As you will know I rarely mention on “Biz Growth News” specific successes I have enjoyed for fear of being seen to brag.
However I felt I just had to share something I found out today as for me it’s a great example of the power of business blogging.
If you have heard me speak at live events, on podcasts or teleseminars about developing your personal brand online, you will know about my story and why I started business blogging. In summary, when I established my own business I realised that I needed to ensure that I got found online for my own name as few people would recall the name of my new micro business.
Within a month of my corporate website being launched, my now good friend Jessica Bowman told me the bad news - that my corporate website was built in the most search unfriendly way - with flash and frames.
I had paid several thousands of euro’s for the website and to my dismay the web-development team were not prepared to make any changes as they delared that I had signed off on the design. Yes I may have signed off on the design, but I did ask for it to be search engine friendly which it wasn’t. Boy how much I learnt about building your personal brand online through that one costly mistake!
And so my first steps into social media were taken, starting my business blog in June of 2005.
One of the first things I had come to realise is that while you may think my name is unusual, online it isn’t as I am competing with the Hindu deity Lord Krishna who had been online far longer than me with over 11 million entries for the name Krishna. (Note: I was gifted my name by my parents as both my paternal grandparents were called Krishna so I did not assume this name.)
But how would I ever get found online?
I suspected I had a chance of getting to the first page of Google for my own name is someone typed in “Krishna De” if I implemented key online personal branding strategies as we covered in a recent podcast.
But to get onto the first page of Google for people typing in the word or name Krishna with no speech marks around it, well that seemed unlikely unless I changed my name!
So over time, I have steadfastly added content to “Biz Growth News” about building your corporate brand, your employer brand, your internal brand, your personal brand and offered my experience in the worlds of traditional and social media marketing.
I eventually raised my profile on line and you could find me at the top of the page for “Krishna De” in the Google search results here in Ireland.
And every few months I admit that I egosurfed to check whether I was even getting to the first 10 pages of Google search results for the search on the name Krishna (Note: I deliberately searched for my name without speech marks as many people don’t add those when searching).
Well with a little time on my hands today, I decided to check the online digital footprint for my name.
And what did I find?
Yes I’ve made it to the first page of Google for the name Krishna - with no speech marks around it. I am in the top 10 searches out of 11,300,000 for the name Krishna - all thanks to my articles and content here at “Biz Growth News” and to you the community here for linking back to articles and for your feedback on the articles.
So I hope you will understand why I needed to share this good news. I hope I have encouraged you if you think it will be impossible to get onto the first page of Google if your name is shared among other people more “famous” or “infamous”than you and you are not an expert at search engine marketing.
After all, I had to “compete” in Google with a god whose name is recognised right across the globe!
And of you are interested to know more about my thoughts and experience on how to avoid the “12 biggest mistakes we can make when nurturing our personal brand online“, make sure you check out the details of a forthcoming seminar I am leading as part of the Social Media Telesummit later this month - check here for the special arrangements I have made for you as a member of my “Biz Growth” community.
And watch out for notification later this week for a post about this weeks podcast with my fellow Podcast Sisters is available as we are talking about “So I’ve got a blog - now what?” which if you are interested in business blogging you might find of interest - I’m off to record it in an hour’s time.
And if you are still not sure about the right strategy for you in building your personal brand online, post your questions here in the comments section or here and I will ensure I will address your questions in future articles and podcasts.
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