Whether you like it or not, you are being Googled each day by clients, potential clients, the media, adversaries, referral sources, potential employers, your current employer, recruits, friends, family members, even a potential romantic partner – the list goes on. But most professionals aren’t regularly conducting Google searches on their own names, which is extremely risky in managing your online reputation and professional brand.

The lines between our personal and professional lives are getting blurrier by the day in today’s hyper-connected digital world. As a result, it’s imperative to take cautionary steps to protect your professional reputation and brand, while also embracing social media as a necessary networking, business development and branding tool, especially in today’s environment. Here’s how. 

What if I told you that there was a cool visual way to view and then request new connections to your LinkedIn network and it was so easy that all you had to do was to hold up your smartphone and scan a QR code?

Well, it exists – pretty exciting, right? (it’s a relatively new feature that was introduced in June 2018) and many people don’t know about it, because LinkedIn doesn’t always do a great job of letting its users know when it makes enhancements to its platform. Take full advantage of this nifty tool and impress the lawyers with whom you work and your colleagues. Also – add this to every presentation you give from now on.