Last week I Googled myself. On page one of the results were Ingenuity’s website, our PowerUp! blog for young professionals, my LinkedIn profile and my Facebook page. In other words, nearly every thing that came up was content that I controlled. There was only one result on page one about me that I did not control: a mention of me speaking at a legal event.

If you Googled me 18 months ago, you would have found a “big blond hair” picture of me in my mid-30s from an outdated speakers bureau website. The only firm content that came up on page one of a Google search was Ingenuity’s website. The rest of the results were content controlled by others.

Control is a positive word for a lot of professionals. That’s why I notice so many having trouble with the idea of sending their professional and personal information into the World Wide Web 2.0. They are concerned about privacy, reputation of the firm, time management and everything they just don’t know about where this media is headed.

However, I am finding that taking full advantage of social networking is like hiding in plain sight. It lets you control the content that comes up first in a Google search. It also gives prospects a greater sense of who you are and how you might fit their needs. Let’s face it – we work with people we like. We don’t have time to meet everyone in person, so we check them out online.

Social media can give you an edge to control that first impression – and make it warm, friendly and professional.

Go ahead: Google me. You will see my resume, my associations with a few groups and my answers to some questions. Friend me on Facebook (sorry, I only accept “Friend” requests from people I know) and you will see a lot of photos of a middle-aged woman, her husband, her four children (three are red-heads!) and the large 1880s house we are endlessly remodeling. There are photos of a few interesting trips and parties. So what? How could that possibly hurt my reputation to be so quintessentially Midwestern as to celebrate the fourth of July on my deck with friends and (gasp) beer?

Well, let me answer the privacy maniacs and reputation worriers out there through these common questions:

What if someone posts a photo of me from my Cancun vacation on Facebook that I do not like? If you do not have a Facebook profile, not much can be done. If you do, you will get an email notification about the photo and you can take it down.

What if I do not want my boss to be my friend on Facebook? That’s easy; just create different categories of friends through the list function on Facebook. Make one group professional and one group for personal friends. Designate access to your comments and photos accordingly. I figured this out myself and I am not very technical.

What if an old boyfriend/girlfriend contacts me on LinkedIn or Facebook? Do what I did – consider them professional prospects! I also just ignore requests from friends whom I do not know or do not care to remember.

What if I am just plain private? Set up a Facebook page and keep it small. Use the privacy settings on the upper right to control access. Share at least one of your after-work passions. Our growth consultant Kristy Gusick is a horsewoman, which she has found to be an instant connect to other business people who love horses.

What if one of my cousins is kind of crazy and writes embarrassing things to me? Ask your cousin to send private messages. If that doesn’t work, you can block his privilege to leave messages on your public space through the privacy features. Also, keep in mind that everyone has at least one crazy cousin or relative. As long as you’re not making the embarrassing comments, it doesn’t reflect that much on you.

What is it with Twitter? Twitter is a fun, new tool that lets people make tiny blog posts randomly. You can post your thoughts online or through your mobile device. My main thought on Twitter is that I do not want to know what anyone had for lunch, so cut that out. But it is great for promoting blogs, events and industry information, talking about breaking news and issues or connecting to people at a conference.

This seems like a time waster. How many hours does this add to my week? One hour a week is sufficient. A quick scan of updates from your connections, a recommendation request, photo uploads or comments take minutes. Schedule it into your week at the same time or do it after hours. If you notice that one person is monopolizing your home page or update space with silly chatter, you can hide their posts or ignore them. The same goes for all of those requests for hugs, drinks, snowmen fights and quizzes. They are simply disguised e-marketing campaigns anyway.

Just as social networking and other Web 2.0 technology evolves, so will your understanding and comfort level. For now, think of LinkedIn as a place to share your entire resume and credentials with anyone. It lets you connect with people who have shared interests and showcase your knowledge in a niche area. Think of Facebook as a place to share what you care about besides work.

You are in control of both arenas. You can protect your reputation and support positive firm branding in plain sight.

Last month’s AAM conference was a hotbed of interesting views on the fundamentals of accounting marketing, a reminder of the classics plus new trends and tactics. A good reminder of the basics (with some new twists) is what I took away from the presentation, “How the C-Suite Buys Professional Services” by Russ Molinar of Ernst & Young LLP.

At Ingenuity, we pride ourselves on being a very hip, smart, eclectic (and a little quirky) bunch of women who can turn a boring website on its head. This seminar reminded me that we look the same as any other marketing firm to a prospect or new client. We are a commodity purchase to them until we’ve differentiated ourselves from the competition and built a relationship with them.

Russ pointed out that, unlike a product, a service is a harder sale to make. You can’t compare an audit like you’d compare the leather on a chair. You also can’t return a service or ask for it to be fixed under warranty. Buying a service is a risk, and not one easily taken by leaders who buy our services.

So how do you sell the difference? Russ says that you first have to know who you are selling to. The basic characteristics of C-Suite executives are:

• driven
• competitive
• results-oriented
• short on attention

You have to consider what often motivates them: recognition, power and control, promotion, peer respect, money, risk aversion. You also have to realize that services are sold not only on the logical features such as cost, experience and methodology, but also on an emotional level (whether they’ll admit that or not). C-Suite executives might be reluctant to change because they don’t want to deal with the hassle of a new vendor and the problems that transitioning to someone new might cause. They also weigh the potential risk of the decision heavily because a negative result may impact their reputation and future career prospects.

In the end, you need to know who the decision makers are, where they are in the buying process, what they need (not what you want to sell them) and what is motivating them or holding them back. Then, according to Russ, you go in with a business case, not just a proposal. You appeal to the emotion, not just the logic. Customize it to them and let them know you’ve done your homework and it isn’t all the same to you and shouldn’t be for them. Doing that gives you a leg up and a much better chance at winning their business.