Thing 3: Personal Brand

To paraphrase Judy Garland, I’m somewhat under the radar for my online presence, but with this project, I’m taking the bull by the horns.  Along with my blog, I’ve established a blog-specific email address and twitter feed.  I see the twitter feed as a way that I can keep up with what I’m interested in, rather than a broadcast tool for my views.  Like all things on the Internet, it can be subject to change.

I liked the idea of consistency of naming across all online tools and this can be a challenge if you are well-established in one area and are not able to register that identity in another (ie, your preferred twitter handle has been taken by someone else).  This is probably a bigger problem for celebrities than for the rest of us “regular people”.

The personal/professional identity

Once I had my blog in place, I wanted to be able to use it to express myself professionally, but also personally, if I was so inclined.  I liked Jo Alcock’s “profersonal”approach. 

Activity

As I don’t have a Facebook account, I haven’t found me near the top when I Googled my name. I have found professional listings for me and also found another woman in the same general geographic area with my name.  I’m not worried about her though, nuns are pretty safe.  I didn’t find me on the first page of a Google search, but is that a bad thing?  Yes, people don’t tend to go too many screens deep when they are perusing the results, but since I’m not promoting a business or myself, do I need to be in the Top 10 list for my name?  It’s not always a good thing to be on Letterman’s “Top10” list.