Creating and then building your personal brand are the first steps in an ongoing process of maintaining how people perceive you. While you can’t control how others think about you, you can influence those thoughts by creating and maintaining a positive reputation.

Owning your reputation

Your personal brand is you, so make sure
that you own it. If you haven’t already, create profiles on the major social
media platforms; Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. But don’t just create
an empty account, fill out your profile for each service using the terms and
phrases you developed in creating your brand. Once you’ve got your profile
looking the way you want it, use the platform to create the reputation you
want.You don’t need to tweet a hundred times a day, or post everything you had
for lunch, unless of course you are building a reputation as a food critic. For
most people three to six tweets per day of quality information, like tips or
insider news for your industry, are all it takes. Similarly, post links to
articles you think your peers or your potential employers and customers will
find interesting or important. Doing that shows you are keeping up with your
particular industry while also positioning yourself as an expert in your field. 

Repairing your reputation

It is said that into
each life, a little rain must fall and the same is true of reputations. No
matter how great a person you truly are, eventually someone will take some of
your words or actions in a negative way. In the old days when this happened,
the damage was usually small because the offended person had a limited reach. Now
everyone has a global stage and some people are more than happy to use it in a
negative way.To provide you peace of mind, it is important to monitor your
reputation. The easiest way to perform basic monitoring is to create
Google alerts. It may sound arrogant to have Google send you an email you every
time you name is mentioned, but it’s just good business. You can’t address
issues until you know about them, and alerts are the fastest way.

The platform
that houses the negative information will determine your next course of action.
If it is something that hosts conversation, such as social media, respond
quickly and politely, ensuring you address the core of the issue, and if you
were in error, apologize.  Also remember that with social media the
conversations move quickly and if you continue to post positive material the
negative comments will fall off the page. Either way, do not engage in a
continued conversation that could minimize your reputation in the long run.
Simply respond appropriately and move on to posting other pertinent and
positive information.

In some
cases, you may be able to ask to have the comment removed, but usually only
when the comment breaks the terms of the hosting site, such as by publishing
personal data. And much as you might be tempted, avoid blocking or kicking the
person from your social networks. Doing so won’t stop them from being negative,
but it does restrict your ability to respond.

In the case
of the media, there is little to do but to understand the crux of the
information posted. Choosing to continue to create excellent content will keep
your personal brand fresh online and ensure that people see the positive in you
and what you are doing. At the end of the day, simply stay focused on the
positive aspects of your personal brand and do not engage in argumentative
dialog.
Find
out why this is happening, what the new opportunities are, and what this whole
shift means for you.

Get more information at www.newworldofwork.com.