I'm a nobody and I still get nervous when I Google myself — which I don't do that often (wink) — because I never know what's going to come up. My very first tweets from 2008? Check. Random results including my first or last name? Right on. Online company BrandYourself promises to give you the tools to make it happen for yourself without paying the high fees of other online reputation companies. But when BrandYourself makes its Shark Tank debut on Friday night, will it be able to set itself apart from all the other services? Well, you can check it out for yourself and get started right away on the BrandYourself website.
According to the website's about page, the idea for BrandYourself came about when co-founder Pete Kistler realized he shared the same name as several criminals — and this meant they also shared his Google results, too. He wanted to make this right, but wasn't sure how without spending tons of dough on companies that seemed to magically make unwanted results disappear. So Kistler founded BrandYourself with Patrick Ambron (company CEO) and Evan McGowan-Watson with the goal of demystifying the world of search engine optimization (SEO).
Sounds super useful in this modern world. Here's what you need to know about BrandYourself before the sharks decide to bite (or not).
How Does It Work?
Kistler, Ambron, and McGowan-Watson created one main tool on their site for customers to manage their online reputation. It'll manage all of your profiles, track your Google results, and give you the power emphasize which results you want people to see.
"We wanted to put the power of these reputation companies in everybody's hands," the BrandYourself website says. "We realized some people simply need the tools so they can do it themselves and don't need to pay an 'expert' lots of money, while others need hands on help because they have difficult results or don't have time."
The Process
If you're interested in cleaning up your online rep, BrandYourself has plenty of ways to do it for both your personal life or business. There are several different options for both, which include simple DIY service using their online tool to full-service branding consulting and suppressing negative reviews for your business.
Pricing
You can actually sign up with BrandYourself for a free account, which is kinda like a demo for the services. You can go through your own Google results and mark links either "positive" or "negative," but if you pick the latter, you'll need to schedule a consultation ($$$) in order to get rid of the negative links.
Pricing plans vary. For the Personal Headstart service, plans start at two payments of $399, plus $20/month. But if you're looking for good Google results, it just might be worth it.
Images: Adam Rose/ABC; Giphy (3)
