Last week we talked about the importance of establishing trust in affiliate marketing. You want clients to trust you. If they don’t, they’re not likely to buy from you and your affiliate marketing efforts will be for naught.
One way to help that process is to give them background information when they look for information about you. Many people who buy products online will take the time to research who they are buying from before they click the “Pay Now” button.
It has become part of our nature to be distrustful and consumer groups have taught us that we ask questions and do research in order to be savvy consumers. You do have a degree of control over what people find out when they search for you; provided, of course, that you have done nothing to warrant a bad online reputation.
Optimising Your Name As An Affiliate Marketer
Here are some suggestions for optimising your name so that people who “Google” your name will find good things:
• LinkedIn – Professional profile sites, such as LinkedIn often rise to the top of search engines when people search for names. This site allows you to demonstrate yourself as a professional and link your name with other professionals who can recommend your services.
• Facebook – Facebook ranks high in Google and by having a Facebook account, you give people an opportunity to connect with you directly. Conduct yourself professionally on this site and it can be used to market your affiliate products as well as to establish yourself as a trustworthy professional.
• Twitter – Twitter is another site that ranks high when people have an account with their name in it. Your Twitter profile can establish you as an expert in your field (especially if you write your bio that way) and people can check out your conduct by reading your last dozen or so updates. This is a good reminder to act professionally on social media sites as people who may be thinking about buying something from you may look you up on these sites to see how you conduct yourself.
• Article directories. If you have an ezinearticles profile, for example, this can often come up on Page 1 of results when people look for information about you. Not only will they find a professional looking profile but your profile can contain links to articles that pre-sell people and further establish you as an expert on your subject matter.
Take the time to search for your name on the top few search engines and if you search your local Google as well (google.com.au if you’re in Australia, for instance), you can see what you may look like to the eyes of a potential customer. If you don’t find much, get working at optimising your name.
Search engine results pages change on an ongoing basis so it’s also prudent to keep an eye on those first few pages to see what turns up. The above list is just a few of the many social media tools and websites that can help you with optimising your name and company name. If you find anything negative, get to the root cause of “why” so you can balance a negative review by seeking to improve and get more positive reviews in the future.
Sean Rasmussen
Aussie Internet Marketer
Learn Affiliate Marketing with Year Of The Affiliate © 2012
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
G’day Sean,
I tried putting my name into Google, and couldn’t believe how many entries I have. Not only the jazz pages, but lots of other stuff such as Facebook, Twitter and my blog.
There was an obituary for another Harry Lynn, so to set things straight, I’m very much alive and working my butt off with the YOTACADEMY package.
Been ignoring the Forum and BMT a little, so I’m due for a spank from Yang – although I’ve added lots of FB friends and Twitter followers.
Cheers
Harry
.-= Harry Lynn´s last blog ..MY EIGHTH STEP TO PROSPERITY =-.
Good to hear Harry, you are taking the internet by storm
Keep up the good work mate.
Same here Harry. I was extremely surprised when I ‘Googled’ my name and had 2 pages of results
OK, the results were not all me and it does pay to have a somewhat ‘different’ name. Facebook, LinkedIn and Naymz have been the highest ranking so far for me.
.-= Cemil´s last blog ..Affili@syd – Affiliate Marketing Conference =-.
I bet you’re relieved to find that you are still alive!
Hi Sean,
I agree with Harry and Cemil. I can’t believe what comes up when you Google me. You can literally follow all of my movements on the internet. There is a lot of information for people to sift through.
It really does give people a good overview of the kind of person I am. So, I can really see how optimising your name can help you build trust with potential clients. It definitely pays to consistently promote a professional image or at least one that shows that you’re one of the good guys.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Learn and Earn – It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint =-.
You are building your reputation online Jazz, good stuff
It sure pays to optimize your name online – in a good way. It’s easy to forget that whatever goes onto the Internet stays there, so it’s good to be very professional with whatever you put on there under your name.
On the other hand it’s also great that it is so easy to get a lot of information about a potential supplier (or staff …).
.-= Renee´s last blog ..Self Improvement Books – What Are Your Favourites =-.
I’ve googled my name in the past and it even comes up with my movements when I was a group leader at the local surf club. Obviously a newsletter was published on the internet and my name was mentioned. Optimising your name on the internet seems to be a fairly simple process but you really have to be careful to give your best service at all times so no negative reviews get put up about you. These would be very hard to rectify.
.-= Jackie Stenhouse´s last blog ..What to Look For in a Child With Anxiety =-.
On Googling “Don White” I find there are many usurpers of my good name. Seeing as all these people seem to be younger that me, I think think I’ll take a tactic from the playbook of the music industry and threaten to sue them all for copyright infringement.
However, one thing to realize is that you must be careful in what you say online especially if you plan on using your name as part of your marketing strategy. Whatever you write/say will likely be there for eternity and if you are a dumbass it will likely come back to bite you. Just my two cents.
.-= Don White´s last blog ..New Ireton Data =-.
Wow I haven’t googled myself for some 6 months. I was surprised at the results this time. Blog comments you name it. Having your own photo in your gravatar certainly has it’s advantages as well so you can’t be mistaken for another person with the same name.
I have never bothered to Google my name – but I do use it on Twitter, Facebook and Ezine.Articles as it does build up recognition (eventually) so there are longer term benefits
Hi Sean,
Googled my name, I’m #2 and #3 on page #1. On IE browser, there’s so many Jill Brown’s come up. I’m on page #5 or #6 and only if you know where to look would you find me. At least there’s naught in negative feedback, touch wood.
I do get your point though, Sean. I will work on optimising my name as an affiliate marketer after reading this article. Thank-you.
.-= Jill Brown´s last blog ..Couples Marry at Common Law =-.
Thats a good point you bought up Jill, if there are so many other people named Jill Brown and if one of them gets a bad reputation, how can you convince people that its not you? Also just wondering what IE browser was?
.-= Jackie Stenhouse´s last blog ..Types of Child Anxiety Disorder =-.
Hi Jackie,
IE browser stands for Internet Explorer browser. I think you can convince people it’s not you because all the stuff that’s linked to your business would have nothing to do with the bad version of you.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Finding Your Passion =-.
Thanks Sean,
I had never thought to search my own name before. It is quite interesting to see what comes up in a search & it really does pay to be careful what you print online, especially with what you say on Facebook or other social media sites. Great tips for increasing a positive online reputation!
.-= jeremy´s last blog ..jlagatule- RT @gurubob- True influence is not forcing people to say yesit is systematically destroying their reasons to say no – GuruBob =-.