.jpg)
Photo by Dawson Dean
When I was in junior high school, after a very upsetting fight with a friend, I wanted to write a note telling them how mad I was. My parents were against it. They cautioned me about writing things down that I may later regret. They told me that once it is in print, you can't take it back and you never know who may end up reading it. As old fashion as it may sound, they were teaching me about my reputation.
Out of all the lectures I got from them through the years, this one made a lot of sense to me. I followed it and it ended up saving me from embarrassing situations more than once. I was careful to not end up in where someone might have assumed me to be a bad kid. As I got older and in high school, I was even more diligent about it. You would have never caught me in a Lindsay Lohan moment.
It's been many years since that initial advice and I think it is even more important now than ever. As a kid, I only had to worry about the 7th grade school body of Roosevelt Jr. High, but now I have to be concerned about the whole internet.
Every time I write on the Internet I am aware of what I am writing so I can protect my reputation. I keep track of how others see me, too by Googling my name. Have you ever Googled yourself? Jus go to Google and put your name into the search box and see what comes up? You can find out a lot about your reputation by doing that. Not only professionally, but personally. If you already have done this, then you can skip this step, but if you haven't, go ahead and do it and then come back.
Now, what did you find out? Are you and your online business coming across professionally?
You probably have already seen the video of Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent? Did you find yourself judging her before she even opened her mouth or did you just assume that she was a bad singer? We have the option to judge people by their looks when we meet them face to face or on t.v., but with the internet we judge them by the written word. Subsequently, our written reputation usually precedes us. Because you are not able to meet people face to face, before you read what they have to say, you rely on their printed word to get a picture of who they are and what they stand for. For Susan her voice won everyone over, for you, as an internet professional, let it be your words.
Comments