Managing Of Your Reputation
A lot of people want to know about reputation management, but they don’t know where to begin. If this sounds like something you want to get into, then this article is here to help. Just read along and you’re going to get some great advice to help you out on this subject.
One of the primary ways you can manage your reputation is to claim your business brand online and take charge of the content about you. Use either KnowEm.com, UserNameCheck.com, or NameChk.com to locate every online instance of your business name popping up. You only need to use one, but any of them can let you know if anyone out there is misrepresenting your business or speaking ill of you.
Have a portfolio of websites you can optimize with search engines. It will seem natural to try and make your business website the number one search listing for your business name when used as a search query. However, do not stop there. Try to have ten of your business web pages become the top ten search results for your brand name. Block everyone else out.
If your business is listed on a dating site that allows business owners to respond, make sure that you take advantage of this. Whether the feedback you are given is good or bad, you should respond to it. Thank people who have nothing but praise and offer something to those that are unsatisfied.
Pay attention to the reputation your business has offline. Your offline reputation will make its way into the online world. If negative content on your company becomes a trend, you need to know why. Treat all your clients and customers well and urge the happy ones to leave positive reviews on sites like Yelp.
You need to plan out your business moves online. You can’t just start replying randomly to all of your customer’s posts. You need to take some time to plan out how you’re going to approach them and what you’re going to say. Not doing this may cause some problems for you.
When you have a business, you must establish a process to handle negative reviews. Always respond to negative reviews properly and quickly; otherwise, your silence can come across as indifference. Also, it is just as important to acknowledge any positive reviews with appreciation and reinforcement.
Social media can sometimes seem like it gets out of hand if you’re not looking. It can blow up in a good way, but the wrong people can gain access to the wrong things or put something out there that makes you look bad. So, you don’t want the liberties of social media showing your business up.
Try to follow up with your customers soon after they make purchases. This will make it more likely that they will express concerns with you rather than sharing them all over the Internet. You can use this as an opportunity to resolve the issue before it gets out of hand.
You should place a complaint form on your site and encourage customers to use them if they are not happy with your products and services. This will give them the idea that it is best to talk things out with you instead of leaving negative feedback all over the Web. Make sure that you try your best to address all of the issues that are presented to you.
Even if a customer contacts you with an unfounded complaint against your company, be sure not to dismiss his complaint so readily. You should always acknowledge and thank the customer for taking the time to contact you. Offer to investigate further. Offer to give him something extra for his troubles. This will lessen the likelihood that he will bad-mouth your business around his social circle.
Make sure that your social networking pages are completely private to everyone except your friends. While this may seem like you are being irrationally mysterious, the result will be negative people having less of your information to run with. Business pages should always be available to everyone that wants to take a look.
Talk to your friends to make sure that they are not doing anything that can make you look bad. For example, if there are pictures of you drunk and acting silly, make sure that your friend does not post them anywhere online. While it may seem like a joke, it can do a number on you.
Make sure each month you go over your search engine results. Google the company’s name each month and be sure you’re looking through the whole website. Look for negative reviews. Take note of where the negative comments are coming from and see if there is a pattern in the area of dissatisfaction. Mitigate as needed.
A crucial element in reputation management is claiming your brand name, especially on the Internet. Make sure that no other business or individual can use your reputation to enhance their agenda or to discredit you. Use only one name across all your online venues, including social media, and secure any obvious variations of it that a competitor could take advantage of.
If you want to be successful at online reputation management, then you need to control your emotions. Breathe deeply and practice stress management techniques. Do this by being physically active. Don’t get into flame fights online. This can make your reputation worse.
When handling online disputes, be sure to stay calm and avoid sarcasm. Just stick to the facts at hand. If there is some part of the problem that is your fault, you should apologize for your part in the problem. Suggest resolving the difficulty off-line through a phone call or emails. This will help bolster your online reputation and allow you to work more intensively on the problem at hand.
When you’re done with all of this information and learning it to use to your advantage, you will do well. Reputation management is something that you need to take care of if you’re working in the business world. Don’t delay and get started now on this to do well with it all.
PS: The traditional way of doing business will never be the same, which means that those who truly want to live differently and take advantage of the digital economy will have an opportunity to do so in the quickly expanding and evolving world of eCommerce and online business…
