HOW TO Build Your Brand With A Common Name - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

HOW TO Build Your Brand With A Common Name - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career After completing a quick Google search of yourself and seeing your name, but none of your matching sites or profiles, how can you make sure your personal brand can be spotted? For those who have a common first and last name, this problem is constant battle. If others with your name are overshadowing you online, it can lead your personal brand down a path to nowhere. Even worse, you might get confused for someone else who may have a completely different (or inappropriate) brand. If you find yourself competing with others to get recognized, consider these three ways forbuilding a unique and easy-to-find brand: Make a Change.  If you decide that you don’t want to stick with your name, consider changing it for getting recognized in the online world. Personal Branding Blog contributor Erik  Deckers  lists  some ways to reinvent your name  to make finding you much easier. Get Your Own Space.  For the most popular social media sites, you can be sure that there  are  hundreds or thousands of Daniel Scotts or Sarah Millers.  Though you can’t be the only one on Facebook, consider creating your own personal website. That way, you can have a space that is free from confusion and can link all your different profiles for others to see.  Also be sure that you are  choosing the best domain name for yourself. Get Above the Rest.  Besides being active with your online presence, you still want your name to be found as easily as possible. With  SEO  (search engine optimization), you can increase your chances of being seen along with the right keywords that describe you. Personal Branding Blog contributor Nance Rosen listshow to choose the right keywords. Completing  one or all of these steps can help differentiate you from your others with your name.  Managing your online reputation, however, remains the most important factor, even when you are not the only one online. Have you ever had this problem? How did you individualize yourself when sharing a common name? Author: Heather R.  Huhman  is a career expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder president of  Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for organizations with products that target job seekers and/or employers. She is also the author of  Lies, Damned Lies Internships  (2011),  #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle  (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for  numerous outlets.