The process of attaining top-of-first-page ranking for your name on search engines can be arduous, requiring considerable posting and cross-linking of pertinent information in your field that demonstrates your expertise, to achieve the “organic” rankings sufficient to get you close enough to the first page to be found, if not on the first results page itself.

Of course, you could always place pay-per-click bids on your name with the search engines to ensure exposure at the very top of the rankings, but if you have a common name you may have to bid on more of a “long tail” phrase including your name to achieve the ranking that will give you the results you desire. Otherwise you will be “eaten alive” by clicks from people looking for others with the same name.

I’ve come across an alternative, which permits you to put forth your qualifications, contact information, and informative bulletins – all the while giving you a guaranteed placement on the major search engines I mentioned – on their very first page.

As a practical demonstration, please Google my name – Don Hill.

This solution integrates perfectly with your existing branding strategy, allowing you to have top search-engine prominence, and building back-links to your other Web 2.0 branding sites to further increase their organic rankings.

One caveat, however, concerning the social networks. Due to the attempts of less-reputable “marketers,” many of them prohibit communications of a “commercial” nature within their community. The definition of “commercial” may be very arbitrary and vague, left to the discretion of some faceless overseer in a dimly-lit cubicle who has lost their sense of reality. (One possible explanation for screwedbyfb’s plight!)

If anyone knows how to contact FB, please let me know, I’ve found it be nearly impossible (imagine the irony of that?!).

http://Mark Mayhew.com

Plus, half of his will be fat in 20 years. Mine already are… lol.

onlineprguy, yes. I’m of the same belief. I don’t think Linkedin is even in the same conversation any longer…

michael markman, ann handley that’s funny! Ann, who has more friends though, you or our son?

Hi Ronna, excellent. That’s exactly right. I’ll stop by and take a look.

Vik, well said. And, this is still only the beginning.

you can google facebook accounts already, btw… and soon facebook will allow people to stay anonymous.

Parents are hip to MySpace, but not yet to Facebook… they should warn their underage kids to stay private.

But for those of us on our personal brand soapbox, Facebook and our own blogs are great cross-references!

~ Vikram
PersonalBrandMarketing.com

It’s not just the Linkedin for kids, as so many in the corporate (and even agency) world seem to think.