For the process of Personal Branding to be most effective, you need to pay special attention to monitoring and protecting your brand. It’s much like building a house to live in- it’s a fantastic thing to bring the project of constructing the house to the end. However, if you want to make the most use of the house and want the experience to be less of a hassle and more of comfort and enjoyment, you need to do periodical assessment and inspection so you can deal with any problems that might crop up and can be the basis of a larger headache. The same is true for your Personal Brand. You need to monitor and protect your Personal Brand if you want it to work for you most effectively in the long run.

Here are some useful tips you might want to consider:

Online Care

  1. Google yourself regularly.

Some do it every day, some weekly, monthly or even every 6 months. Depending on your field of work, your audience persona, and the online component of what you do, it can differ hugely, but it’s always a must. You should never forget to keep an eye on your most precious career asset: your Personal Brand.

If you have a common name (John Smith) and there are lots of other people with the same name showing up in the results of your Google search, consider adding your middle name or using a nickname or any other stunt you might think of to separate yourself from the lookalikes. It will obviously take time but it’s worth the effort in the long run.

If by any chance you happen to find information that is not favorable about you, you have certain options to consider:

Use SEO to your advantage. The more relevant data you create containing your name, the more favorable the Google results will be, because Google loves new data and, as a result, your notorious data will be pushed down the search results further and further. So, put in some effort and:

launch your website using a domain under your own name (if you don’t already have one)
write blogs with high density and frequency of your favorite keywords AND your name
create new content on your website regularly
by using ads and also building relationship with other bloggers, increase the traffic to your website
upload appropriate photos on the web with meta tags including your name

If you’d like to know more, Brian Dean from Backlinko.com has good tips on this issue.

If the problem is because of some faux pas you have committed, stay true to your authentic self and don’t ever try to cover up. People might forgive you once, but not repeatedly. Do a mea culpa, keep your fingers crossed and get it over with.

Set limited access to your social media profiles when possible. Most social networking sites such as FB, LinkedIn and G+ let you do that.

Make a vow so that from now on you will be scrupulous about what to digitize and what not to digitize. Privacy is golden these days, and once you’ve made the gaffe, the water is probably under the bridge. So think twice before you post any text or image online, anywhere.

Let time pass. Time is the healer of all wounds.

Sometimes, particularly in extreme cases, changing location or even your domain may help.

  1. Use these tools to monitor your field and the influencers.

There are a few awesome tools out there on the Net that I regularly use to monitor my field, my competitors, the influencers in my domain and even what people are saying about me on the Web.

Google Alerts (https://www.google.com/alerts)
Mention (https://mention.com/en/)
Twitter search
These tools help you be involved in the conversation in real time and build invaluable relationships with people who are important to your job and to your life.

  1. Update your website and social media regularly.

Post engaging material on your social media pages frequently that will actually add value to your audience. Also, write regular blog posts containing precious content that your audience will want to read and share.

There is no optimum frequency or number of posts that’s valid for everyone and there are tons of factors that may influence the outcome. I suggest you test, test and test. For example, I’ve figured the best frequency of posting on Instagram for me is 1-2 posts per day, and that I get better results if I post toward the night time.

B: Offline Care

  1. Focus on quality.

Over time, it’s been proven to me that competency is THE most important factor in career success, much more than marketing, sales pitches, and connections. To ensure the best quality:

Always (over-)deliver what you promise. Go the extra mile for your audience.
Continuously plan your moves, measure your progress, and correct any problems.
Listen to your audience and act accordingly. After all, they are the people who put food on your table.
Don’t sell yourself cheap just in the pursuit of being more visible.


Focus single-mindedly on one goal at a time. Dividing your attention in so many directions will only cause frustration.

  1. Update yourself.

Each night, ask yourself “What have I learned today?”

I always start and finish my days with 30 min of reading. IG accs Cheap cease to learn and apply your new knowledge to your job.
Be creative to stay ahead of copycats.
Attend seminars and join special-interest groups and associations in your field.

  1. Evaluate your Personal Brand.

Peter Montoya in his book, Personal Branding Phenomenon, suggests you ask yourself:

Is my Personal Brand working regarding

Short-term results: Have I noticed any results during the past 1-6 months?
Brand awareness: Are people more aware of who I am and what I do than before?
Reaching goals: How much have I come along the path of achieving my goals?
C: One Other Important Tip

  1. Deal with people prudently.

Follow the golden rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated.

Always respect your supporters and fans and those who stood beside you at difficult times.

Respect everyone in your network. I think a major reason why most of my competitors speak well behind my back is because I always show the utmost respect for them, no matter how experienced they are.

Ignore jealous people. Their jealousy is a vivid indicator that they believe you are better than them.

Don’t take negative comments personally. Haters mostly hate themselves for not achieving the great things that you did. Neil Patel says, “The worst thing you can do with a negative person online is to try and ‘correct’ their feelings about you and your content. They have generally made up their mind about you and what you’re doing so there is very little chance of convincing them otherwise. Instead, when you respond to their feedback you’re igniting their fire and showing that you’ll engage with them. This opens the door for them to continue to have fun at your account. They are out to get a rise out of your emotions and when you respond, especially when you respond with high emotion, you’re giving them exactly what they want.”

Remember you are a role model. It doesn’t matter if only a hundred people know you or you have tens of millions of fans throughout the world. If you’re aspiring to improve your personal brand, try to act as if everyone’s watching you all the time. Serve people, give to charities, be humble, and your personality will shine through the crowd.