Personal branding isn’t just for celebrities and other big names seeking to promote their passions on a global platform. For everyone, from hopeful entrepreneurs to those seeking better employment opportunities, personal branding helps you widen your horizons and explore new possibilities.
Building a strong personal brand requires a long-term approach towards creating a lasting digital legacy. In this respect, the Internet affords us opportunities that were previously unattainable. On the other hand, it’s easy to let your reputation fall squarely into the hands of those who may do it harm.
Once damaging content about you starts appearing on Google, Bing or Yahoo, your public image will suffer severely. For this reason, it’s necessary to monitor your reputation and strive to protect it.
#1. Send Cease and Desist Letters
When it comes to removing false, defamatory or illegal content, sending a cease and desist letter is typically your first option. Not many people want to be dragged into a lengthy legal battle so, chances are, they’ll comply with your CDL promptly, provided you use it in the right situation. In other words, you’ll need strong legal grounds to proceed. Otherwise, your warning of taking legal action won’t have any credibility, and may even cause harm.
#2. Take Down Private Content
For the most part, you have every legal right to remove personal information that somebody else has posted online without your permission. Examples include bank account information and personal contact details. While you can attempt to remove such content from the search engines themselves, it’s generally better to contact the webmaster of the offending site first to have it permanently removed.
#3. Hire an Attorney
CLDs and takedown requests don’t always work, especially if they’re used in response to deliberately malicious activity rather than poor judgment or a simple mistake. Due to this, it’s sometimes necessary to take legal action and obtain a court order. In most cases, the search engines will only remove listings if they receive a court order to do so, or the offending website violates their terms of use.
#4. Look Out for Terms of Use Violations
Most social networks, search engines and any website or platform that allows users to open accounts have specific terms and conditions of use. If a user breaks the rules, the administrator will usually remove it without question once it’s brought to their attention. For example, if someone posts your picture on Facebook without your permission, you can request for it to be taken down.
#5. Build Credibility by Publishing Content
It’s not always possible to remove negative content about you online, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have the power to repair and protect your reputation. By posting your own content and building authority in your areas of expertise, you’ll have something more for the search engines to index. If your content is good enough, and it’s posted on an authoritative source (like LinkedIn), it should eventually drown out bad press.
#6. Share Your Challenges
Given the fact that anyone can post almost anything they choose about a business or an individual on the Internet, it’s essential to believe in yourself and be transparent. This is especially relevant in situations when your reputation has been damaged through no fault of your own. However, it’s also important to admit your shortcomings where necessary and share the challenges you face with those you’re trying to appeal to.
#7. Use Social Media Wisely
From potential dates to business partners, most people trawl through social networks to learn more about an individual. However, many people are not particularly mindful of what they post on the likes of Facebook, despite their content being indicative of their public reputation. Others put far too much trust into ineffective privacy settings. Remember, everything you post online is part of a digital legacy for the world to see.
#8. Start a Personal Website
Even if you think you don’t, everyone has a personal brand that’s expressed by the quality of your work, your personality as portrayed online, and public opinion based on the preceding two factors. Building a personal website gives you an outlet where you have complete control, thereby giving you the opportunity to stand your ground and maintain a degree of control over your public image.
#9. Remove Stolen Content
If you’ve ever published articles, images or any other content online, chances are you’ve had your content stolen. This stolen content is often posted on other sites and, sometimes slightly modified without proper attribution. While this might not directly harm your reputation, it’s important to protect your intellectual rights by filing DMCA takedown requests where necessary, especially if an initial CDL fails.
#10. Fix Autocomplete
You’ve probably already noticed that Google automatically populates the search box with suggestions based on what you type. While useful, autocomplete can present a serious problem if it’s accompanied by damaging information. Furthermore, clicking on a suggestion makes it more popular, so it’s important to monitor your reputation and try to maintain control over what’s published about you online.
Reputation Resolutions’ Personal Branding Service uses proven methods to help individuals rebuild and protect their personal brands. Best of all, our results are guaranteed so, in the unlikely event we don’t succeed, you won’t owe us a thing. If you’re looking for help, call us today to schedule a free consultation.