can state that I am an authority on being a solo professional and a startup entrepreneur because I lived the startup and cratering of two businesses (one solo practice and one larger tech business) before realizing that I had to ignore conventional wisdom in order to succeed in building a successful network marketing biz and now my current coaching and training biz.

Of course I've taken the courses and the trainings and got my qualifications, but when I relate my personal story, I can see my prospect is much more impressed with my real-life experience as compared to my qualifications.

Show your prospects how you have lived your expertise. Then they will follow you to the ends of the earth...

Social media is a great tool to build credibility

Social media is an excellent tool to build your credibility. On Facebook you build credibility through content, on LinkedIn you build credibility by your connections, on Twitter it's your conversations that count.

Build your credibility by becoming a content creator

As a solo professional, you probably understand the importance of demonstrating your competence in order to build credibility. So on your website you post a description of who you are and what you offer. And if you are particularly detail-oriented, you have a link to your current resumé and a list of customers, selected showcase projects and even some testimonials from happy clients. This should be more than enough to convince your prospect of your qualifications for the job, right?

But what if I told you that all this information has but a minor influence on the opinion your prospects make of you ... what would you do?

Let's be frank: your prospective customers attach little importance to testimonials, client lists and sample projects, because they know that you show only the most glowing reviews (that is, if you didn't invent the whole thing from scratch, or so they might believe).

Remember the old saying: "Don't tell me what you can do for me, show me!" The most effective way to establish your credibility and to attract clients who recognize your value and who are willing to commit, is to demonstrate your expertise.

Photographers, graphic designers, filmmakers, painters and other creative professionals know the value of a portfolio. They accumulate examples of their work to demonstrate their expertise to potential customers. But in professional services, when your products are intangible, how do you accumulate the evidence that establishes your credibility?

Any professional who wants to develop and demonstrate their credibility must become a content creator. By generating articles, videos, photos and other types of content, you make your experience more tangible. Quality content that makes you credible is much more attractive than slick advertising or vague promises.

There are five types of content you can create to present your expertise:

1. "Education": lessons and recommendations that emerge from your experience with your customers (for example, case studies);
2. "Demonstration": Describe how to do something related to your specialty (for example, this "how to" article);
3. "Opinion": Your comments on situations or the news, always related to your specialty and how you want to be known. Your opinion demonstrates how you interpret situations and propose solutions. Be careful to remain respectful and politically neutral;
4. "Recommendation": Provide resources (books, articles, videos, contacts) related to your specialty;
5. "Information": Communicating news about your specialty, passing along items from the media demonstrating various aspects of what you do (example: a tax specialist passing along news of changes to the law).

There are various ways to deliver your content. Keep it simple, choose media and communication styles that come naturally to you, for example:

- Writing articles;
- Short online videos (YouTube) or audio (podcast style through BlogTalkRadio);
- Record your presentations, speeches, seminars, Toastmasters speeches;
- Photos or illustrations, etc..

The important thing is to create content that communicates your ideas with your communication style and your voice.

Develop a steady pace in generating your content, whether monthly, weekly or daily. Your content need not be extensive: it is better to be short and precise. It's the frequency that matters, so if you want more prospects, increase the pace of your output.

Establish a central location to display your content, even if it is distributed to several locations. Your business blog is the preferred place to store your information. I also recommend that you host the best content on your main website, either in whole or through hyperlinks. The more often your content is refreshed, more search engines will locate it, and you will be easier to find.

The time, effort and money you invest in generating quality content to build your professional portfolio will result in a strong positioning and loyal customers. By demonstrating your expertise, you will be able to power your Vision from Passion to Profit!

Show how the sausage is made: Transparency begets credibility

For a long drive today I downloaded a podcast of TVO's Big Ideas, featuring Harvard professor David Weinberger on "Knowledge At The End Of The Information Age".

I first came across Prof. Weinberger ten years ago in his book "The Cluetrain Manifesto" where he foresaw the emphasis on conversations and user-generated content which is a key part of the webosphere today.

His recent talk at the University of Toronto touched many points about the nature of information and knowledge, and how we organize, classify and understand it.

A couple of points grabbed my attention (my pararaphrasing of his ideas):

- Save everything: You don't know what information is important until you need it. Digitize everything and save everything. Storage is cheap, and the tools for extracting the info you need are improving all the time.

Comment: I have been saving everything I've written since 1997. Interesting how the volume saved increases from year to year! Unfortunately my e-mails from before 2003 are irretrievable, that's when I switched from Outlook to Thunderbird (and since 2007 I've been also keeping all my e-mails on Gmail which makes them even easier to search).

Also, by saving everything, I can also resurrect ideas from my archives that I started but were not quite ready for prime time, when I come across an opportunity I can retrieve and update the tool or idea, saving me lots of time...

- Transparency creates credibility: Open up how you develop your ideas and your positions. The more people can see your thought process, the more they will understand and trust you.

Comment: It used to be that experts delivered their opinions from above, and it was accepted by the peons. But now people no longer blindly accept what "experts" say, partly because so many experts have been shown to be wrong, but also because we can be much more engaged in the conversation than in the past.

Don't be shy about putting raw ideas out there to be sifted and examined. Be open about your thought process. Log raw ideas on blogs, Twitter, Facebook. Contribute to conversations, comment on other people's blogs.

The context of the comment also gives people a clue as to your thought process. For example:

- stuff on my Twitter stream ( http://twitter.com/coachdavender ) is a momentary fragment of my ideas or things that attract my attention. I use Twitter (or sometimes Facebook http://profile.to/coachdavender ) as a place to grab my thoughts as they occur, and for people to interact with them at this initial stage;
- anything on my blog ( http://www.frompassiontoprofit.com ) can be considered an "idea in formation". Here I take ideas and go a bit deeper with them to see where they lead me (reader input is also valuable here);
- as the idea becomes more solid, it becomes an article, which I post on my website ( http://www.coachdavender.com ), or, for articles that are even more mature, article sites like http://www.ezinearticles.com
- and then the most reliable, mature and reviewed ideas will end up in my published book(s)...

The more you make your thought process transparent, the more believable and credible you become.

I recommend the full podcast - it made my drive home go by in a blink!


Link to TVO.org page (video and synopsis):
http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?video?BI_Lecture_20090207_834116_DavidWeinberger

iTunes audio podcast download link (free):
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=49871209&id=129166905

David Weinberger's blog: http://evident.com/

The Physics of Trust

Trust is a hot topic these days: I believe the main problem with the economy is not a shortage of money, but rather that trust between people and trust in the process has completely collapsed.

What is "trust", exactly? In December I explored the subject of "Trust" in a couple of different formats:

Article: "Some Thoughts about Trust"
link: http://is.gd/cSFF

Audio Podcast: Beyond Lip Service with Sharon Saylor on the topic "The Physics of Trust" (9 December 2008)
podcast download (mp3, 6.9MB Running Time 30 mins): http://is.gd/cSKH
BlogTalkRadio page: http://is.gd/aHuV (audio plays automatically)

Video: Toastmasters speech "The Physics of Trust" (12 December 2008)
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbhsXE_s1Sg

Book Yourself Solid Radio for week of 8 December: Blogs, Offers and Freelancing

A great week for you on Book Yourself Solid Radio, hosted by myself and Certified Book Yourself Solid Coach Trish Lambert:

Movin' Monday with Trish Lambert (Dec 8): Trish discusses building Trust and Credibility with blogs, newsletters and your e-mails, with "Queen Bee of Connections" Certified Book Yourself Coach Danelle Brown. http://tinyurl.com/6zogbc

Tool Time Wednesday with Davender (Dec 10): Davender's guest is Certified Book Yourself Solid Coach Monique Gallagher, to help you add MORE POWER to your Self-Promotion Strategies by your "Always Have Something To Invite People To Offer" (AHSTIPTO) http://tinyurl.com/6ryve8

Ask-A-Coach Friday with Davender (Dec 12): Davender welcomes Certified Book Yourself Solid Coach Trish Lambert and her new program "Freelancing in a Flat World" http://tinyurl.com/6bl575

For more information on these podcasts, and to access past shows, click on the links. Looking forward to hearing from you through the call-in line at (347) 327-9030 or using the Chat application on the show homepage http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bookyourselfsolid or Facebook Group Page: http://tinyurl.com/62roza