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The things people know about you and their opinions about your look, skills, character, etc. form your personal brand. If you want people to perceive you in a certain way, you should build your personal brand very carefully and have to be relevant to your desired image. In real life others can look at your clothes, consider your manners and behavior, your haircut or speech. But recently more and more of our daily experience is happening online. The share of our online presence that form our personal brand became a remarkable one.

Do you know the tools and can you use the ropes in order to build successfully your online personal brand?

There are hundreds of factors that could affect your personal brand online. I have organized them in five main categories.

1. Names

Everything starts with the name. In many cases the others know your name only. On the net you use a lot of names like:

• E-mail addresses
• Web site URLs
• Usernames / Login names
• Nicknames

The best way to brand yourself is to use your own name. Use your full name or your real life nickname. Just don’t put names like cuteduck@aol.com or hotbitch@freepornomail.tv. They won’t help for building your successful online brand.

2. Forum signatures

If you hang up in forums frequently and this form a large part of your social life, you need a good signature paragraph. Write a sentence about you which harmonizes with the forum’s topic and style. If this is a business or career oriented forum, you don’t need to have a signature like this - “Hot chick lover and macho man. See my favorite adult sites: …” :-). The best case is if you post a sentence plus link to your personal or business site. Write the essence of your personality regarding the forum’s concepts.

3. Pictures

All social networking sites, dating sites, etc. offer you the opportunity to upload your photos. Ask yourself what personal image you want to build. Choose carefully every picture you publish in order to present yourself in the best possible way. Who will take you seriously if the most pictures in your profile are of your ass or show you as you drink tons of alcohol?

4. Personal data

Avoid publishing too much personal data about yourself. The internet is full with nice people but there are millions of freaks and idiots, too. Describe yourself in positive aspect and show your strengths and beautiful sides. Not all of them though, just these you need in order to form your desired image.

5. Expressions, Speech, Language

The way you express your thoughts and opinions via e-mail messages, forum posts, blog comments is the main thing that will help others to gather impression about you and your personality. I would suggest not to use too much slang and to use the appropriate slang and terms according the environment. Always write relevant subjects to your e-mail messages and forum posts. Start your messages with greetings, make some empty rows and write the body. Then - some more empty rows - write your name and contact information if needed. Structure your speech / messages well. Have in mind the only goal to help others understand what you want to tell them. Do not use inappropriate language. Use punctuation in proper way. Present yourself as an intelligent and interesting person, not as a Butthead Idiot.

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Your online brand could be much strongest than your real-life one, but you should work as hard though - just like in the real life.