Connecting the Dots for Critical Mass

If you want to be successful online, you need to play the game. If you're too sophisticated to Tweet or don't want everyone knowing your business, then I hope you're independently wealthy or already retired, because your online presence is where your online power is located. I have been very reluctant to do what everyone else is doing. I now understand there is a reason for it that goes far beyond just participating in a fad. Developing a credible online identity has everything to do with traffic building and rank. The last thing Google wants is to give an online scammer a high rank. To that end, Google wants people who are real people with real expertise and skill in a given field before they give them rank in search engines. To achieve authority status, it is necessary you play the online game with gusto. I have not yet added a Twitter account, but that is on the list. The key is to connect all of your online account profiles together using Google+ and to make sure that you have a profile for whatever you want to be known for on all the major social media sites. This includes Linkedin, Yelp, Facebook, Google+, Gravatar, Twitter, Plaxo and all of the professional groups and forums you contribute to. All of this put together creates a credible online profile that can be trusted. The higher your trust index, the higher your rank will be when you blog and post. It can feel demeaning to submit all your personal stuff to electronic power brokers, but the world is changing faster than any of us can imagine, and we really no longer have the luxury to remain anonymous and unconnected. For introverts like myself, this is like going to the gym and doing push-ups. It feels like you're getting nothing done as you build fan pages and invite people into your circles, but this is how things work today, so I guess we just need to get used to it. For those who deliberately embrace this type of change, there is really marketing power in doing so. To get started, get a Google account if you don't already have one and populate it with as much content as you can. Sign up for Googl+ and connect all of your online dots inside your profile. It may take you all morning, but if you plan to sell anything online, this is what you need to do. More later. Cheers, and Merry Christmas Jamie