What’s one of the first things people do when they meet someone personally for the first time? They shake hands. It’s expected.

What’s one of the first things people do when they meet someone new professionally? They exchange business cards. It’s expected.

And more and more, when we meet new people in this age of the social web, we look for them online. And it’s expected that we’ll find something about the person.

There is a growing expectation that when someone looks for you on the web, that they will be able to find something.

And so, the questions become:

“How will they look for you?” and “What will they find?”

How They Will Look For You

While there are a vast number of ways that people look for information about other people online, currently, the overwhelmingly most popular way is to perform a search. And the overwhelmingly most popular way to perform a search is via Google.

And so, in order to see what they will see, you should periodically “google” yourself, your law firm, your colleagues, and your competitors. And you should also probably also set up some Google Alerts so that you receive notification when these people and law firms are indexed.

They might also go directly to sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and yes, even Facebook.

And so, you should consider whether completing a profile on these sites makes sense, and if you do, what information should be listed there.

What They Will Find

The overarching question here is: “Will they find information that will motivate them to contact you?”

And obviously, this is a lot of art, a little science, and a bit of luck.

But ask yourself:

• Do they find relevant information about you and what you do?
• Do they find great examples of your work?
• Do they find people that they might know and trust speaking highly of you?
• Do they find awards that you have received?
• Do they find leadership positions that you have held?
• Do they find lectures, seminars, and teaching engagements?

Or do they not find very much information at all?

Does the information that you provide satisfy their expectations?