6 Secrets to Better Online Reputation Management

According to wikipedia.com Online Reputational Management (ORM) "is the practice of attempting to shape public perception of a person or organization by influencing information about that entity" online.  In other words, this process controls what someone sees online and ultimately thinks about you. It’s pushing the positive and cleaning up the negative...Helping you to soar in cyberspace.

1) Get Started
Over one billion names are searched everyday on Google. Understand people make judgments about you based on what they search for and find online. According to Google, 45% of those who are searching to buy and/or hire, have found negative information that caused them to take their business elsewhere or hire someone else. Because people can readily publish negative comments about you and/or your company, there’s not much you can do about it. EXCEPT, to have a robust ORM strategy and implementation plan in place.

2) Research
Search yourself. Search for your name, business, your image, and anything else that may be related. Taking notes and snapshots will help you later with your assessment and plan of attack.

3) Work It
Remember everything is recorded online. Everything. From Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, online searches and transactions, websites we visit, text/messenger conversations, years-old status updates, to private emails (they can be hacked), and more. So, as much as possible, keep private what should be private. And don’t hesitate to ask others to take down pictures of yourself that you think will compromise yours or your company’s reputation. Sometimes suppressing the negative is a full-time job, so be ready. Ensure your first impression stays a great one.

4) Invest
Buy your domain name. Buy as many as you can afford: Johndoe.com, Johndoe.net, Johnathandoe.com, yourbusiness.com, etc. The more, the merrier. Have a reputable design firm create your website and embed your content. You should include your company information, your bio, business interest, education, interesting articles, the benefits of your services, etc.

5) Focus
Increase your positive footprint by creating compelling and targeted content. Keep your content in one place and include your social media page links. Then make sure your social pages are completely filled out and active. Schedule and add new content at least twice a month. This will make your online presence stronger and push you up in search results.

By optimizing your online profiles you'll push down any negative content to the 2nd and 3rd pages within a Google search...which is where irrelevant content goes to die.

6) Stay The Course
Monitor. Set up a Google alert on your name or business to keep track of any new content that’s been published. Notifications will be sent to your e-mail.

Being proactive with your online reputation management will help make public perception your best friend, NOT your worst enemy. For more information and to get started on your own campaign, contact info@hornsbybrandesign.com.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management

5 Tips for Healthy Reputation Management

Online Reputation Management (ORM) has become big business. In many ways it's the digital division of public relations. Review sites and social media provide the means for immediate complaint (or praise) and have given rise to the need for companies to proactively monitor and address all comments. On the upside, these sites deliver a great opportunity for customer feedback and positive publicity. On the downside, it can be potentially damaging for a company’s reputation. Everyone has an opinion and the www gives them a forum.

Five Tips For ORM:

1. Be your reputation’s watchdog.
   We can’t stress enough the importance of monitoring your reputation. And it’s not limited to human interaction, but also search engine finds, ie. SEO. With onlookers constantly checking, commenting, and rating your every move, it can be a daunting task to manage. However, there are agencies (like ours) that can help you manage the watchdog process.
2. Proactively and empathetically respond to the comments.
   This is the number one tenet to managing your online reputation. Don’t ignore the bad review, but rather use this as an opportunity to demonstrate concern and excellent customer service. In other words be quick to address it and always start with an apology, even if you're not at fault. Get the story and develop a solution. Ideally, a phone call to the dissatisfied customer (when possible) with concern and resolution can alleviate and turn a frustrated customer into a happy one. For a large corporation this could mean 100s or even 1000s of contacts, but it will be worth it. When it’s not possible to call the person, address it publicly and avoid being negative in return. Make every effort to turn the naysayer into an advocate.
3. Push the positive.
   This is PR 101 in both traditional and digital formats. Beat the drum with the good stuff by using online media to tout your company’s accomplishments and social consciousness, then provide clickable evidence. Be funny, if the opportunity allows. (It shows personality.) Tweet, post on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and your blog! The possibilities are vast.
4. Be persistent in protecting your reputation and don’t game the system.
   Know what your current reputation is and be vigilant with improving it by encouraging people to give comments. After a successful transaction, make a call, invite them in person, or send an email with a link to rate your service and product. Keep your reviews current and don’t let them get stale. Consumers tend to ignore reviews older than three or four months anyway. But beware and be honest. Don’t hire “false positives.” They are almost always found out and exposed.
5. Have foresight with a plan.
   Have a vision as to where you want your reputation to be in a year and have a preemptive “damage control” plan in place. No one can stop all negative comments or happenings, but having a proactive plan and response prepared in advance will go a long way to quickly reducing fallout, making today’s news yesterday’s.

Bottom line? The unpredictability of the future can be managed and even harnessed if you’re willing to play the game proactively.