Some time ago, I had a call from a client. And the client asked me if I could build a website or even design a front end. And I said, yes, I could. Okay, the client then asked me, have I done some things before that, he can see, to be sure that I'm the right person.

Of course, now, I felt I had done something. So he said, Okay, share what you have done, I compiled some things, and I shared. So at some point, the client just went, and I was expecting the feedback.

Unfortunately, the feedback didn't come. You know, I was wondering, as always, what went wrong? Is that my design didn't fit? Or is it that the client was expecting something else, and I couldn't render it.

This was the point I started thinking, maybe I need to do some things differently. So when I waited and couldn't get a hold of the client, I had to reach out to the client and ask, why didn't you get back to me?

Is it that I'm not fit for the job? Or is there something wrong? and the client told me that? Well, all the things you sent were fantastic.

But I couldn't verify that you did those jobs. Wow. This became huge to me because these are my projects. These are things I did, like, and somebody can't trace those things down to me.

This now brings us back to what I titled "Digital Footprints". Now, if you ask yourself as either an employer or an individual freelancer, let me ask you one on one, what is the level of your digital footprints?

What are digital footprints? Well, in a very layman's explanation, your footprints can be your descriptions out there, like what people can see when you are not there. In other words, your digital footprint means how people can perceive you, outside the world, outside of your jurisdiction.

So there are several ways you can control what people see and how people perceive you. But the bottom line of this tip I'm trying to share with you is that you take this very seriously, and you remembered the story I told you about the client who didn't bother calling me back because he couldn't figure out who I was.

So this is a downside when you don't take your digital footprint very seriously. So as an individual, or a CEO or a manager, you need to be very aware of this and take charge of what people say about you.

If you look at nations, maybe countries, like the United States of America, some of the things you see are the good things about the nation, you won't see that the nation have some poverty in some regions, you would never see that because they took their digital footprint very serious.

And on the other hand, if you visit some countries in Africa or even want to search, I don't want to mention any nations. We're just trying to search for any African country, it is either you see killings, or you see robbing, or you see all manner of negativity. So that is the negative aspect when you don't take your digital footprint very seriously.

Now that you understand the implication of taking your digital footprint very seriously. The question is, how can you pull this thing in a very appropriate way? Like how can you put yourself out there in a credible way?

There are just some common steps that you can take. Now, you need to ask yourself;

1. Do you have a unique name that when people search, they're likely to see you there? Are you likely to be the first person to pop up? So these are things you need to consider. Imagine if you're answering a name like George Bush, of course, if anybody's type in George Bush, you will never pop up because a philanthropist already had this name. And it will be challenging for you to beat that search engine. So thinking about it, you need to think about some unique name that you can give yourself and make sure you use it across social media.

2. You have to be truthful, and you have to be genuine. You have to make sure you don't lie, like don't try to frame things up. Don't lie, because the internet doesn't forget. So whatever information you put out there, you have to be very intentional and be ready to defend them in case if anything pops up. So if you're thinking about increasing your digital identity, think about few things.

3. Think about individual descriptions that you use across the board,

4. Think about some content you can share subsequently. So that at every point, the search engine understands that this person is active on the internet. So don't just be somebody who consumes content alone. Instead, be somebody who also contributes to the industry. And when you contribute to that, you'll be amazed how your name will pop up very quickly.

For instance, if you go to the social media, and you're typing, maybe Noah Olatoye, which is my name, I'll be the first person you will see. And that's basically because, over time, I have contributed. I have written so many things I have posted on all social media that you can mention. So by doing that, I increased my visibility and enhanced my personality as an individual.

So to wrap up all these things first, if you want to increase your digital footprint, make sure you have a unique name. And you know, when it comes to this unique name, don't be worried if somebody is using the name already.

You can outrun whatever traffic is currently existing depending on if you're ready to put in the hard work. So maybe, for instance, you pick a name right now, and you see that perhaps some people are already using a podium not too serious about it, know that you can make use of it.

But you have to be consistent to outrun those names, and over time the search engine will pop you as number one. And that's how we wrap it up on this one.