Have you ever looked yourself up on Google? This is called ego-surfing and its something that many people will do, just to pass the time or to see what is out there. There could be lots of interesting stuff about you.

I have links to my website, and my profiles on other sites such as the Gloucestershire Enterprise Network and Amazon, but there can also be links to things that you don’t want to have - comments you made on facebook or in discussion forums.

More and more people will look us up on the Internet - I get my clients to google the person who is going to interview them, and when consulting with companies get them to google the clients. What we find out is not always complimentary.

 If you would like to work on raising your digital identity, I recommend a book and website called Career Distinction by William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson. They have a really neat calculator where you can work out your score of your online identity.

There are 4 levels of online identity -

1: Digital dabbling where there are  few comments about you

2: Digital disastrous where there is nothing about you

3: Digital dirt where there are negative comments

4: Digital distinct where there are a lot of results, all communicating what you want to say about yourself.

I’ve just gone through it and scored 9 out of 10. I’ve intutitively known I need an onine identitiy as this is where most of my clients find me.

Your online identity score is 9 out of a possible score of 10.Congratulations. You are digitally distinct. This is the nirvana of online identity. Keep up the good work, and remember that your Google results can change as fast as the weather in New England. So, regularly monitor your online identity. Read Chapter 11 of Career Distinction for more ideas on how to continue to build your brand online.

A high google ranking is not just for business owners. It can also help you in your career. I’ll talk more on this next week.

Do have a go at this assessment, it will only take 5 minutes and let me know what you find.