Why In The World Haven’t You Set Up A Google Profile?
Today one of my best political friends called and asked “how can I populate the first page with positive information when someone Googles my name?”
Don’t you hate that question? I mean, its good when it comes from someone who is serious about getting the job done, but when it comes from someone who wants to just snap their fingers and make it happen, its just annoying. Unless of course, it’s from someone who wants to snap his or her fingers and drop cash on it. Then we can make magic happen. =)
This particular person was not the type who wanted to work or drop cash. They just wanted their name at the top. And yes, I asked him if I could post this story. I gave him a hard time on the phone too.
So of course I did what anyone would do. I Googled his name and I swear to you, I just about went through the phone and punched him in the face. Here’s why: He hasn’t even created a Google profile for himself yet.
With Google profiles, Google has given us the opportunity to post positive text about ourselves on the first page of a search. You don’t have to do a darn thing except sign up for a Google account and fill out the form.
Yeah, I’m serious. Don’t believe me. Just try it. Like right now. Google “Wesley Donehue.” Heck, even Google “Wesley DonAhue.” See, I’m sneaky like that.
What you’ll find is my Google profile at the bottom: http://www.google.com/profiles/wesleydonehue Of course the bottom is not where I prefer it to be, but its positive, on the front page, and absolutely free. Here’s an explanation from the Google blog http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/search-for-me-on-google.html:
It’s no secret that from time to time many of us have searched on Google for our name or someone else’s. When searching for yourself to see what others would find, results can be varied and aren’t always what you want people to see — whether it’s someone else with your name, or the finishing time from that 5K you ran back in 2002. We want to make that better and give you more of a voice.
To give you greater control over what people find when they search for your name, we’ve begun to show Google profile results at the bottom of U.S. name-query search pages. These results offer abbreviated information from user-created Google profiles and a link to the full profiles. We’ve also added links so it’s easy to search for the same name on MySpace, Facebook, Classmates and LinkedIn.
Setting up a Google should be one of the first things you do when you launch your online campaign.
How?
First you need to sign up for a Google account. Don’t get lost in the email, RSS reader, Calender, or other features that might just solve your life’s problems just yet. Mosey on over to http://www.google.com/profiles and snag your name.