Personal Branding: It’s not the end of Big Brother…

This autumn marks the end of the king of reality TV – “Big Brother”. What will the reality TV junkies do with all this new found spare time? No more late nights watching housemates sleep in their beds. No more squirming at the embarrassing scramble for 30 seconds of fame. My advice to those needing a new fix – set up your own Big Brother experience. The cameras that monitored the Big Brother house may get turned off, but the cameras that monitor your online personal brand can get turned on. This would be a more constructive use of your time 🙂

Cameras for sanity (not vanity) – I recall telling my wife I checked online to read what people were saying about me (and my company Measurability). She informed me that spending hours looking into a mirror was bad enough, but this was taking the biscuit. I tried to defend my actions, but this was met with sarcastic humming to the tune “You’re so Vain”. It’s nothing to do with vanity, I swear 🙂 Ok – it’s nice to read positive comments online, but there is more to it than this. Ignoring your online presence is sanity. Potential employers Google you, so you need to know what they read. Potential employers could be looking for you (or your expertise), so you need to help them find you. A positive online presence can enhance your career, just like a negative (or minimal) online presence can cost you job opportunities.

Keep the cameras rolling – The question most people ask – how do I monitor my brand online? It’s pretty straightforward. There are many online tools to assist monitoring online presence  and online reputation. There is the old reliable – GOOGLE ALERTS. There is SOCIAL MENTION, to capture mentions on social media sites. Others tools; BOARDREADER for forums, GOOGLE BLOG SEARCH for Blogs, and TWITTER SEARCH.

Don’t get evicted – Developing a strong personal brand is essential in the new world of careers. It can take vast amounts of time, and energy, to build a strong personal brand. Therefore, it is important to monitor and protect what you have successfully built up. The outlined tools can help you monitor your online brand, bask in rays of positive online presence, and identify any negativity that requires action.

Are you mourning the imminent end of Big Brother? Are you void of options to fill the spare time? Come join Measurability Careers & Jobs Club on LinkedIn, or follow me on Twitter.