If you have a goal to make some extra money online, starting with a username that shows up in the search engines is a good step in the right direction. Of course, having your real name show up is just as important and it's best if you can have them linked together.

I have found a few places online (like myLot.com) that are very good for making new contacts, but they don't allow you to use your real name. I still want those I interact with to be able to find me, so my goal was to do that with the search engines. You don't need to hire anyone or be an expert to make this happen.

Start by picking a name that isn't already too popular, then find ways to link to it from sites that are. I suggest getting your own website using a domain name that is your username. At the time of this writing, you can purchase {YourUsername}.info for only 99 cents for the first year at GoDaddy.com including one free email account. If you need more email boxes, set up Gmail accounts at Google.

If you don't want to pay for hosting just now, you can still use a free account and forward your domain name to it. Use 'masking' and the name that appears in visitors browsers will be your domain name instead of the free one. This looks a lot more professional in my opinion and all the simple to follow instructions are included on the GoDaddy website to do this.

Now, how do you make it so people can find it?

Post in a few related Online Discussion Forums and use a link to your own website in your signature line. Make sure the 'link text' is your username to get the best results. This one tip alone had mine showing up in just a few days.

Of course, writing an article like this is a good step and can even supply some extra cash to do a little paid advertising. You can create a few pages at free online communities like Squidoo and Hub Pages that point back to your own website. There are many 'Social Networking' sites coming online with many focused on business that will allow you to include a profile with a link.

Start a free Blog at Blogger.com. Since they're owned by Google it can really help, but make sure you add to it regularly. I discovered that an easier way for me, was to do a simple Podcast. Use a free copy of Audacity that you can download online to make the recordings and doing a quick search for 'free podcast hosting' will find a place to post your files.

That should get you noticed, now it's up to you if they take action. Including good content on all your pages is necessary if you want them to read and do something for your mutual benefit. Because I followed this plan myself, it's easy to find me if you need more personal help.