I recently caught up with web entrepreneur Michael Hussey to have a chat about PeekYou, the people search engine and his latest online venture, PeekScore . As someone who is interested in Personal SEO and online reputation management, I was fascinated to hear what Michael had to say regarding people search and tools to organise disparate data.

Essentially, PeekScore is a tool that calculates how influential people are by looking at their online presence including blogging, social networks, number of friends, followers, readers, the amount of web content they create, and prominence in the news to give a score between one and 10. Having played around with this innovative tool, I can see how it could work in harmony with PeekYou to become an extremely useful service in both a personal and professional capacity.

If Michael’s past successes which include Rate My Teachers, Rate My Professors and Rate My Face are anything to go by, we can expect PeekScore to be well received. You can find out more about Michael from his blog, Tweets and Linked In profile.

1. People will be well acquainted with search engines like Google and Bing; however for many, search engines for people are a new concept. What does PeekYou do?
Search engines such as Google and Bing map out the associations between links and keywords, whereas PeekYou maps out links in relation to their authorship — so it determines whether a link is associated with a person.

2. It’s always great to hear about exciting new digital tools, but what was the inspiration for PeekYou? How did it come about?
PeekYou was inspired by the idea that the backbone of the Internet consists of the enduring relationship between people and the URLs they create – it’s the most basic relationship, and one of the most relevant, that persists and will continue to persist across the Internet even 100 years from now: there will always be people active on the web, and they will always create linkable web content. I knew that if I could somehow tie these two things together in a single index, it would go a long way to power many important applications in the Internet of the present and future. This was in April 2006, and I didn’t waste a minute once the concept was clear in my head and I started executing right away.

3.  Can you please explain how PeekYou as a people search engine is different from conventional search engines? How does it distinguish between websites and people?
Our web crawlers are very similar to standard search engines, but our algorithms are focused on identifying specific information related to actual people – that could mean, for example, the person identified in a news article (does the article mention where that person lives?) or who owns a homepage (does the person list something about themselves? A name, or email address, perhaps? Something they can be identified by?). It can get a bit complicated, but we look at a whole lot of potential identifying variables when trying to determine to whom a page is associated.

4. PeekYou has been described by Mashable as ‘making people search worthwhile’, but why are people searching for each other?
As online and offline life merge ever closer together, the importance of your online identity continues to increase. More people than ever are “Googling” someone’s name before they do business with them, go out on a date together, etc. Finding out who someone really is even before meeting them in the real world has gotten a lot easier because of tools like ours. Therefore more and more people continue to come back. The better our search results get, the better our traffic.

5. Who’s using PeekYou at the moment and why should I?
People from all walks of life find PeekYou useful: those who are searching for a long-lost relative, an old friend they’ve lost touch with, an old flame, or someone they’re researching for work or study purposes. Some law-and-order officials use it for their investigations. HR personnel looks up potential candidates to screen them before an interview. Online daters use PeekYou for due diligence beyond a profile in an online-dating site, etc.

6. From Rate My Teacher to Rate My Face and now PeekYou, many of the fantastic tools you’ve developed involve some form of ranking, what is the thinking behind that?
I’ve long been interested in organizing disparate data to make sense of it – and doing so often lends itself to some form of ranking or rating. Everything is relative – from a professor’s quality ratings to our activity on the web – so why not create standards of comparison to help people make sense of it all?

7. What tips would you give people looking to enhance their PeekScore?
PeekScore is a measure of the relative size of your digital footprint. If you want to increase your score, leave more footprints. In other words, blog regularly, Tweet, participate on social networks such as Facbook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Foursquare. The more active and engaged you are with other people on the public Web, the higher your score will be.

8. Most people are familiar with the privacy settings on Facebook, but in the digital age, just how important is it for them to be aware of their digital footprint?
Just as it took some time for many of us to understand and appreciate Facebook’s privacy settings, the importance of our footprint on the public Web is also becoming better understood with time. Whereas certain types of information you share on Facebook can be hidden from the public eye, participation in the public web makes your data available to anyone. It is important that people understand the public web and their place in it. In practice, that means that we ought generally to act the same way online as we would offline.

9.  What is the long term vision for PeekYou?
The long-term vision has not changed since day one – and that is to continue to index people and their URLs. The things we are able to do with this index are incredible and continue to amaze me. As long as we keep improving our core technology, those opportunities will continue to develop and present themselves.

10. People search engines and influencer identification tools like 123 People and Klout are becoming increasingly popular, but what is PeekYou’s USP?
PeekYou.com is now the largest free people search engine in the world – and the 294th most popular website in the U.S. http://www.quantcast.com/peekyou.com and traffic has doubled in the past six months.  We believe PeekYou.com can be one of the top-100 sites in the country – perhaps by next year.
Our B2B partnerships are bringing this index into a whole host of new applications which I had not even foreseen back when I started PeekYou. Partner companies like Radian6 are able to offer more robust applications by working with us and our index.

I would like to thank Michael for taking time out from his busy schedule to talk about PeekScore and PeekScore and I look forward to watching this tool make a big impact.

I was inspired to write these tips after reading Katelyn Mashburn’s fantastic post on making the perfect pitch to journalists. This got me thinking about not only how important it is to get the pitch right when you’ve got the job, but also ensuring that your pitch is up to scratch when you’re talking to potential employers.

I say this as my colleagues and I see an increasing number of graduates who connect with us via social media channels. Social media provides great opportunities for sharing and discussing ideas, finding out the latest news and networking – but occasionally I’ve noticed people take a sledgehammer approach coupled with a fair dose of pester power when sounding out a role.

Before we start, I must say that this post is not intended to criticise people, but offer constructive feedback and more importantly, tips that will help pitch your skills, personality and knowledge to an employer using social media – and hopefully land that job. In addition, with many PR Grad Schemes at the international agencies closing in the coming months, this post may also be useful for those looking to connect with the top dogs at smaller consultancies.

My point is that one person’s good intentioned persistence can be perceived as a bit overwhelming – or worse. Sociologists and HR directors have been quick to cast Generation Y as having great expectations and being known for expecting (and demanding) to get what they want. We’ve seen some of this, but most of the pester power approaches can be put down to youthful exuberance, enthusiasm and perhaps a touch naivety. I suppose the best advice is to put yourself in an employer’s shoes. Will your pitch place some doubt in a potential employer’s mind about your ability to pitch to journalists, bloggers or other stakeholders?

The PR industry is all about relationships and your ability to identify, nurture and enhance relationships is a vital skill. The way I see it, the best way to pitch yourself to a potential employer is by demonstrating that you have a good understanding of the industry by curating and creating content, commenting on blogs coupled with real life experience and a big measure of creative thinking.

Here are steps that will help pitch your skills, personality and knowledge to an employer using social media.

1. Curate
Highlighting useful industry news and opinions on Twitter is an effective way to start curating content and building up your own knowledge of the industry. Don’t just re-tweet everything a potential employer tweets, but concentrate on curating content that adds value. Be discerning. They key points to remember are listen, understand and engage in a personal way – don’t spam people with links and you’ll soon notice your number of followers from the PR industry increasing.
Tip: with the demise of Delicious not too far away, use a tool like Diigo to bookmark every Tweet that contains a link, so you can return to your curated content.

2. Create
I would strongly recommend to any PR student or person wanting to break into the industry to start creating online content of some description. The reason being is that producing regular content takes planning, creativity and commitment. The content you produce could take the form of a blog, podcast, video or photo album. If done effectively, you’ll find that you’re not just creating content, but a community of fans too. Whilst being able to write well is a prerequisite of the PR industry, an understanding and experience of what makes good content and community management are valuable skills to pitch.
Tip: Acquaint yourself with WordPress. Almost without exception this is the default platform we advise clients to utilise and a working knowledge is a great advantage.

3. Comment
I know many PR students who blog, but too few regularly engage in the online conversation by commenting on other people’s blogs. Making comments is a great way to show your understanding of industry issues, a grasp of online netiquette and your ability to form a balanced argument. It is also a good opportunity to network with industry professionals and promote your own content which will encourage feedback and comments from others.

4. Publish
I frequently recommend that people should publish real work they have undertaken on a blog, e-portfolio or personal website – all of which I consider the evolution of the rather staid paper CV. PR is a creative industry, so you need to use every opportunity to demonstrate your real life experiences in an imaginative way. At the very least, graduates should move beyond a static Linked In page and make it dynamic by synchronising it with Slideshare, Twitter, their blog and Behance. If you’re serious about creating an e-portfolio, I suggest you investigate Behance, it’s the e-portfolio platform for creative professionals.
Tip: Flickr is a great tool to store and manage press clippings or print screens of online success. It can also easily be embedded into blogs and personal websites.

5. Innovate
Admittedly this is easier said than done. But there are some fantastic examples of people who have used really creative social media ideas to pitch their skills to a potential employer and support their application. Creative and fresh thinking is the lifeblood of the PR industry and the ability to demonstrate creativity coupled with successful execution is a winning combination. Recent and well-documented examples include Graeme Anthony, Jed Hallam and Laura Tosney who have all stood out from the crowd to land jobs and gain promotions.

In addition, to these tips, an overarching consideration has to be your online reputation. Remember that what you do online often leaves a digital footprint – your activity is permanent, immediate and instant. Are you managing yours correctly? Here are some useful techniques which can help enhance your Personal SEO and manage your reputation.

Ultimately, a subtle, balanced and tailored approach is the best way to begin relationship building and pitching with potential employers. What tips would you recommend to graduates making the pitch to potential employers?

I recently discovered (accidentally) a great e-portfolio service integrated with Linked In – it’s from Behance and called the Creative Portfolio Display. The application is not particularly new, having been launched in late July, but it was under my radar and seems to have low awareness amongst students that I speak to.

Nonetheless, as someone who is a big advocate of e-portfolios, this looks like a great service and a genuinely useful collaboration between Linked In and Behance, the e-portfolio platform. This is significant as we are seeing the number one professional networking site joining forces with the top e-portfolio platform. In a nutshell, Linked In has the numbers and Behance the tools to really benefit collaborators and users alike.

From my perspective, I know that employers like to see graduates on Linked In and Creative Portfolio Display enables users to showcase their best work – something which is sure to support their application and boost their Personal SEO. Best of all, this service is free.

Whilst, I’ve not used Behance personally (except for a quick experiment), I know many who sing its praises within the creative industries. Although, this service is not going to replace personal websites, blogs or CVs, it certainly looks like another great tool to manage and leverage your online reputation and showcase work.

I’d be interested to know what people think of Creative Portfolio Display. If I was a student looking for a job in 2011 or required to produce a portfolio, I’d certainly investigate Behance.

I often post wonderful examples of graduates who have used innovative methods to land a job in the PR industry, however this week the spotlight can only be shone on one person. Graeme Anthony. Although, Graeme graduated in 2006 and is searching for senior roles, the creativity, technical skill and strategic thinking behind his C.V.I.V is worthy of note and a great case study in how to differentiate yourself.

Every once in a while somebody goes and completely shakes things up and sets the bar that bit higher. Graeme’s video has done that – and it will work wonders for his Personal SEO as a quick Google search demonstrates.Whilst, Graeme was well known within the Manchester PR scene, and rightly held in high esteem by both colleagues and clients, he’s now catapulted himself into the spotlight on a global scale. Following on from the conversation this video has generated, Graeme has also demonstrated that he can expertly handle his own PR in a humble, yet professional way.

Graeme said: “The response has been mind-blowing with offers of interest ranging from small start-up businesses all the way through to large multinational organisations. I’ve received requests to go work abroad and some high-profile individuals have suggested that I start-up on my own which was extremely flattering.”

It is great to see a fellow Leeds Met alumni doing so well in the PR industry and I expect Graeme will have a positive announcement to make next week. If there is one video you watch this weekend, make sure it is Graeme’s C.V.I.V.

I’ve put together a presentation deck of 10 Social Media #Epic #Fails. It’s something I have been working on for a while and for the presentations I give, it often helps to include a few examples of people who have failed to grasp that social media is public, permanent and immediate – often with awful consequences. I have taken an employability focused approach and hope the deck highlights the fact that boundaries between private and public and personal and professional are being blurred.

Unfortunately, it was not too difficult to come up with this list. If truth be told, it could have been a top 100. Despite the large list, it still amazes me how few people are familiar with the privacy settings of their favourite social networks and the impact this will have upon their digital footprint and Personal SEO . I always urge caution and advise people not to say anything they would not like their grandparents to hear or alternatively, think along the lines that you don’t own your Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg does.

In addition, I’ve decided to break with tradition and put this list into a presentation deck. I normally put together written lists, which generally prove popular in terms of views. However, we often tell our clients the importance of making content ‘social’ so it can be shared, commented upon and embedded elsewhere. So I thought I’d start following some of my own advice.

I’d be interested to hear your views on the deck and please do let me know of any other stories of people who have committed social media #epic #fails or indeed, great successes.

I read an interesting article in Mashable last week reporting that Syracuse University in the United States has purchased subscriptions enabling it’s students to use Brand Yourself’s online reputation management system to enhance their Personal SEO.

Undoubtedly, this is a bold and innovative move by the university and one that I’m sure will benefit the students. However, when you consider the growing importance of graduate employment figures, it can come as no surprise that university’s are doing their utmost to ensure their students have the best possible chance in the job market.

For me, the concept of Personal SEO is nothing new and the sooner people understand that organisations DO Google potential employees, the better. I’m adamant that Personal SEO is something all young people should be aware of and research by Cross-Tab Marketing highlights why millenials should take note:

• 75% of HR departments worldwide are required to screen job candidates online.
• 70% of recruiters and HR professionals in the U.S. clam they have rejected potential hires based on information surfaced online, and nearly half say that a strong online reputation influences their hiring decisions to a “great extent.”
• 45% of HR professionals screen job candidates on social media sites.

Anecdotally, I also know this to be the case, especially within the PR industry, Stephen Waddington, MD of Speed Communications said: ‘Inevitably employers are using Google as a personal reputation engine and scrutinising these types of sites to review an individual’s career history and work ahead of hiring an individual.’

Indeed, one of the most common phrases I hear is along the lines of ‘if you cannot manage your own online reputation, why should PR agencies entrust you to do the same for clients?’

By the sounds of it, Brand Yourself’s platform will help students monitor and improve their online presence during the all important job search process. Whilst, I feel this will be a valuable, additional service that campus employability teams offer, I would make the case that students should be educated about online reputation management and how to leverage their Personal SEO as soon as they begin studying – not at the final furlong.

Online reputations are best managed over time with quality, organic content, not an afterthought upon graduation.

I’ve been blogging and speaking about Personal SEO for a couple of years now and thoroughly enjoy helping students protect and enhance their online reputation. It’s rewarding and from personal experience, I know what fantastic opportunities can come drop by if you look after your Personal SEO.

Another consideration is that when it comes to using technology to improve graduate employability, the US is normally about 12-18 months ahead of the UK. For instance student blogs, online resumes and e-portfolios are becoming more prevelant in the UK, whereas in the US they have been established for a few years. So I look forward to seeing which UK universities investigate this area.

In the long term I fully expect that more universities will follow Syracuse’s lead as people wake upto the fact that job interviews no longer begins with a handshake, but with a search on Google.

If you would like to have a chat about Personal SEO, do feel free to get in contact.

I received a Google Alert the other day, alerting me to the fact that Sophia Fantis had written a blog mentioning my name, only to discover that she had in fact, produced a video based on the presentation I gave to London Met a couple of weeks ago, ‘WTF is Personal SEO’.

Sophia is currently an MSc Strategic PR and Communications Management student at Stirling University and I must say what a pleasant surprise (and honour) it is to hear that I’d ‘inspired’ Sophia. I think it’s a great video and is a lot more effective that a simple deck of slides.

You can find out more information about Sophia from her Tweets, blog or Linked In profile.

I gave a presentation yesterday to some Public Relations students at London Met University, having been kindly invited by their lecturer Gareth Thompson who got in touch after our paths crossed at the Euprera Spring Symposium.

The presentation details my thoughts on Personal SEO and how this is often a more accurate description of what people term ‘personal brand’. It contains quotes from senior PR colleagues and explains how blogging, putting real work online and networking can generate strong Personal SEO.

It’s always great to meet current PR students and see how other university’s ‘do’ PR education. I was impressed by this group of young people and look forward to seeing how they get on in the industry.

Here is a copy of the presentation – if you have any questions, please do get in touch.

There has been an awful lot written about personal brand and how people should be aware of their digital footprint, especially students and those starting out in their careers. I hear these terms bandied around semi-regularly, but a quick look online shows there is very little specific information on how people can actually manage their digital footprints and enhance personal SEO*. So I thought I’d pull together 10 easy to follow steps which should improve your personal search in no time at all.

For starters…
To begin with search Google for your name and see what comes up. Then include the industry you want to work in. The fact is employers do google potential employees, so it is well worth monitoring this. Then have a look at 123people.com which is essentially a people search engine that aggregates people’s photos, videos, email addresses, and social network profiles. This will basically show you your digital footprint. At this point it may be best to consolidate your social media platforms and close any dormant accounts.

1. Blog
I would strongly recommend to any PR student or person wanting to break into the industry to start a blog. Not only is it an effective way to document your thoughts on the industry and improve your writing, but it can be a great networking tool and will score highly on search. In my experience, being able to demonstrate a firm grasp of wider industry issues at an interview is a brilliant way to stand out.
Tip: be sure to make full use of tags by tagging (appropriately) key words and your name within the blog, as this improve search further.

2. Linked In
Create a Linked In account. It’s an excellent way to showcase your career, latest achievements and network with industry professionals. There is also numerous groups and discussions to join, as well as many jobs advertised. Quite simply it’s a great online community to be part of and if you think of it like a professional Facebook, you’ll be alright. Linked In also scores highly on search.

3. Twitter
Twitter has been the darling of the PR industry for the last 18 months, so it is well worth gaining an understanding of this platform. In its most basic form Twitter can effectively be utilised as a tool to share your industry thoughts and personal observations.

Whilst, Twitter scores highly on search, for me the real benefit is the unparalled access to industry colleagues and importantly what they are thinking and up to. Although, there is a lot of noise on Twitter, it still has the potential to be a really neat networking and personal SEO tool. Do remember that employers will check your tweets to try and find out more about you. So it is worth considering what you broadcast.
Tip: show your true personality, but also demonstarte that you are interested in the industry by talking about and re-tweeting PR news.

4. Comment on other blogs
Whilst, I know many PR students who blog, too few regularly engage in the online conversation by commenting on other people’s blogs. Making comments is a great way to network with industry professionals, promote your own blog, and encourage comments from others.
Tip: when you comment on someone’s blog it will ask you for your website/blog URL, by entering this you are linking back to your own site which will boost SEO.

5. Upload a CV to Scribd
I would strongly recommend all students to create a Scribd account and upload their CV. This can be easily edited, downloaded by prospective employers, scores highly on search and can be embedded into a blog or website. Whilst, Linked In is great for an initial introduction and networking opportunities, it is yet to produce professional looking CVs. Indeed Linked In’s poorly templated, CV PDFs are one its biggest weaknesses.

6. Privacy settings
Whilst, this post contains lots of tips to enhance personal SEO, you should also take steps to protect your online reputation by having your privacy settings on private for Facebook and all other personal networks. In addition, leave any Facebook groups which betray the image you trying to project e.g. someone companies would like to employ. Remember that social media is often immediate, public and permanent. You don’t own your Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg does.

7. Write for other publications
Students I speak to do not seem to consider this, but by guest blogging or writing for other publications and websites you will boost your personal SEO. Indeed, just a couple of articles for different publications will make a lot of difference.

Writing about the PR industry, as well as having your name appear online with some good use of tags will also boost personal SEO. At the end of the day employers will be impressed if they Google your name and find a number of well written article on the PR industry.
Tip: I would recommend writing something for PR student magazine Behind the Spin.

8. Google Profile
When Google launched this feature in 2009 it was designed as a kind of virtual business card. Whilst, Google Profile usage has not quite taken off as expected, I’m sure that creating a profile with the worlds biggest search engine can only be good for your personal SEO. I would recommend creating a profile with a vanity URL ASAP.

9. Make yourself contactable
This is something that I still find frustrating. I’m not saying publish your home address and mobile number, but I would say make an email address available online so people can contact you directly. Whilst, being active on various social media platforms is a great start, most organisations still communicate by email not via social networks. So make sure you are easily contactable.
Tip: To avoid spambots you should write your email address phonetically, for instance my email becomes contact[at]ben-cotton[dotcom].

10. Make your work sharable
If you do a great piece of work, don’t be afraid to share it online. There are a range of platforms that you can use to host work such as Scribd, Slideshare, YouTube etc. It’s all about setting your work free so others can see and share it – once again this scores highly on search. We advise our clients to have content that is sharable to the largest possible audience and the same principle can equally be applied to individuals looking to enhance their reputation.

I would then recommend waiting for a week as it normally takes a couple of days for Google to trawl the web for these SEO improvements.

*Caveat: I’m a great advocate of e-portfolios, but have omitted them from this particular list. Whilst, I think they are a great tool, I’ve chosen to include tips which can be carried out fairly quickly, whereas an e-portfolio takes months to put together. Click here to watch the video of the e-portfolio presentation I gave to Leeds Met earlier this year.