Mark your digital presence

Did you ever Google your own name? Did you get any results that directly relate to you? Did you ever try to search for your name in any of the search engines? If your answer is no, mark your presence on the Internet even before others do it for you. Use the Internet as a platform to showcase your expertise and skills and learn more from other experts at the same time. It is not only programmers, designers and journalists who can place their portfolio online. There are many ways in which you can comfortably showcase your expertise and mark your presence online.

Blogs - This can be a good place to begin. You can write anything about everything that you want to share with others. A new mother in California became famous overnight after she began sharing her experiences about bringing up a naughty child from the day one. Use your blog as a personal diary to let the world know more about you. Or try to include some tips about how to perform effectively in your job as a technical writer. Try blogger.com or wordpress.com to begin with a page of your own thoughts and experiences. You can later enhance it to build your own website. Try podcasting. A podcast is an audio file publicly available on the Internet. You can either use the existing podcasts to broaden your knowledge on a particular topic or make a podcast of your own if you have the skills and expertise. Yet, you need not rock your brains on how to make your own podcast. The search engines have many solutions here also. It is just the content that you should own.

Forums and communities – There are innumerable forums and communities relating to almost all job areas – programming, software testing, designing, writing, recruiting, Human Resource management, and even sports communities. Join these forums and you will be surprised at the help that you can get and benefit. People benefit in many ways by sharing their knowledge – they get exposure primarily and get to learn more by listening to the varied doubts of others. Information hoarding is a thing of the past. The netizens are more than willing to cooperate and collaborate. Wikipedia defines a Netizen as a person who actively involves in online communities. You can also enroll into a mailing list that is dedicated to your sphere of work. Search for your particular group on any of the hosting sites and join the group.

Online bookstores – You read enormous literature related to your area of business or operation. Spare a few minutes to comment on a popular book to help others choose the book. You gain advantage by being listed in the search engines thus automatically.

Articles and Contributions - Highly experienced employees can also contribute articles and advice to some websites. There are a host of websites that solicit your articles and advice on various issues. It all depends on your perseverance to find the sites that require your advice. Indeed, there are many sites that have enormous requirement for mentors in many fields. Grab the opportunity to make the best use of your experience.

Advice – There are many places on the Internet where you can give advice to people who have specific doubts in your area of work. Browse through the articles that appear on blogs of reputed people in your area and add your own comments. Share your experiences in your comments and try to solicit responses to your comments. Thus, you get a chance to enlarge your network. Finally, refrain from commenting without any knowledge.

The other side of the coin

There are many people out there waiting for an opportunity to play foul. The danger may come from anywhere - your colleague who is your competitor or a complete stranger playing with your words just for the heck of it. Here are some precautions that you need to take while blogging or writing anywhere on the Internet.

• Refer to your company policies before you actively participate online.
• Refrain from speaking negatively about your company or working atmosphere at your company while you are a part of forums and communities.
• Do not use offensive language while speaking about others. Even though you have the right to criticize others, refrain from blatant criticism.
• Avoid using derogatory language against any group of people. Little statements have the chances to trigger crises.
• Never copy content from another blog or website without specifying the source. Beware of copyrights before you try the copy-paste routine.