Do one thing every day that grows your online reputation

So I’m putting together freelance business manifesto of sorts… One of the aspects I touch upon is to do one thing every day that grows your online reputation.

The inspiration for this stems from the Baz Lurhmann track – Wear Sunscreen which recites the essay ‘Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young’ by Mary Schmich. The essay & soundtrack struck a chord in my youth so I wanted to try and encapsulate some of that “heart” into one of my core principles, that you should consider building an online reputation of utmost importance.

I’ve written at length about motivation and getting the best out of your self, about investing in your ‘me project’ (from my Q&A call with Corbett Barr), how to convert more prospects to customers and some insight into the key failures to avoid as an online business.

So I wanted to bring the essence of those concepts together into an actual list of things you could/should do every day to grow your online reputation.

In doing so, you’ll grow taller (metaphorically of course) than your competition to rise above the noise and command the rates and clients you deserve.

All of the activities below actually advance your online reputation. I advocate getting into the habit of a daily ‘pat down’ of you and your business, asking questions such as “what did I do today to grow my business” and by extension “what did I do today that grew my online reputation.

Introducing “breadcrumbs”

Like the story of Hansel and Gretel, in which the duo left a trail of breadcrumbs so they could find their way home. Taking this principle further, you should scatter your presence around the web to drive relevant visitors back into your own site and your sales message. Namely this would take the shape of content so video, blog posts, audio calls, interviews, social updates all of which pointing back to your freelance work and lead generation funnel.

The more breadcrumbs you can build in your space, the more eyeballs you’re going to bring back to your central web presence and the more chance you have of converting those visits into something of real value to your business.

No man is an island

If you take steps daily to build your online voice not only though do you build an authority, an online presence, a platform, you begin to widen your net of relationships with bloggers, entrepreneurs and other freelancers in your space. These may prove vital down the line when you’re looking to land that big fish client as it will open you up to wider circles and the benefit of referral opportunities.

Growing in online stature can – and indeed should – be done incrementally in the following areas. Below is a checklist you can take away and refer back to daily, for some activities you could consider as having grown your online reputation on completion.

They’re all in past-tense so you can quickly run your eyes down them each time and we’re looking here for engagement / acknowledgement of your action, so not just you conveyorbelt-ing out content. You should reverse engineer these “wins” to find activities that make them happen.

So here is a list of activities that will help you grow your online voice. Aim to get 1-3 of these checked off per day. After a few months at this rate you’ll really be starting to see the fruits of your labour. Remember, the better your reputation the more justification you’ll have for billing the rate you really want.

Learn anything? Please share

By Liam Veitch @freelancelift