Fridays seem like good days to leave you with some career homework to do over the weekend, so I think I've inadvertently started a tradition.
Today's assignment is pretty easy, but also important.
A consistent theme for me here has been the idea that you need to be building an online identity for yourself. One way to keep track of what's being said about you online is to create a "vanity search" using Google Alert.
What Are Google Alerts and What's a "Vanity Search"?
Google Alerts are email updates you can set up so that you will be notified anytime a topic you set up is mentioned on the Web. You define the search term(s), what results you want returned (news, blogs, the entire web) and when you want to be notified (as they happen, once a day).
A "vanity search" is simply a search for your name and/or other information related to you.
How Do I Set Up a Google Alert Vanity Search?
1. Go to the Google Alerts Page where you'll be presented with this form:
2. Fill in your search terms. In this case, you'll want to create an alert for your name, like this:
"Michele Martin" (with quotes).
3. Select the type of Alert you want to create. I suggest "Comprehensive" which will alert you to any mentions of you online, including in the news, blogs, etc.
4. Select how often you want to be alerted. I prefer to be notified as it happens, but you can also select to be alerted once a day or once a week.
5. Enter your email address and then hit the "Create Alert" button.
You should now begin to receive emails when you're mentioned on the Web. A couple of other points to make:
- If your name has some common "misspellings" you may want to include searches for those, too. For example, a lot of people spell my name "Michelle" (with two "l"s) so I've also set up an alert for "Michelle Martin."
- Depending on how common your name is, you may get a lot of alerts that don't relate to you. You can try to cut down on these by also including your employer's name in the alert ("Michele Martin" and "My Employer"), although the downside of this is that your name may not always be mentioned in conjunction with your employer. In my case, I've decided I'd rather get Alerts that don't relate to me than miss some that do.
- You don't have to confine your Alerts to just your name, of course. These are also great ways to keep track of topics that interest you, mentions of your employer or competitors, etc.
So that's the homework for this weekend. If you're serious about your career, this is one piece of homework you should seriously consider doing right away, as it's one of the best ways for you to keep track of your online reputation.
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