me.com revisited: social search results

I spoke about personal branding in social media -- a big issue as many in this recession seek jobs, new opportunities or entrepreneurship -- to the Science Writers in New York in May. Based on the shifts I'm seeing in social media, particularly social search, it's time to update my earlier advice. I still think employers are fickle and social media is your friend, but here's how your friend has upped the game:

• The spotlight's on social: In the past couple of months, major search engines have expanded their coverage of social-media links: Microsoft's Bing announced search deals with Twitter and Facebook, and Google did the same with Twitter. But Google's gone a step further, introducing social search as a test option in search results, making it far easier for recruiters, business partners and potential clients to find your tweets and blog posts. If you haven't tested all these options to see how your social search results look, now's a great time to do it, before the crowds arrive.
• Your profile needs some link spice: If you're a frequent tweeter or blogger, or your collection of tweets, blogs and forwarded items tells a story about where your current thinking lies (or where your interests really are), then all of your social-media profiles need links to your best posts. If you're job-hunting, marketing to clients or angling for recruiters, what do you want them to see of your best content curation? Google profiles offer the most flexibility in adding links--and your Google profile (check "my account" in Google) shows up in search results for your name--but consider including links to your best posts in your Facebook and LinkedIn status updates, too. And if you're included on some Twitter lists, add links to those, too, to capture how others see you as an influencer.
• Go visual: Can we see pictures and video of you? Google and other search engines have beefed up their video results, and YouTube's among the most popular search engines. If I go to Google Images and search for you, what do I find? Video's an easy way to preview a potential candidate, consultant or employee, so make sure your visual search results show us what you want us to see. This is a great way to just talk about how you see your field, current issues and what your goals are, by the way--use a video musing as a pre-interview. What are you looking for?
• Get that personality on: What reflects you? If it's not your resume or your online profiles, find out how to show us more about you. That may mean adding some personal information, humor, hobbies or attitude. Give that recruiter, employer or client commonalities to discuss with you, whether (in my case) it's your guitar practice, art class, travels, or latest kitchen experiment.

Got a good story about how your social media posts or online profiles aided your personal branding? Share it in the comments.