The practice of monitoring the Internet reputation of a person, brand or business ... Your good reputation is still the
What You don’t Know About What People Online Are Saying About You and Your Business Can Ruin Your Reputation
Online Reputation Management – Jean L. Serio, CPC
What is Online Reputation Management? Online reputation management (or monitoring) is: The practice of monitoring the Internet reputation of a person, brand or business, with the goal of suppressing negative mentions entirely, or pushing them lower on search engine results pages to decrease their visibility.
Google says this about your reputation…. "Your online identity is determined not only by what you post, but also by what others post about you -- whether a mention in a blog post, a photo tag or a reply to a public status update." In a nutshell, your online reputation is made up of everything about your business that exists online. The range of materials that could potentially impact your business' online reputation is much broader than you might realize at first.
What Does the Phrase 'Good Reputation' Mean? Although ‘good reputation’ is a phrase it would seem most people know and understand, it isn’t necessarily so in todays changed social world and the Internet. Your good reputation is still the very foundation upon which your business and your life is built. It's made up of everything you and your business does. From the way you treat each customer, the care you give to maintaining your business, yourself. And, in fact, the way you treat job applicants and interviewees. To how you handle customer complaints and problems and relate to vendors. In a nutshell, your online reputation is made up of everything about your
business that exists online. Regardless whom this information is posted by. The range of materials which could potentially impact your business’ online reputation is much broader than you might realize at first. Negative issues, which may also arise through mistakes and the miscommunication of others, can ripple throughout the Internet in surprising ways which can change your reputation overnight. Here are some components of your online image: # Comments made about your business on social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Comments made by your competition, current and past employees and customers for example. # Images of your business online # Videos about your business (Good or Bad) on YouTube and elsewhere # Posts and articles published online about your business # Geo-location information broadcast through services like Yelp # Comments and reviews posted about you or your business on blogs or sites like Foursquare and Yelp. With the majority of people in the world currently using social sites it’s unsurprising when they want to complain about you and/or your services or products they take to a social platform and announce it to the world. http://goo.gl/LAOyLS It's shocking but true: Your reputation is no longer safe. In today's Internet-driven world it's very easy for anyone to besmirch it. Ruining your credibility while they're at it. Though you may not realize it, search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Bing pick up every post. Every comment you make. Not to mention pick up every comment anyone makes about you. Not just selected posts, and comments. Everything. Good or bad. True or False. Add all these comments together with what you've painstakingly developed - the unique and professional work you've
done - and you have what amounts to your Online Reputation. Bogus or not this is your digital footprint.
When did your reputation start developing?
Contrary to what many think, your reputation did not start developing the day you opened your business door or accepted that first job. It began developing the day you were born. And you've built upon what you created – or others have created for you - as you've lived your life. What some don't realize is.... Good or bad, every decision you've made, person you've become involved with, ethical stand you've taken has continued to add to that reputation. And in time, everything you've done to nurture it has, hopefully, added value. Making your good reputation an asset you can continue to build upon. As the good decisions, wise financial investments and investments you've made in people, your strength of character, for example, continue to build you will eventually become known for them. Able to use them as collateral. And leverage. A good reputation can open your life to better opportunities for jobs, a better lifestyle, better clients and connections, better financial scenarios, promotions and more. On the other hand, a bad rep can build to such a point it's like a heavy ball and chain you drag around endlessly. Of no value to you at all. One which can become a serious liability you may never rise above. Unfortunately, many believe that one day they'll suddenly wake up and have a good reputation. Like a gift, it will arrive on their doorstep. They'll open it and hang the gift on their wall; add a photo of it to their website. Most never give a thought to their good reputation. Blissfully unaware how each and every statement they make, stand they take or comments others publicly post can affect them. Personally or financially. It's only recently, with the freedom people have to post on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and a proliferation of customer review sites,
people can openly make their opinions known. Good or bad, true or false these opinions quickly spread like wildfire over the Internet once they're posted. Making it ever more important to be vigilant in monitoring your reputation.
That said, HAVE YOU 'GOOGLED' YOURSELF LATELY?
"Reputation", says a MSLGROUP EMEA Survey, "is quickly becoming an indicator of business success". And while the majority of companies surveyed agreed with that statement, most weren't as vigilant in protecting it as necessary.
Why it's important to regularly 'Google' yourself. Not sure what's hidden, or lurking about, on the Internet? Google your name and see what you find. What comes up may shock you. It could be: * Too little or too much * Info you had no idea was available for public consumption. * Pictures you uploaded to your Facebook page you thought were private. You may have been thinking ‘what happens on Facebook stays on Facebook’ – similar to the Las Vegas slogan. Which is absolutely not true.
* You believed uploaded pics, on various photo sharing sites, were available for viewing only to specific family members and friends. That said, several photo sharing sites have recently admitted to publically sharing uploaded member photos – which they originally claimed were private – throughout the Internet without members knowledge or consent. That photos and personal information you upload to Internet sites is available to anyone and everyone who searches the Internet should give you pause. Maybe a near heart attack once you realize what can be viewed. Here's how it works: If you, or an online searcher places your name or your business's name in quotation marks "like this", it might be a shock to discover what pops up. Placing names or words in quotation marks is a way of asking search engines to narrow down the search only to words or names contained within those quotation marks. Once that search is completed, there's no telling what information a search engine will bring up from a variety of other platforms you are unaware of. It could, in fact, be decades old info. The implication here is - not only is the Internet and social networking community reading the well-crafted information you have provided - but they may also have access to other information you thought was lost, buried, private or privileged. Email: For example, did you know that what you consider is a private email, privileged information you're sharing with someone – a client, employee, lawyer for example - can easily be copied and published online? Over the past decade Google has admitted to accessing and gathering personal information from Gmail accounts. Though what they intended doing with it is a good question. They claim to simply be gathering information. Did you also know.... Everything submitted to, or found by, search engines lives on in cyberspace forever? And though old, unless deleted, or placed in files no longer accessible to the public, like a bad penny these negative reviews and other information you may not want published, will keep turning up. Still available for access. Potentially affecting your reputation, credibility; perhaps even your
business's financial bottom line. Even worse, keeping you from getting a job. How is this information gathered: When you're online - have a website, a blog, do social networking and social media marketing, participate in forums - in fact, even if you answer questions on LinkedIn or Yahoo Answers - each comment you add, post you make, article you submit to these venues, adds to the development of your Internet presence. And the creation of your online reputation. When you set up a Facebook or LinkedIn profile you're also helping develop an online presence and reputation. A presence which helps you create greater visibility for you and your business. This allows you to reach out and create a conversation with like-minded people. Which further allows you to connect and engage with potential clients. Plus makes it easier for individuals interested in your ideas, attitudes or business to connect and 'follow' you. Blogging and social networking, posting to forums and leaving comments are great, free ways to market your business, yourself, products and services. In fact, social networking is considered one of the top strategies to market your business today. Plus these methods allow people to easily get to know you. Over time, social media marketing allows you to create a bond of trust with online followers. Who may, eventually, become paying clients. Blogging, social networking - all of it - adds to the transparency both large and small businesses, alike, are being urged to adopt. It's what consumers in our unique, new social networking oriented world require. In short it’s ‘showing and telling’ them who you are. All of these comments, posts and anything else which has your name attached to it, or which is mentioned, allows search engines like Google to gather it up and print each and every mention. As each mention of you comes up, whether from your own blog post or a comment someone makes about you or your product elsewhere on online, it adds to your online rep. It could be anything from a mention in an article, a customer posted review, a forum posting. Whatever it may be, all of it continues to add to your online reputation. Which as you know, anyone can access when they 'google' you.
Did you also know: You don't need an online presence for Google, and search engines, to compile an online reputation for you. Yes. It's true. Whether you have an online presence, or not. Maybe you don't even have a Facebook or webpage and don’t even have a Twitter account. It doesn't matter. An online reputation is still being created for you by Google and other top search engines. This information is being gathered from mentions via your local newspapers, local news reports, public announcements (divorce or marriage for example). Regardless if your name is simply listed in a fund-raising or political group's article or listed beneath a published photo of your kid's baseball team, it's all picked up by Google and top search engines. Published. And added to the online reputation they are developing for you. Whether you want it or not. In the past, businesses generally worried about what was said about them on radio and TV, in a local newspaper article. Today it's one hundred times worse: They must also contend with what's being said about them and their business on the Internet. Including what's being posted on hundreds, maybe thousands, of platforms. Platforms on which anyone from an angry customer or employee to a problematic vendor, and tons of others, can make their opinions known. Even post negative reviews. Had you thought about this? Your competition can also post negative reviews to popular review sites. Even your competition can submit reviews about you, your products, services and business to top, highly ranked review sites. They can easily, and regularly, attack you using negative postings on these sites. Appearing to be a disgruntled customer or employee. Although sites like Yelp are striving to catch these reviews before they are posted it’s not easy. Not to mention a person vying for the same job, as you, can go online and
attempt to shred your good reputation. To help take you out of the running. Why? Perhaps competition is angry you're now carrying similar products at lower prices; have added competing services; expanded; hired away their best employee. On the other hand, they may be seriously concerned about losing a share of the local market to you. An individual vying for the same job could be less experienced, has less references; is desperate. The reasons are endless. Unfortunately these negative postings, discovered by potential clients - even current customers or those you may be interviewing with - may not just affect your online reputation depending upon the type of negative review, written. But may also harm your hard-won credibility. While it's often been said, "Any PR is good PR", that's changed now that people can, at will, post online reviews of you and your business. Those postings live online forever. Accessible to the viewing public through search engine access.
Does your reputation affect decisions potential clients and job seekers make for or against your company? The answer is a resounding yes. Here’s just few comments on the importance of reputation management: "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." Warren Buffet * “Once we enhanced our reputation, as risk-takers and innovators, it gave us a competitive advantage over other companies”, says Richard Branson. * "Your brand is only as good as its reputation." Richard Branson * "Reputation", says Randall Poe, Executive Director of Communications for the Conference Board, "is an organization's most precious asset, but most firms treat it as something that just happens when you're successful".
* A recent CareerBuilder Study shows your reputation can be a deal breaker when it comes to job seekers applying to your company. "Nearly half of workers (surveyed) said a company's employment brand plays a very big role in their decision to apply for a job within the organization; another 45 percent say it plays somewhat of a role".
It's a fact. Every second, every minute - somewhere on the Internet - an individual or brand's reputation is being slandered or harmed. On the one hand, lost revenue can be calculated. On the other, cost of a business's hard-earned reputation - one which took years to develop - is incalculable.
"Digital Footprints - Online Identity and Search in the Age of Transparency": As far back as 2007 Mary Madden's article: "Digital Footprints - Online Identity and Search in the Age of Transparency" 12/16/07, Pew Research Center, talked about Internet users becoming more aware about the digital footprint they were leaving. Here's what she had to say then: "Internet users are becoming more aware of their digital footprint; 47% have searched for information about themselves online, up from just 22% five years ago. However, few monitor their online presence with great regularity. Just 3% of selfsearchers (those who Googled themselves) report they make a regular habit of it and 74% have checked up on their digital footprints only once or twice." Yet, said Madden, in this 2007 report - "Most internet users are not concerned about the amount of information available about them online, and most do not take steps to limit that information. Fully 60% of internet users say they are not worried about how much information is available about them online. Similarly, the majority of online adults (61%) do not feel compelled to limit the amount of information that can be found about them online", the report states. While a handful more are monitoring their online reputation, today, most aren't.
Fast forward to 2010 and Pew Research Report of Reputation Management and Social Media - 5/26/10 by Mary Madden and Aaron Smith: "More than half (57%) of adult internet users say they have used a search engine (or Googled themselves) to look up their name to see what's available about them online, up from 47% who did so in 2006-07. Young adults, far from being indifferent about their digital foot-prints, are the most active online reputation managers in several dimensions. For example, more than two-thirds (71%) of social networking users ages 18-29 have changed the privacy settings on their social profiles. To limit what they share with others online. That said, once someone has been made aware of, or discovered the "digital dirt" search engines can unearth about them, they're re-thinking how they participate and share online. Willing to take more precautions before speaking out, taking a problem customer to task online; raging on Twitter when a company fails to hire them or gives them what they consider poor service.
Whether they're posting to a blog, Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site, reputation management has now become top priority for those actively participating online say experts. “Search engines and social media sites now play a central role in building one’s identity online,” says Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist and lead author of the 2010 Pew Social Use Report. “Many users are learning and refining their approach as they go – changing privacy settings on profiles, customizing who can see certain updates and deleting unwanted information about them that appears online,” says Madden. Here are some common internet search facts you should know. Which throw some light on the habits of online searchers: * 95% of internet users do not search past the first page of search engine results. * 80% of the United States population researches a product on the internet before purchasing. And look for customer reviews of that product. * 72% of those who research a product, service or brand will not buy – or use it - if there’s a negative comment.
What is your reputation worth? Reputation can carry more weight than money in the case of job seekers. "When job seekers (in the recent CareerBuilder survey) were asked if they would consider a salary that is 5 percent less than their lowest acceptable salary, a significant number said they would - depending upon the company's image and experience."
RESOURCE: For additional help with Reputation Management: http://goo.gl/o6nXKC
