If you use social media to promote yourself or to attract and engage prospective customers, your blog posts and status updates gives friends and prospects a glimpse of what kind of professional you might be if they were to hire you.  So every post should be well thought-out and critically evaluated before you press that enter button.

Readers have a limited amount of time and because there’s so much content online, they have to pick and choose.  Why should they follow you rather than someone else?

Therefore, before you post, consider the following:

Value.  Is this message important?  Does it impart value to the reader? Does it answer a question or solve a problem for them?  Does it give them information they don’t already have?  Better yet, does it give them information they can’t get anywhere else?  Does it make them want to comment or answer back?  Does it make them want to save your message or share it with someone else?  By reading it, will they see you as someone who adds genuine value and is worth doing business with?

Viewpoint.  Let’s face it, everything you post is not meant to be a learning experience.  Sometimes your status updates will be insightful or personal.  So the question is, do you present a unique point of view?  Will friends and followers relish your posts for your good humor or your unusual take on the day’s topic?  Do you possess an outlook that sets you apart?  Are your messages worth reading because each contains a special little bit of you?

Verve.  Finally, are you exciting, energetic, entertaining?  Do you move people emotionally or spiritually?  Do your messages uplift?  Do they make people laugh or at least smile?  Do they make people think?  Does the information on your site or its very design convey something that grabs people? Will this post make people want to read more? Will readers feel like they’re missing out if they don’t subscribe or check back another time?  What is it about this post that will make readers want to come back again and again?

Certainly, everything you post is not going to meet all of these criteria every single time.  Your aim, however, should be to gradually, through a series of posts, shape the image your readers have of you.

Keep in mind that the words and images you post become you, especially for people who’ve never met you.  So craft your online image with care.

There are three types of social networking posts. Each does something a little different, but each is an important ingredient in successfully creating an online presence.

Blog Posts. Think of a blog as the main element in a stew, the meat of your Internet mélange. Blog posts can be as long or as short as you wish.  They can be tightly edited and written in a journalistic style, or they can be rambling, freeform essays that chronicle your inner thoughts and feelings.  And because you can use them to write as much as you want, blogs give you a huge degree of freedom to craft your online personality.

But with blogs, it’s not just what you write.  It’s also how your blog looks and feels. When you decide to make a stew, you get to choose the main ingredient; will it be a Louisiana-style gumbo with crayfish and crabs, or will you be boiling corned beef and cabbage?

It’s the same way with your blog.  You choose the style.  Will it be colorful and crazy?  Or will an understated black and gray color scheme suit your purpose better?  Will it have a slick, polished look?  Or will it be more folksy and friendly?  The words you choose, the slant and style of the writing, the look and feel of the site—you get to put it all together.   And the choices you make impact your image online.

Status Updates. Status updates give you the opportunity to let people know what you’re doing throughout the day.   They’re kind of like the vegetables in your stew:  add some of this and some of that.  If you’ve got carrots, put them in.  If not, the potatoes and onions will be fine by themselves.

Status updates are what’s happening with you now—whatever you happen to have at the moment.  They can be funny and personal or they can herald your latest professional accomplishments.  It’s all up to you; whatever you can share in a few sentences. Throw in some pictures if you have them.  Get feedback from your friends and fans.  Stir it all up to blend the flavors nicely.

Micro-blogging Posts.  Finally, there’s micro-blogging.  Think of it as the seasoning:  a pinch here and a dash there.  The best cooks know how to work magic with seasoning and you can do the same with micro-blogging.

Twitter has become the cornucopia of micro-blogging.  And while some people use Twitter mostly for status updates, it’s really most powerful as a micro-marketing tool.  Share blog posts and news stories about events that interest you.  Give people a sense of who you are by what kind of content you link to.  Gain followers by adding value based on the content you share.  Remember all the while that—just like in a well-seasoned dish—simplicity and subtly often work best.

These three kinds of blog posts are the elements in your online mix.  Combine them well to create an appetizing and irresistible brand.

For agents, blogging is about developing name recognition and establishing yourself as an expert, as someone consumers would want to go to when they were ready to buy or sell a home.  One secret to building your name recognition on the Internet is to comment on other people’s blogs.

But when you leave comments on someone else’s blog, you’ll also want to be able to post a photo of yourself for instant brand and name recognition.  That’s where gravatars (and avatars) come in.

An avatar is a graphic representation of yourself that’s posted on the Internet.  Most social networking sites encourage you to upload a photo or some other image (i.e., an avatar) that will represent you on that site.  Avatars are useful because human beings spot and remember visual cues; we often recognize someone’s face, for example, when we can’t remember their name.  Therefore, when you leave a comment on another person’s blog, it’s better for your name recognition if there’s a photo along with that comment.  In fact, notice below how much more appealing it is when comment writers have an avatar rather than an empty box next to their name.

A gravatar is a “generally recognized avatar”.  Gravatars allow you to easily post the same photo as you comment on sites around the web.  Without gravatars, if you wanted an image with your comment, you’d have to upload a photo every time you posted a comment on someone’s blog.  But a gravatar is universal.  You create it one time and thereafter, each time you post a comment, the same picture is placed automatically.  And placing the same picture over and over again on the web is great for your name recognition.

Gravatars work on thousands of websites around the Internet.  It’s easy to create one—and it’s free. To get started, go to www.gravatar.com.  Watch the video and then create yours.

Google Profile lets you establish your identity on Google.  That’s a good thing, of course, when you want people to be able to find you.

Without a Google Profile, when someone googles your name, they might find you, but they might also find others with the same name as you.  That’s what happens, for example when I google my own name.  I’m there, but so is the Saundra Washington who is a minister living in Florida and who does work in the area of grief counseling.

But once I create a Google Profile, it appears at the bottom of the search page any time someone looks for me on Google.  My picture is there accompanied by a snippet of the biographical information I’ve provided.  Google users can click my name to see my full biography along with pictures and links I’ve included.  In other words, they get to see the me that I want them to see.

Up to four profiles will appear at one time (presumably the more complete your profile is, the more likely it will appear during a search), but currently so few people are using Google Profiles that, unless you have a very common name, your profile is likely to show.

To get started creating your Google Profile, go to www.google.com/profiles and follow the easy instructions to enter your information.  It only takes a few moments and your profile will start showing up immediately.

It’s no secret that employers search Google before interviewing candidates or offering someone a job.  There’s a great deal you can find out about a person by simply googling his or her name:  pictures, profiles, videos, blog entries, comments written by and about the person, tweets.  Taken together, this collection of information gives a prospective employer an idea of who it is they’re about to hire.

So think about this:  If employers can do it, so can your prospective clients.  If a would-be client looked up your name on the Internet, what would they find?  Hopefully there are no photos of drunken revelries from your college days or incendiary comments from your ex.  But it could happen.

The fact is, everything you’ve ever created or shared on the Internet is out there available for someone to find.  Search engines can even turn up information from sites that no longer exist.  The information could have been created by you—like your old MySpace page—or by someone else.  It could be true or it could be very incorrect.  It could even be a case of mistaken identity—a murder suspect in another state with the same name as you.  Nonetheless, this is what prospective clients will see if they try to find out more about you.

Start Today

When is the last time you googled your own name?  Try it now and see what you get.  Also try one of these search tools that pulls information from a variety of sources:

ZabaSearch taps public records and databases

Yasni pulls data from social networking sites and creates a complete “profile” of you

pipl quickly and efficiently identifies photos and websites that include your name and likeness

If your search turns up a lot of information, hopefully it speaks well of you.  If you’re finding very little, it’s time to get busy.

Either way, your work is cut out for you.  Starting today, your job is to thoughtfully add information to the Internet that builds your credibility and enhances your reputation.  In future posts, we’ll discuss the many ways to do that.  We’ll also discuss what to do if your Internet search turns up negative information or if some person with the same name as you grabs the top search positions, making it hard for prospects to find you.

Don’t Overlook the Personal Touch

The best defense is always a good offense, and in this case personal contact can be an excellent offensive strategy.  If your prospecting includes phone calls, face-to-face meetings, and other personal interactions, people will feel they know you.  And people who know are less likely to feel the need to look you up on the Internet to see if you’re any good.  Alternatively, you can build a strong referral business, so that prospects come to you because someone they trust has recommended you.  That too will keep prospects from feeling the need to research you before giving you a call.

Because the Internet can be your enemy as well as your friend, it’s important to take control and be proactive about your online image.

Human beings are visual creatures.  We remember what we see, which is why we’ve all had the experience of meeting someone we knew but being unable to recall their name.  Pictures and images stay with us even when words and information don’t

That’s why your social networking profiles should all include a good photo of yourself.

• A good photo jogs the memory of people who’ve met you before.
• A good photo gives your profile a human touch.
• A good photo makes it more likely that a stranger will want to know you or work with you.
• A good photo says, “I’m confident, I’m knowledgeable, and I’m good at what I do.”

You’ll need to decide if you want to use the same photo on all social networking sites.  Having the same photo creates consistency and helps you build your brand.  But a photo that is too stuffy on Facebook or too casual on LinkedIn may look out of place.  So if you’re using only one photo, create something that’s business casual but that clearly communicates who you are and what you’re about.

What Makes a Good Personal Photo

• Your photo should be relatively current, not something taken years ago
• Use a cropped, centered headshot
• Don’t include photos of your dog, your children, your home or anything else—save those for your Photo Album
• Face mostly forward in the shot so people can recognize you
• Make sure the photo is well-lit to give it a more professional look
• If you’re using a camera phone, it should be 3 megapixels or better
• Have someone take the photo for you and/or use cropping tools to get it just right
• Smile

Your brand is the image of yourself that you promote to the world.

It used to be difficult–if not impossible–for an agent to establish a personal brand.  You had to have lots of money and lots of time.  Money was needed to create publication pieces or to run ads in newspapers.  Time was needed to create, stuff, stamp, mail or deliver printed material to your potential audience.  Because it was hard to do, agents seldom did it well, relying instead on their brokerages to promote the corporate brand. 

Web 2.0 with its interactive tools has changed all that.  Now anyone with access to the Internet can create an online identity and manager their own brand.  It’s easy, it’s inexpensive, and every agent ought to be doing it. 

Decide Who You Want to Be

Are you quirky?  Funny?  Silly?  Serious?  Are you a consummate real estate professional who dots every “i” and crosses every “t”?  You get to decide how others will see you.  You choose the words and the images that best describe you.  You craft a version of yourself that lets potential clients know who you are and what sets you apart from other agents.  Just always be careful that every word you write and every picture you upload is consistent with the professional image you want to portray.

Decide Which Tools to Use

You can build profiles on social networking sites.   You can write blogs or post micro-blogs. You can create podcasts or videos.  You can self-publish  books and online newsletters.  The Internet makes all this possible at little or no cost. 

These new tools combined with the “old school” tried-and-true methods of building your business (e.g., phone calling, networking, farming, conducting open houses) can give you a powerful edge over agents who haven’t mastered the new technology. 

Get the Word Out

Once you’ve begun to craft your online image, let people know about it.  Connect with family and friends online.  Use networking cites to find lost friends and classmates.  Join online and in-person groups.  Reference your online presence on your business card and tell people about it when you talk to them. 

This part still takes time, but it’s easier than it used to be because the Internet speaks for you.  It gives people a more complete picture of what you do and how you do it than was ever possible before.