June 16, 2006

What are you reading?

Designed to share the depth of knowledge across the Ziggs professional community, the new "People at Ziggs are reading" program lets members present themselves, their profile, and three books they'd recommend on Ziggs' home page. Because a recommendation has more value if you know who makes it, each book recommendation is directly tied to a Ziggs member's profile.

Visitors to Ziggs are now invited to share their book favorites with the Ziggs community. If selected, you'll soon see your smiling face and recommended books on Ziggs home page. So, what are you reading? Submit your personal favorites to books@ziggs.com today.

May 26, 2006

Browse 95,000 Companies at Ziggs

Ziggs’ new browse feature lets visitors easily explore the 95,000 companies in Ziggs. Browse for your company using our alphabet index and explore the online profiles of your colleagues or your company alumni already in Ziggs. Then instantly list yourself with your company.

If you’ve browsed Ziggs and don’t see your company, be first to list it. Listing yourself and your company in the Ziggs professional community is free. The benefits include taking control of your professional reputation online, gaining top visibility in every major search engine for yourself and your business, as well as connecting with other professionals in the Ziggs community.


Is your company in Ziggs yet? Browse now to find out.

May 02, 2006

Putting Your Best Foot Forward Online

Take the Right Steps to Build Your Professional Reputation on the Web

Every day of your career you are taking steps to build the “Brand of You.” But in today’s online, virtual fast-blogging business world, it’s important to know how you (and your brand) appear online. How strong is your online footprint and is it professional?

A recent Harris Interactive Poll states that nearly 1 in 4 people search for people online to learn more about them prior to meeting them. Your “online footprint” – how you appear online in search engine results and in blogs – is a valuable piece of your personal brand, something worth managing. To create the most effective online presence, start by leaving a positive “footprint” with an online profile.

Everyone can quickly and easily create a professional online profile, without any tech savvy, using Ziggs' free Profile Creator. With an Index of well over 3 million profiles of professionals at Ziggs, you’ll be leaving a positive mark for yourself on the Internet among good company.

“An online professional profile is today’s business calling card. If you’re not found in search results with a positive online presence, you’re just not a player,” according to
Tim DeMello, founder and ceo, Ziggs, and an expert on building a professional online reputation.

An Ohio-based technology expert uses Ziggs to present his professional image online for use in his job search. “Ziggs showcases me and my online profile in a crisp and professional way and is a key online resource in my job search strategy,” said
Doug McCready.

Tips for creating your online footprint for use in daily business or a job search:

1. First, search on your name at major search engines to understand what results display for your name
2. To start your positive online footprint, list your free professional profile at
Ziggs for instant visibility in the Ziggs Index of Professionals
3. Your new profile at Ziggs then allows your online presence to bubble up in natural search results at Google, Yahoo!, AOL, MSN and Ask so you can leave your professional footprint across all search engines for free
4. Ensure that any profiles you maintain at social sites, such as MySpace or Friendster, are clean and professional
5. Always include a link to your professional online profile in your email signature and any blog entries


April 13, 2006

Web 2.0 and Ziggs

Although some decry “Web 2.0” as a meaningless marketing buzzword, the depth of definition offered by Tim O’Reilly in his must-read article “What is Web 2.0” will convert any cynic.

At the first Web 2.0 conference led by Tim O’Reilly and John Battelle in October 2004, three defining principles of Web 2.0 were formed. To loosely paraphrase, 1) The Web can be used as a platform, 2) where one can give the user control over their own data on that platform, in order to 3) harness the “collective intelligence” of the users thus making the outcome more valuable as a whole. By this definition, online companies such as Flickr, Wikipedia and Ziggs fit snugly into the Web 2.0 world.


It’s gratifying to see a term coined to support the leap of thought that these companies and their business models have taken to push the Internet envelope further for the benefit every Internet user.

Coincidence or Fate? In that same month that "Web 2.0" was coined, Ziggs was launched.

April 06, 2006

Content Matters

Barry Graubart writes about the “50 Content Companies that Matter” in his blog by the same name. He mentions Ziggs as one of the key content companies that has made its mark by reinventing the old school method of using printed directories for finding professionals - with the new online method of “people search for professionals.”

Barry writes, “rather than positioning it around prestige a la ‘who’s who’, Ziggs has shifted the focus to managing your image on the Internet.” Barry predicts that “changing dynamics in the workplace mean that personal branding and positioning will become more critical for professionals in the future, strengthening Ziggs’ core message.”

Barry concludes, “the people search market will continue to grow, with uses as varied as sales prospecting and recruitment to performing due diligence for dating. Ziggs is well-positioned to field a significant portion of that traffic.”

I love Barry's insight on this. Thank you for communicating these ideas with such clarity.

March 22, 2006

Ziggs in BusinessWeek

The March 27th edition of BusinessWeek (BW) includes a compelling article titled “You Are What You Post” by Michelle Conlin, page 52. Michelle writes that “bosses are using Google to peer into places job interviews can’t take them.” Hiring managers and bosses don’t hesitate to visit social networking sites such as Friendster and MySpace in order to collect a more complete picture of an employee. So it’s good to ask yourself, “do I give good Google?” says Michelle.

BW suggest a few ideas for managing your “Digital Doppelganger.” To put your best online face forward, or to clean up your digital dirt (if you’ve got some), Michelle recommends you register with an online profile manager service such as Ziggs. At Ziggs you can create a free professional online profile, without any tech know-how, so the next time someone searches for you, you can be proud of what they find.


For the full story on the dangers of your digital dirt, plus suggestions for taking charge of your online presence, take a look at this week’s edition of Business Week. I highly recommend it, as it's a very informative article, and includes a fantastic illustration of this problem. For the full story on the free solution to this problem - how to create an elegant online professional profile and get it listed at the top of all search engines - as always, visit Ziggs.

February 20, 2006

People Search Anywhere

You’ve probably heard of Google’s new Toolbar 4.0 by now? One of my favorite new features is the ability to upload buttons to the toolbar which link you to websites of your choice, including (drum roll) a Ziggs people search button. The beauty of uploading a Ziggs button to your toolbar is it lets you people search at Ziggs from anywhere on the Web. At long last, you can skip the extra step of recalling a Ziggs bookmark or opening a new browser to access the Ziggs website, saving you time every time you search for people online.

How does it work? Simply enter a person’s name or keyword in the Google toolbar search box, click on the “Z” button, and it takes you directly to search results for that name or word at Ziggs.com.


Tip: If you’re reading an online article, highlight a person’s name, copy and paste it into the toolbar search box in your browser, then click “Z”. You jump directly to the professional profile on that person if they’re listed in the Ziggs Index of Professionals.

Ziggs also supports people search links for Firefox 1.5 and Internet Explorer 7.0. Adding a Ziggs people search link to these browsers lets you instantly search at Ziggs directly from your browser anywhere on the Web.

Get your Z here
You can instantly download your free People Search Button from Ziggs or from the Google Button Gallery. Don’t have Google’s new toolbar yet? Download the toolbar and your Z button here. Ziggs Browser Search for Firefox 1.5 and IE 7.0 is also available for free at Ziggs People Search. To access the browser search download, click the “Learn More” link next to the Z Button option at Ziggs People Search.

January 30, 2006

Standing Out in the Online Crowd

Have you ever wondered how to give yourself a better image online? How to stand out in the online crowd? If yes, you're not alone.

“When he set out to find a new job, Memphis resident Robert Miller wanted to get a cyberspace edge. So he went to Ziggs.com, a company that specializes in helping job seekers beef up their online presence. Ziggs arranged for Miller's name to be displayed prominently on search engines. That ensured he would get plenty of hits when prospective employers sought him out on the Internet.” In fact, Robert gets notified via email each time someone clicks to view his online profile, thanks to Ziggs.

“‘It has made me incredibly easy to find online,’ said Miller, a former global marketing executive for a digital map company. Standing out is particularly important to Miller, since he has such a common name - in Memphis alone, there are about 100 Robert Millers. But all prospective job seekers should be aware of their online image, experts say. The first thing many would-be bosses do is use Google to research a potential employee.”

For more on how Robert Miller was able to differentiate himself online, see the full story in Investor’s Business Daily.