“Money you can lose many times, but you can only lose your reputation once.” – Mukesh Ambani

Your reputation and how others perceive you will play an important role in all of your business dealings. Whether it is for partnership opportunities, investments or just networking, your reputation will precede you and others will often have an expectation. Whether it is from social media, online background checks or asking around your circles, information is very easy to come by and will play a big part in determining whether or not you succeed.

Let’s be honest, before meeting someone for the first time, whether for a date or business meeting, most people Google and Facebook search the person they are going to meet. You want to know what they look like, see some of the more recent things that they have done, see their interests, all for the sake of “knowing” who you are about to meet. While there is nothing wrong with this, it makes it even more imperative for people to make sure their reputation is kept in check.

First impressions often make or break a relationship. When someone googles you, what do they see? Is it the picture of you with your family on vacation or the party of you drinking and smoking up at some party (yes, I have actually seen pictures like this). Will they see posts from you or articles using foul language cursing others out or will they see someone who adds insight to the things that matter to them. Will they see someone bashing a religious or political point of view or will they see someone who posts about issues that affect us, regardless of affiliation.

One great example is last year I was on a college campus for a campaign my company was working on and I met a few students who kept in touch with business and career questions. They followed me on social media sites and I followed their posts a bit to see how college students are using social media. One day, I saw someone post a picture of a nude woman and then a video with a porn clip that they were sharing with their friends in a humorous context. I had spoken to that person the night before and made some introductions for a summer internship. I quickly texted her and said that I believed her account was hacked, which she told me was not the case – the picture and video were part of an inside joke from a party she went to. I told her that my contacts will ask for her social media information and if she wanted a job, she should take the picture and video down right away.

Social media is your way to share your “voice” with others and everything you do and post reflects as your point of view. Whatever you post helps people perceive you, and more often than not, understand you better than when you are trying to sell yourself to them. If you bash Republicans for their policies and call them names, you better hope that you are not meeting a Republican because they will already believe that you don’t share similar ideas. If you post that the government is stupid for pulling out all of its troops and we should send in more troops, you better hope your meeting isn’t with someone who has a son in the army. Every piece of information you type goes to create the reputation that others will use in evaluating you. You need to ensure that all posts you are tagged in or tweets that mention you do not conflict with who you are and what you want your perceived to be. If they aren’t, un-tag yourself, report it as spam or even unfriend/unfollow and block that person. Losing a friend is a lot less harmful than losing your reputation.

Your reputation is not just defined by a business reputation, but rather how employees, co-workers and even family view you. How you manage that with the content you post online will help shape you and how others perceive you. By being careful and aware of what you are posting on social media and what others post about you,  you can continue to manage the perception that is being created of you.

Gary Whitehill, founder of Entrepreneur Week, once told me that one of the hardest things to understand in life is that you’re not what you are, but what you’re perceived to be. In this day and age of social media, I think this is one of the most important things for people to remember. First impressions last a lifetime and in today’s day and age, our first impression is made with the information that people see about us online. Let’s be honest, when we connect with a person at a meeting or are introduced through a mutual contact, the first thing we do is go to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more about this person. If the individual has no information available or a spotty resume on these sites, part of the excitement of the initial introduction is lost immediately. The person will now have to overcome this void in order to make a great first impression.

In today’s age of the internet, you are your own brand and how you market and sell that brand will make you a success. According to Forbes, personal brand-building in the digital era requires topic expertise, audience engagement and scalable support systems. You need to take an active role in building that brand so that when you do meet someone you are prepared and give off a great first impression. Some of the ways this can be accomplished are:

• Start a blog about your industry – Portray yourself as knowledgeable and people will listen to you and ask for your advice. This will give you a lot of credibility.
• Learn the industry – Make sure you know the names of the key companies and players in the industry. You don’t want to look dumbfounded when these individuals’ names are mentioned.
• Network – Build up a network of contacts in your field and related fields so that you can leverage their knowledge. Attend industry events and roundtables so that you can be more visible and be an active participant so that people know who you are.
• Learn how to make a great first impression – Make sure you know how to attract someone’s attention when you meet them. People have short attention spans so make sure you know how to get engage them from the first moment. You only have one chance at a first impression!

This is an especially important lesson for entrepreneurs. Very often entrepreneurs are young and have no track record. The only information people have about you is what they can find online. When you are going out to raise capital or to sell your product, people want to know who you are, what you stand for and what kind of person you are. You need to use all the tools available to you to create a certain perception of yourself in the eyes of others. This perception can often be the difference between getting the funding you need or the potential investors having no faith in you. You are the most important thing that you are selling so make sure you are perceived that way.