Three ways to leave your social media footprint

Published 3:35 pm Wednesday, July 28, 2010

If you don’t show up on Google, you don’t exist. The same goes for Yahoo. And Bing.

It’s easier than you might imagine to put your business on the virtual map. The best news: you can do it without spending a penny. Just complete these three essential tasks: create a consistent username for all your social media outlets, upload an avatar and set up a Google profile.

Online communities reach a vast audience; more people visit blogs and social networks than send personal e-mail, according to Nielson Online. In order for that audience to find you, you must promote your brand consistently among your online outposts.

A custom or “vanity” username helps you do just that. Usernames are displayed in lowercase letters as one word, even if the name is a combination of two or more words. If you’re a life coach, an author or an independent real estate agent — businesses in which you are the brand — your first and last name is a logical choice for a username.

If you own a brick and mortar business such as Flower World, Silver Creek Cottage Massage or Upper Case Books, your business name can double as your username.

Once you’ve decided which option to use, visit namechk.com. Enter your desired username and you’ll instantly learn whether that name is available at 149 social media sites. When you create profiles at Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, use the same vanity username at each; you’ll significantly increase your chances of owning your brand online.

Next, create a gravatar, or globally recognized avatar. This thumbnail image of you accompanies comments you make on others’ blogs. People associate your face with your brand; your gravatar cements name-face recognition into their long-term memory.

To get your gravatar, visit gravatar.com and enter the e-mail address you’ll use when commenting on blogs. Gravatar will send you a confirmation e-mail. Activate your free account and upload your business portrait from your hard drive, a webcam or the Internet. Gravatar provides a cropping tool that helps you create a square image. When you’re finished cropping, rate your image (G, PG, R or X). Finally, select the e-mail address(es) with which to use your gravatar.

The third way to build your brand online is to set up a personal Google profile that features you (not your business), but you can insert information about your business. Whenever someone googles your name, a link to your profile appears at the bottom of the first page of Google’s search results — along with the thumbnail image of yourself that you upload to your profile.

To create your Google profile, set up a free google.com account. Log in to your account and visit google.com/profiles. Fill in biographical and contact information and create a custom username for your profile (just as you did for your other online accounts).

Upload your business portrait (use the same image you uploaded for your gravatar). You can also showcase additional photos and create a map of your business location.

Google profiles display links to specific pages on your website, blog and social media accounts. This gives you the opportunity to route visitors directly to pages you want them to visit.

Perhaps the best reason for setting up a vanity username, gravatar and Google profile is that most Internet users don’t bother to create them. While others mull over how to leave their virtual footprint in cyberspace, you’ll already own your brand online.

Laura Christianson owns Blogging Bistro (www.bloggingbistro.com), a Snohomish-based company that that helps businesses enhance their relationship marketing through Web sites, blogs, Twitter and Facebook. Contact her at 425-244-4242 or laura@bloggingbistro.com.