What can we do today?

If you want to boost your personal brand and get the maximum impact straight away, the Internet is where you want to start. It's free and very simple to sign up for online networking sites and they are great tools for promoting your brand.

Run a quick search on your name and see what you find. Do you come up on the first page of Google or are you hidden on page 58? Now consider that others (prospective customers for instance) do the same. Are you giving them the right impression?

There are a number of techniques you can employ to boost your search engine rankings and online presence in general. Here is a quick list that you can go through and get started:

Need to haves:

• good looking and effective Linkedin profile
• knowing your Unique Selling Points and how you can add value to others
• well rehearsed elevator pitch to deliver at any time
• online bio somewhere you can link to
• clean and searchable profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Google Profiles

Nice to haves:

• personal avatar for commenting
• personal blog or website
• your own Linkedin Group
• your own domain name
• moderating or owning a forum
• publishing articles or blog posts
• anything techie with your name on it

Call to action

Make sure you are consistent with everything you communicate to the world. This includes all your online presence and you should aim to stake your claim in cyberspace as soon as possible. Will your prospect customer be surprised or even disappointed when they meet you for the first time? You have to make sure you are one and the same across all channels and you will then come across as genuine and trustworthy.

Share information about yourself, tell stories and inspire others. Add some personality to your brand, we all know it’s easier to sell on emotions than facts. When you think you are finished, anyone should be able to locate you online and find out what you do and what makes you special. If this isn’t the case, you need to put some more work in.