Owning the First Page of the Search Engines for Your Name
Author: Dan Kennedy

How many times have you typed your name into Google?

How many of the listings on page 1 are about you?

How many are about some other tool that just happens to be
blessed with the exact same name as you?

If a potential client or customers is researching you, the
first place they will go to (in most cases) is Google. Of
course, your website should be there, but what are some
other easy ways to own the 1st page with more content about
you?

It's actually not terribly hard, and it doesn't require a
whole lot of work.

Just create profiles on these social media sites, and be
somewhat active, and you will rocket to the top within
weeks or even days if your name isn't too competitive.

Amazon.com - since we all know "poor people have big
televisions and rich people have big TV's" ...all of us
should have a large collection of books. And if you are a
big reader, and not using Amazon, you need to start right
now.

Amazon lets you to make a profile that includes all your
relevant info...and lets you review books (and anything
else they sell...which is just about everything). Each
review links back to your profile and once you get enough
links you will start to see it pop up in the search results.

Naymz.com - this is probably the only site on the list you
haven't heard of, and I don't really use it at all...but
it's on the first page of the search engines for my name.
All I did on Naymz was set up an account when a friend sent
me an invitation, and then sent invites to my contact list.
That was it.

I've gone in maybe 5 times in the last 2 years to manage
invite requests. Don't expect to make a lot of valuable
connections here, this is just super easy to get set up and
see fast results.

Facebook.com - if you aren't highly involved with Facebook
already you're a big marketing chance. The go ahead and
establish your account, then, just like with LinkedIn,
upload your contact/client/prospect list. However, don't
add more than 500 connections in one day. Once you have
enough friends you can set up a vanity url. Then, choose a
variation of your name (i.e. facebook.com/brian.horn). If
you build a decent sized Friends list, you should see it at
the top of the search engines.

Twitter.com - not to beat a dead horse, but Twitter is a
must for entrepreneurs.

Side note: I just got back from speaking engagement at a
Social Media Summit in Las Vegas very early this morning
(this blog post is actually being typed 30,000 feet in the
air somewhere over Utah), and had a chance to meet Tony
Hseish, who is the CEO of Zappos.com. Very cool guy who is
extremely active on Twitter.

You need to be interacting with your clients and potential
clients in this new media or another person will, but if
you need an another excuse, its quite easy to get your
Twitter page to rank of the search engine also. Like the
others I mentioned, just create a vanity url with your
name, and start getting as many connections as possible.

LinkedIn.com - LinkedIn is more of a tool for people in the
corporate world, and I reeally don't us it at all. But you
can still get it to rank on page 1 of Google. Use a vanity
url with your name or company name (whatever you are trying
to rank for). Fill it out completely and try to get a few
recommendations. You can upload your email list and quickly
find out which ones are active menbers.

You can also upload your client email addresses, or even
your prospect list (I highly recommend connecting with
everyone...especially now that Linked In can automatically
receive your Twitter updates...you don't even have to login
to LinkedIn to keep fresh content.

Very slick upgrade that came out on Monday. All your
contacts within LinkedIn will link back to your profile.
The more links back to it, the better. Get enough and your
profile will start to rank.

Summary

So there you have it...5 social media sites that allow you
to create profile that can rank on page 1 of Google for
your name.

I didn't spend any time trying to make this happen for
myself, it was just a pleasant side result of being active
in other social media/social networking sites. Although I
have been able to replicate it for some of my clients.


About the Author:

Brian Horn, of HornDog Search Marketing, is recognized by
many as the "Glazer-Kennedy Secret Weapon" because of his
role in helping not only Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer with
search engine optimization and social media, but also many
of the top Information Marketers in the world. He recently
released product that walks you through the process of
ranking a website on page 1 of Google
(http://www.beonpage1ofgoogle.com )