Commenting on forums demonstrates your ability tap into your expertise and help solve other people’s problems. Employers will search for your name in Google, and they will find the forum comments you’ve left – which is a good thing. Use forum comments as a way to strengthen the digital breadcrumbs you leave behind.

Your goal is to stand out from your peers in a super-competitive market by making employers think, this person not only knows their stuff, but actively goes out of their way to use what they know to help other people. This is the kind of impression that will help elevate you above other job applicants and win better job opportunities.

Employers want to see you commenting on forums because it demonstrates to them that you’re an active member of your niche, you’re passionate enough to participate in conversations related to your area of expertise, and you’re intelligent enough to solve problems by drawing on your experience.

When posting on forums, here’s a checklist that will ensure you’re leaving as strong an impression as possible.

Forum comment checklist:

Your forum comment…

1. Accurately and concisely answers someone else’s question
2. Includes facts and links to back up claims you make (prove your thoughts are credible and not pulled out of nowhere)
3. Adds value or new ideas to the original question
4. Has no spelling or grammar mistakes (it can’t be edited later)
5. Relates to your area of expertise
6. Does not involve you in unnecessary battles or arguments
7. Is not hyper-reactive (doesn’t make you seem emotionally unstable)
8. Does not put anyone down (if arguing, provide counterpoints but don’t attack individuals)
9. Includes your name (the one you want people to find you with when they search for you in Google)
10. Includes a link to your website (boosting the Google rank of your site and leading more people there)
11. Includes your tagline (a short phrase that describes to strangers what you do)

Responding to posts on forums leaves a trail of “digital breadcrumbs” that people (employers, co-workers, bosses, etc.) will find when they type your name into Google.

Warning: Healthy discussions on forums can quickly degrade into outright personal attacks and name-calling if you aren’t careful. Make sure you take a completely objective approach to answering questions. Do not claim to know all the answers – humility goes a long way. Remember that viewers can’t hear your voice to decode the way you really want to get your point across, so always err on the side of caution by staying out of personal battles.

Blog comments, forums comments, book reviews and contributing to wiki articles are just a few ways to leave a trail of breadcrumbs online that builds a web presence worthy of remark, differentiating you from other job applicants who haven’t spent time to establish a strong presence online.

Next: Learn how to leave effective blog comments >

Author: Pete Kistler

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Two Sundays ago, Yahoo! confirmed that CEO Jerry Yang will be stepping down and that the search for his replacement is underway. He had been under huge scrutiny over the past few months for not accepting Microsoft’s bid to buy out the company multiple times, which many believe is the cause for the sudden downfall of Yahoo!. Mr. Yang founded Yahoo! in 1994 in his dorm-room at Stanford (are you being entrepreneurial if you’re a student?) and was only appointed CEO in June 2007.

This is a prime example of how your personal brand can affect even the largest of corporate brands. Yang’s successor will be someone who has shown the world they are capable of taking the lead and following through in order to revitalize Yahoo!. The personal brand of the next CEO will likely shape the way that Yahoo! operates and runs on a daily basis. For the next few months, all eyes will be focused on the new CEO. Can he or she win over shareholders as well as its userbase around the world?

Mr. Yang had a vision to connect everyone on the web with a central service when the web was first created. While he still holds a seat on the board, my heart goes out to him: it’s not easy to see your baby, which he created and watched grow, be handed over to someone else. This isn’t the last we’ll see of Mr. Yang – will he go on to bigger and better things (perhaps CIO of the US)?

Who you do think will take over the reigns at Yahoo! now that Yang is gone? And what qualities will the successor’s personal brand need to have in order to turn Yahoo! around for the better?

Author: Trace Cohen

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When you leave blog comments, do you have a goal in mind?

Believe it or not, blog comments are an excellent way to build relationships with key people in your field (find them on AllTop and Technorati), create positive touchpoints for your personal brand, and demonstrate your ability to synthesize information, provide insight and draw on past experiences.

Commenting on blogs demonstrates that you’re an active member of your niche, you’re passionate enough to participate in conversations related to your area of expertise, and you’re intelligent enough to add value to conversations in your space.

When commenting on blogs, here’s a checklist that will ensure you’re leaving as strong an impression as possible.

Blog comment checklist:

Your blog comment content…

Commenting on blogs leaves a trail of “digital breadcrumbs” that people (employers, co-workers, bosses, first dates, etc.) will find when they type your name into Google. So always keep this checklist in mind. Your comments are permanent!

Blog comments, forums comments, book reviews and contributing to wiki articles are just a few ways to leave a trail of breadcrumbs online that builds a web presence worthy of remark, differentiating you from others. Strengthen your personal brand across the web, one insight at a time.

1. Adds insight, a new idea or a relevant link to the original blog post
2. Accurately and concisely answers someone’s question
3. Relates to your area of expertise
4. Includes your name (the one you want people to find you with when they search for you in Google)
5. Includes a link to your website (boosting the Google rank of your site and leading more people there)
6. Includes your tagline/position (a short phrase that describes to strangers what you do)
7. Has no spelling or grammar mistakes (you usually can’t edit it later)
8. Is not hyper-reactive (doesn’t make you seem emotionally unstable) and does not put anyone down (if arguing, provide counterpoints and don’t attack individuals)

Next: Learn how to leave effective forum comments >

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