Maintaining Your Professional Image Online

Fanny Tham

by Fanny Tham of CreativePeople@Work

Maintaining a Professional Image Online It is almost mandatory to ‘google’ someone you just met. While it is increasingly difficult to spilt your personal self from your professional self, it is still very important for independent professionals to maintain an appropriate image. You are, after all, representing yourself.

Murdered by Photos
Innocent beings are constantly being killed by online photos. That one photo of you getting your first drink in decades can potentially label you as a Party-Animal or an Alcoholic. Look through all your photos published online and take away those that do not reflect who you really are. If you are working for a brewery, photos of you merry-making are almost essential to your career. But since you are a Creative Person @ Work, you have a fine line to thread.

Don’t kill yourself
Re-read and rewrite your online profile. Does it reflect the best of you? Is it an exaggerated version and contains a list of things you didn’t do and skills you don’t have? Is it juvenile/bimbo/irrelevant? When in doubt, leave it blank.

No Schizophrenic Behavior
Make sure your image is consistent among all the online social media. Just because they are different sites, it doesn’t mean you should be a Happy-Go-Lucky producer in one and a Melancholic Video Editor in another. Who are you? Stick to one image and be consistent. Remember, with Google, the world is much smaller.

Be a Schizo When Need Arises
When you have an absolute interest in something totally unrelated to work, try using an alias when creating an account. This will free you from the limitations and risk. Just remember to register using an email address with an alias too.

What’s in your Address
What is your email address? Your email address is as important as your name. Even though most of the email systems have memory collection, your clients still have to type out your full email address the first time they are emailing you. Do you think they can type out [email protected] without struggling to decide if they make the wrong choice in giving you the deal? Think again.

Google Yourself
Make it a point to google yourself regularly. Or try Spock, a people search engine. This is the best defense strategy. If you are unable to un-list any discriminatory posts or links, at least you are in the know what others may possibly read about you. Knowledge is defense.  Monitor your reputation.