Dont be like Conan - create your online presence BEFORE you need it! -

Dont be like Conan - create your online presence BEFORE you need it! - I dont think I am going out on a limb here by assuming that most of my readers are not celebrities! But, you do have something in common with a celebrity; you should reserve YourName.com even if you dont plan to use it right now. If you have been following the whole Conan OBrian story, you know that NBCs contract prohibits him from appearing on TV until September. But, did you know that Conan had never even considered having his own online presence before the whole debacle with NBC? It turns out that a squatter owns ConanOBrian.com, and Conan himself was a bit of a luddite when it came to using social media. The New York Times reported about OBrian: Gainfully employed by NBC for some two decades, a personal Web site had hardly been a priority until, well, his tenure as host of The Tonight Show screeched to an end in January. Suddenly he needed a new platform. He joined Twitter, and last month, helped by just a few tweets, Mr. OBrien largely sold out his 30-city comedy tour, which starts on Monday in Eugene, Ore. (Thanks @Twitter_Tips for that link.) But, having ramped up quickly, many people now believe that Conan is using social media (Twitter in particular) to sell himself to Fox. (Hat tip @KathyOreilly) Dont wait until you need social media to corral the tools you need. Start building your online presence now! A social resume can help you build your brand and share information much more flexibly than other online mediums, such as LinkedIn. Creating your own site and building it into your online home is a project worth starting. Dont wait until it seems crucial and you are pressed for time. Just as you dont want to leave your work address as a primary contact for your LinkedIn profile since you would be locked out if you lost that email in a layoff, for example dont sit back and wait for someone else to take over your online presence. Not sure what to do? I can help! CONTACT ME to learn about creating an online presence that would make anyone proud! photo by rkolson