The Cool Projects I Worked For (Part 5 – Online Reputation) – Rodric Leerling

From publishing SuperBrands and CoolBrands to Online Reputation – CoolBrands People @coolbrandspeople @aroundtheworldin80brands

“What no business owner should ignore – managing his online footprint” – Rodric Leerling

Everyone owning his or her own business should be aware of this: by working and communicating online we are growing our digital footprint. Combine this with a search-happy business world and you will realize your online footprint can in fact make or break your next business goals.

Before we buy a product or hire a service, we google and search for clues on reputations. The same happens with you as entrepreneur. Who are you and what is your online reputation? Make no mistake, before you can even speak up and have a meeting, Google has already presented your personal profile. And within seconds your new job, the much needed investment or the potential customer is gone.

Have you Googled yourself yet? Do it now. I’ll wait.

So, what does page 1 of Google search tell about you? Is your online reputation in line with who you really are? Or is it a blurred image, due to weird pictures, lousy comments made once or just a mixed bag. We are convinced that a strong online reputation will generate more business opportunities. Because you made sure it’s you who’s drawing the picture and not Google.

How we do that? Check me out … on Google. Then give me a call or email me: rodric@coolbrandspeople.info

 

“Your Current Online Presence: Will it mean New or Lost Business?” – Rodric Leerling

It’s slowly dawning on business people – when everyone is checking out everything online, the same surely will happen to me as a person. But why are they not bothered about it yet? As always, business people will consider ‘will I lose any business from it?’ I’m sure you will, but let’s stay positive: how about gaining new business?

Let’s face it: we have all become part of a reputation economy and Google is the new background check. Even for you as a person. So when your online presence is not in sync with your off-line-me or simply not appealing enough, sorry, no investment or alas, no job offer. VC’s and Hiring Managers move on to a better candidate.

We increasingly are invited to speak about this new phenomena and how to harness yourselve against it. We usually start by telling attendees to google their own name first. And then imagine yourself before an important meeting, say as a hiring manager, or a start-up investor – would you do business with ‘you’? Because who is this person applying for the job in real life? What is happening outside his or her polished LinkedIn profile? Does he have any hobbies or other personal interest? Who in fact are we dealing with? No answers, or at best, a blurred image can mean no next step.

Checking a name on LinkedIn can be too direct and obvious, so Google as most popular search option is used without you even being aware. Google page 1 with the 10 hits are offering a quick snap shot of what a person stands for. It can generally produce three options: 1.You are not present at all – do you really exist? 2.You have a pretty blurred image – no, totally not you. 3.You are in sync with your other profiles. When a choice can be made between candidates, who would you prefer?

People like to do business with people. Not just with good looking profiles or shining images. Make sure you are represented well online. If you don’t do it, social media and Google as search indexer will do it for you. Better get ahead.

“Did You See What Google Said About You?” – Rodric Leerling

If you didn’t know already – we are living in a reputation economy. And Google has become the new background check. Everyone is googling, all the time – to find information, opinions, background info, but also checking out people. Did you know that 80% of people will google you before they decide to meet you? Asking themselves: Who is the person I’m meeting? What makes him or her tick? What does he or she do outside their job? Where are they heading for in life?

Questions that Google can easily answer by showing what’s being posted online. On all social media channels, just recently or maybe some time back. If nothing fresh is being posted, this keeps popping up and you might not like it. Basically, you are who Google says you are. My question to you: is your online reputation in line with you are?

The index (10 hits each page) is based on available online content and is taken from websites and blogs, but also articles, news and social media posts. And this picture drawn on Google page 1 will determine whether people choose to do business with you, or go elsewhere. You might never know why you missed the much needed investment, got skipped for the new job or that board position you pitched for. It’s just inevitable: Google has become the first stage of the background check and the first elimination point.

My advice would be to start producing new, or re-purposing older, content. This will help to get your ‘online-me’ in sync with your ‘offline-me’. Uploading good content (including photos and videos) improves your chances of being found online. And remember that in order to rank on search engines, you need to have fresh content that is relevant to your audience. Google not only indexes your page based on keywords, but also the relevancy of a page’s semantic relevance and back links to credible websites.

Key to all this: a strong online reputation will help generate more business opportunities. And who doesn’t want that?

“So sad to hear you are leaving us, Britons! – Rodric Leerling

Today March 29, Great Britain officially announced, following the outcome of their referendum, to leave the European Union. The Brexit shockwaves of this badly under-estimated popular vote are still being felt here on the Continent.

Although I understand the anti-European emotions fed by too much power being absorbed by ‘Brussels’ and too many countries on the east joining in a short time, it still is such a grotesk and dramatic decision. And as we know now, the arguments to vote for ‘leave’ were mostly based on false financial information and exaggerated immigration stories.

So sad to realize that people who were in favour of remaining didn’t think it was necessary to campaign. It wouldn’t go that far, would it? Neither did the ‘leave’ campaign team expect this outcome. The older generation and those fearing to lose their jobs to Eastern Europeans, massively went to the polls and by absence of enough ‘stay’ votes, they as minority voted to leave. The young generation were in favour of the EU but took things for granted, and are still in shock of what the older generation did to their future.

It’s too late now and negotiations are starting today to fix a divorce deal. But will it be ‘a deal’ or ‘no deal’? Big political question the coming months in London. Contributions still need to be paid. And the EU is still offering a parachute to cancel the exit process during the two year negotiations. I have no illusions though, as this is pretty final. So sad to see you go, just when we needed you badly in counter balancing the traditional power brokers on our eastern and southern borders.

All the best dear friends. Goodbye and farewell. We will be in touch!

“Being Googled is one thing, being YouTubed is next” – Rodric Leerling

We are living in a ‘reputation economy’ where people are ‘googling’ all the time. Google has in fact become the new background check, not only for products and services, but also for people. People are just googling all the time and actually making critical decisions based on what they find. What will they find about you?

For many people, you are who Google says you are. Isn’t that scary!

Google and other search engines are primarily text based, their algorithm programmed to find text and pictures based on tags and keywords. Indexes (to fill the 10 slots or hits on each page) are made not only on keywords but also based on the relevancy of the page’s semantics and back links. So it’s adamant you publish fresh, short bits of content regularly, relevant to your audience, illustrating who you really are and what you stand for. People will read and link to your (WordPress) home page and website.

Start making sure you are being found online. Google page1 will then soon read like a personal brand story. With the right tags in text and images, and back links, you will boost your online reputation and eventually create more business opportunities.

But the next step in your online reputation building is video content. YouTube, owned by Google, is the second largest search engine in the world. While people are watching videos on YouTube, they will use it as their new search engine. So whenever possible, check if a video was made during your performance and ask for footage when you give a presentation or interview. Add it to your online presence and show what you are made of!

 

 

“It’s that time of year: the Online Presence Spring Clean-up” – Rodric Leerling

What if customers, before they decide meeting you, first check you out on Google and LinkedIn. What will they find? Just a brief summary of who you are, because ‘the rest will be added in a personal meeting’? What if potential clients decide it’s too vague and pick your competitor in stead? You will never know.

In order to become more visible and authentic, consider two important issues. First, all online content, from web and ad copy to social media and print materials, everything that’s published about you and your brand will become your brand. You are your own Personal Brand. Just because your company isn’t a media publication doesn’t mean people can’t go there for advice and insight. They will. All the time.

Secondly, in order to create a better and strong online reputation, you should start producing bits of content. Present all aspects about your personality, or have someone interview you. Talk about where you came from, what you do right now and how you envision the future. Cover all dimensions of your life, not just your business. You are more than just your job!

Produce this content (text and preferably also video) on WordPress and distribute it through social media. People will pick it up, read it and by doing so link back to you. This will help you perform well in search and Google will eventually present your ‘online-you’ more in sync with your ‘offline-you’.

And remember: ‘no news’ in search does not mean ‘good news’ on Google page 1. Start the digital clean-up today and build yourself a strong online reputation. It will ultimately generate more business opportunities.

“Is ‘no news’ about you also ‘good news’ on Google p1?” – Rodric Leerling

When was the last time you used a phone book to call a plumber? Whether it’s a product you want to purchase, or a new holiday travel destination, people are googling all the time and making critical decisions based on what they find. Still, few businessmen realise the same is happening on their person.

People are using Google (90% of all search traffic) to find information about you and other people that cross their paths, for better or for worse. The question to you is: what are they finding? Your content – from websites and blogs to articles, news and social media posts – will determine whether people choose to do business with you, or go elsewhere.

According to recent surveys in the US, only 2% of users ‘own’ their entire 1st page of Google, and less than half own their very first result, which is the most important. 92% of users do not go past page 1 for any given search. In fact, as the joke goes, “Google page 2 is the perfect place to hide a dead body”.

So my word of business advice: start thinking like a consumer! As you google a new product or service, now go and google yourself and see what others find about you. Is that really you, both in text and pictures? Those 10 hits on Google page 1 can be filled with content about who you really are. Think about it and let me help you.

 

“Human2Human” – Rodric Leerling

Sportief Westfriesland, leerling,biz, refrod, Rodric Leerling, Sales Power Provider

I was brought up in media sales with B2B and B2C marketing strategies. With the introduction of social media, the People-to-People or better: Human-to-Human (in short: H2H) is becoming increasingly popular as marketing trend. Weird, as this kind of communication has been around for as long as human beings started communicating. But ok.

For many purchase decisions, we all like to check with our peers or relatives. Also checking out the manufacturers directly online (do they exist at all?). Do your friends have experience with this product or that particular destination? How much did they pay and are they still happy with it? Increasingly, thanks to social media channels like Facebook and Instagram, we can now get a personal product analyses from our friends. In stead of through a well-thought-of B2C campaign, for which a complete strategy and marketing execution has been worked out, tested with A and B advertising plans etc. Taking time and big communication investments, but often using a polished language.

The B2C tactics will no doubt continue to play a role, using linear TV as prime advertising channel, in order to hit a large batch of consumers at once. The viewing numbers for this medium are starting to crumble, though. And more and more consumers are online, doing their own research, using critical notes from other consumers to shorten the list of brands before they purchase. People are also more concerned about the environment and want to know how things are being produced and at what costs. They don’t take the boxed advertising for granted anymore. And they follow other people with experience, with a solid tech view on products or just funny articles on daily life.

Consumer manufacturers have taken notice and are starting to get a stake of this new communication channel. They are hiring people to influence us as consumers in a different way. It started years ago in the US with big TV and sports stars (the so-called ‘macro-influencers’ with sometimes 1mln+ followers) who were wearing sponsored shoes or paid to promote a skin cream. And the masses followed, because they trust these stars and want to be like them.

The new trend is to start using less of the macro influencer, but rather mimic H2H and use a set of ‘micro-influencers’ (with max 10k social media followers) and spread the word in more consumer corners and niches. It will not only reduce the costs and help a brand to reach more consumers with different flavors, but also requires a normal language, like H2H language. People will be paid to continue tell their story online, how they cook, how they sport, how they travel etc. So beware of certain messages that might come across as very ‘human’ but are still orchestrated by a brand you might consider buying and using yourself.

“Working on a Good Futsal Ref Reputation”- Rodric Leerling

Rodric Leerling, Leerling.biz, Sales Power Provider, RefRod, CoolBrandsPeople, Sportief Westfriesland

It’s been a while since my last referee assessment. Especially for my futsal referee activities.

To my surprise, I just noticed an assessor is assigned to watch and report my futsal game performance next week. That’s one year after the previous report. I double checked and indeed, my last futsal report was Feb 2016. Have they forgotten me? Have I ended up in the ‘deplorables’ category?

Frankly speaking, I don’t really care. I tried to get up one league last year and was put in a special promotion group but was let down by my mentor. The games I’m reffing are mostly handled nicely, with some exceptions due to obnoxious teams or coaches, or sometimes me being not 100% focused. I know most of the time who is to blame and apologize if it was me.

But to make it one more step up, more is required than just reffing a good game. Consider these elements that keep cropping up in reports:  making it to the base line regularly, taking correct game management steps (yellow cards, even when advantage is given). Crossing over for a re-start closer to your current sideline. Making sure the subs are done in a proper manner. Using right whistle tones and proper hand signals. Making sure the right distance is being taken at all restarts (5m). Talking to players in a polite but straight way (eye-to-eye). Showing a calm posture in everything. Counting at restarts (4sec) especially when the goalkeeper possesses the ball. And this is all done by just you. No assistants, no colleague refs. Just you. Sometimes in a pressure cooker game of 2×25 minutes.

Do I want to make that step up? Good question. My ego says ‘yes’, but never know what assessors make of it.

I will let you know after reading my first futsal report in 12 months.