nedsjotw.com

When you get something for free, you may be tempted to consider it useless. But, today I have free advice about how to stand out free of charge. Since knowledge is power, reading this will bring you power.

Since the 1990s, I have charged people to build their online presence for them. My background and skills are such that I can do things for people in the online realm that they would rather not do themselves. That is why I offer my services to paying clients.

But, today I am going to offer free advice about how you can get your own online presence to stand out from others without paying any money.

The first thing to keep in mind is that having an online presence is terribly important today if you want to be relevant in the 21st century. Yet, many people choose not to have an online presence at all. After years of interacting with people, I have found that the choice people make not to have an online presence rarely is about how much money that online presence will cost. Usually, people avoid having an online presence because they do not have the knowledge or skills to create an online presence.

“I don’t need a blog,” people have said to me over and over. I just smile now whenever I heard people tell me that. You can be someone who holds on for dear life to that “I don’t need a blog” opinion.

I use the word blog here today because it is one tiny little syllable that is as easy to say aloud as it is to remember. It’s also kind of funny to say the word blog aloud. Try it right now. Repeat it five or six times.

The word blog has become a very complicated term, however. It is both a verb and a noun. What a mess that creates! The word blog also is one of the most misunderstood and misconstrued words thus far in the 21st century.

It is easy for me to say, “You need a blog.” But, the more accurate and complete way of saying this to you is: “If you want to be relevant in the 21st century, you need an online presence that is 100% interactive while simultaneously positioning you well on search engines to broaden your target audience.”

I think most people would prefer that I use the shorter, more simple sentence, but I think by now you will get the idea here.

Let me move onto the bottom line for being relevant in the 21st century: If you cannot or do not appear in search results, you do not have relevance.

For our subject matter today, here is all you need to know: If you want to stand out here in the 21st century, you must have relevance and you must differentiate yourself from other relevant people who stand out.

So, let’s move on to how to make this happen at no charge to you:

Go to http://wordpress.com and sign up there for a free website. There you will find friendly and easy-to-understand steps you should take to get your own online presence and not have to pay anything for it. The free website you will get there runs on the popular WordPress platform that tens of thousands of people are using right now to help them stand out. Whenever you post anything on your free WordPress site, you should be mindful of how that will make you look to others. You want to stand out in positive ways only. You can choose to add on services that will require a credit card, but those are optional.

Go to http://linkedin.com and sign up there for free. LinkedIn is the main online networking site for people who want to stand out in today’s highly competitive professional career development and maintenance. Whenever you post anything on LinkedIn, you should be mindful of how that will make you look to others. You want to stand out in positive ways only. You can choose to add on services that will require a credit card, but those are optional.

Go to http://facebook.com and sign up there for free. Facebook is an essential online networking site for people who want to be found in a world where being unknown and irrelevant is the norm. Whenever you post anything on Facebook, you should be mindful of how that will make you look to others. You want to stand out in positive ways only. You can choose to add on services that will require a credit card, but those are optional.

Go to http://google.com and sign up there for free. Google provides free email services with many highly advanced interactive features. Once you are signed up for free you get access to Google+ the online networking environment that in many ways is easier to use and has more capabilities than Facebook. Notably, Google+ provides an online meeting space with video and audio that will allow to you connect and interact in real time with others.

Those are the four particular places online that in my professional experience are essential today in 2013 for anyone to create and maintain an online presence that will provide crucial interactivity with people while simultaneously generating much-needed search results. Some of you may be using one or more of these. You should be using all four.

Using all four of these online places to stand out can be accomplished without spending any money. However, to be honest with you, I want to assure you that you will need to spend time. There is just no way to stand out today without spending time online.

If you need help with using these four online places, please send email to me at woodygoulart@gmail.com.

Share your comments and suggestions on the subject of standing out for free. I look forward to hearing from you today!

See the growing list of posts in the “Stand Out” series here at Ned’s JOTW website.