This is part four of a four post series on building your online reputation. Jay's other posts are available on maintaining your online reputation through proper name conventions, LinkedIn and Twitter.
By Jay Buerck
You’ve learned that owning yourname.com is one of the wisest investments you can make in your fight to protect or repair your online reputation. You’ve seen how you can leverage Facebook to also help the cause as well as your LinkedIn profile. Now it’s time to cover the new kid on the block, Pinterest.
Right now, Pinterest is all the rage across many demographics and companies are hopping on board. Now would be a great time to start an account for not only your reputation management needs but as a showcase of your talents to the world.
You might think that Pinterest is simply a place for pinning the picture of cats dressed as humans, craft projects, and pretty sceneries but it has vast potential for marketing businesses as well as yourself.
There are many elements in the Pinterest profile which can help with your online reputation including the ability to place your name as the title, do follow links to your other existing profiles and websites, as well as being able to name the categories you pin to which can include something like “Jay Buerck’s Favorites” or something like that.
Page Title
After receiving your invitation from Pinterest you can set up your profile. When setting up your profile be sure you name use your name in the title of your page and your username. This will make your Pinterest profile URL pinterest.com/yourname.
Do Follow Links in your Profile
Currently Pinterest allows for do follow links in your profile. What does this mean for you? You can link to your social media profiles such as Facebook, Twitter, and also a website of your choice. This interlinking will give your profiles and webpage some much needed links for searches involving your name.
About Section
This would be another great place in the profile to talk about you much like your LinkedIn summary. Don’t go overboard, this isn’t a place for resumes, but you could give a description and start pinning things that interest you.
Board Tagging
When you pin something, it is placed on a board and these boards can be called whatever you want them to be called. You can use your name for a board, pin companies or an industry you’re interested in, and just share with the community.
There is an outrageous amount of social media sites you can use to protect or repair your reputation. You don’t just have to use the most popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or even Pinterest in order for these profiles to show up.
You can even see profiles from commenting on articles or blog posts such as Forbes. Also, signing up for accounts with squidoo, quora, and Google+ can give you even more real estate. All these free accounts give you a chance to get started today and build up your online reputation. If you get stuck or some pesky negative piece won’t go away you can always call on the experts to help you out.
After taking these steps, you can start worrying more about your interview skills rather than will the hiring manager find that embarrassing story online.
Jay Buerck is the COO of an Online Reputation Management company and has worked as an online marketing specialist for over 8 years including stints with 3 Inc. 500 Award Companies. You can find more great tips and strategies by following him on Twitter (@jaybuerck).
