In a highly judgmental world most of us care about what opinion people have of us. If you are trying to sell a product or a service, being able to create a good reputation for yourself becomes all the more crucial. Even a couple of decades back the reputation of your company or product would largely be propagated through word of mouth. But let’s face it, as the world progresses it will never become a less complicated place to live in. If anything, on one hand we will be triumphing in our progress and on the other hand we will be pulling out our hair for it ever happening.
The internet is a wonderful weapon in the right hands. If you can use it right the internet can bring you business in ways you had not even imagined before. But one slip and you can see even the most firmly founded business empire come crumbling down. If you are thinking that the internet is one thing that you will stay away from, it will not help either. Whether you like it or not its definitely going to get people talking about you. A first time client or even a future employee will do some background check about you and your company. If the first page of Google tells them that you are absolutely unreliable and no good at your job, your business might be over before it even starts. On the other hand a few words about your ‘awesomeness’ and how your efforts deserve an award will get you just what you are looking for: good business!
Online reputation management does not translate to only a smashing website. It means a positive awareness about your brand. It does not only mean enough presence on the internet. It means presence on Facebook posts and Tweets in a positive light. And do not believe that you can fake it because people who are smart enough to research your company before investing will depend on reviews and not blown up version of how good you are that possibly you yourself have posted online.
Online reputation management essentially means for you to safeguard against the negative buzz about your business that is circulating online. It does not necessarily need to be your fault. It can even be your competitor’s vile attempt to disrepute you or an unfortunate mix up like, you search your name on any of the eminent search engines and find out that the first few pages are filled with information of a man who is your namesake but who, very sadly, happens to be a well known criminal. You cannot change your name but you or an online reputation management company on your behalf, can do enough internet scrubbing to push down these negative images and get you a good online rank.
Online reputation management can easily be outsourced to any such company that handles such activities and specializes in it. One can also handle one’s own online reputation by using monitoring tools (with which you can set alerts about your company being mentioned in consumer reviews or any other online conversation); actively use social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc to influence the target audience and other such means.
Today, in a world flooded with advertisements, brands and choices, 70% of the global consumers believe that online consumer reviews are the most trusted form of certification any product or service can receive and therefore consumer reviews are also one of the most widely read content available on the internet. There has possibly been no better time than this to pay due diligence to your online reputation management.
