I admit it, I was doing a little ego surfing a few weeks ago to see how my own internet marketing efforts were paying off.  A few pages into my search I started finding errors associated with me (Apparently I’m a geneticist – I never knew I served on the National Council for Genome Research!)

Curious, I did some checking and discovered that there’s a business search engine called Zoominfo. Zoominfo’s automated searchbots scour the internet for every scrap of information on professionals and professional organizations then centralize the information into a searchable, publicly accessible online database.

This means there’s probably a file on you. I had two, and both had entries that were wildly (and sometimes amusingly) incorrect.  But since other internet sites are pulling information from Zoominfo, the errors multiply throughout the internet.

Fortunately, Zoominfo allows you to claim your own profile (for free), and clean up the information. Just go to the site, search for yourself/your business, claim your profile(s) and follow the instructions. Zoominfo gives you the opportunity to decide how much (or how little) you want your profile to say about you, plus a listing of all of the Internet sites Zoominfo has found that mention you.

Yes, we live in a strange new world. It’s our job to be smart and make the best of it. But if you’re in the market for clients (or looking for a job), definitely get your Zoominfo profile updated. It will tell you a lot about your current web presence.