Online Reputation Management A Skeptics Guide
71WTF is Online Reputation Management?
Its the desire to control what is said about a company company or, increasingly a person, online. Of course if I cared about it very much I probably wouldn't have sworn in the sub-title - but I digress ...
Like so much on the Internet - online reputation management is a rapidly evolving area and I think one than has the chance to get ugly quickly.
Onine Reputation Management for Companies
Some companies actively management their online reputation. The current 100 hubchallenge came about because hubpages actively manage their reputation. How do I know this? Courtney Tuttle blogged about the idea - Ryan Hupfer (Hubpages Marketing Manager) - found the post almost as soon as I did - and I'm a subscriber. He was tracking mentions of hubpages online - I don't know how he does it - I use google alerts and it works very well.
I blogged about a site similar to hubpages, called Infobarrel, and I also got a comment from the owner of Infobarrel - again a positive experience for both the blogger and the company - we had a conversation - he got some ideas how to improve his site - and some new contributers. The interaction told me that this was a company that understood something about social media - its a conversation and a corporate cannot control a conversation - but they may not wish to ignore it...
Free Publicity - Thank You
Companies can royally screw up online reputation management though. Taking on the little boys and winning doesn't necessarily mean that the little company loses anyway. There are some companies which love to sue even off-line and appear to take the same approach online as well. In the old days sending official looking lawyer's letters to local family businesses who were run my John McDonald or Mary Hilton - may have worked really well for large fast-food companies. The individual involved would consult a lawyer - who would advise them not to annoy the big boys and change the name of their backpackers or restaurant.
But did it really work? Quick name a backpackers hostel on the West Coast of New Zealand - for most NZers the answer is The Blackball Hilton now with the prefix of "Formerly". How much free publicity has an Indian fast-food chain in Malaysia got since McDonalds thought they "owned" "Mc" and in this case they actually lost! Both companies have had far more free publicity than the bills they paid their lawyers. People don't like bullies and the response is often to support the under-dog.
Just Google It ...
Online Reputation Management for Individuals
There seems to be a disturbing trend to self-censorship on the Internet. College kids are told to avoid publishing photos of themselves on facebook looking a little drunk - it may scare off future employers. Well I'd turn it around the other way: if an employer is concerned that sometimes I get drunk and sometimes someone has a camera present - well I don't really want to work for you - it does in fact - have nothing to do with you.
Can an Employer Google Me?
Under New Zealand human resource law - you can only contact job applicant's job referees if the candidate gives you permission to do so - you can't call someone who you know used to work with the person - unless that person is a named referee. Of course it still happens. Online I think the same should apply - if I include a website on my resume fine - if you Google my name and want to know why I stir up online controversay - well frankly its about as relevant as my love of Ballroom Dancing or Star Trek - which weren't on the resume either! I don't know the US law but if a New Zealand employer admitted to not employing me because of my facebook profile and I hadn't mentioned that on my resume - they would be liable for prosecution. So no they cannot google your name.
My Image ...
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Is it important to have a "professional" photo on a business blog?
See results without votingIs It Important To Have A Professional Image Online?
I don't think so and here's why. Again in the real world you will have heard about the marketing person's "professional image". Unfortunately for me as a potential customer this usually comes across as a "slick, slimy, high pressure, salesman". This particularly applies in the real estate market - if an agent shows up in the $1000 suit, and flash sports car - all I think is NOT "wow how successful this guy is he'll sell my home" - I think "oh what a sleaze-ball, he'll put the high-pressure on me to sell not matter what the offer is because he has to make the car payments".
Unfortunately online this image appears to go much further than just the photo that you put up on your blog. The big deal is that "what you do online stays forever" - which is true - partly - but the real answer to that is: so?
I know a published author who runs a professional writing agency who is an expert on Pubic Hair Styles. I know another professional blogger who has a politically incorrect blog which features naked women and atheism sometimes at the same time. In both cases I bet those quirky, non-professional images get them clients - because they are real! I am pretty darn sure that Julie-Ann and Mark have a great sense of humour - and I am pretty sure that Mark enjoys seeing a pretty girl, those facts are basically irrelevant to their jobs - but it gives a potential client the feeling that they may be dealing with a "real person" not just an email and a name.
My Blog
- Market Samurai – Rank Tracker Alternative
Sometimes you don’t know how much you like a tool until its gone. - 7 days ago
- Pinterest For Backlinks, Affiliate Sales, and Recipes
I am liking Pinterest! - 3 weeks ago
- Right Keywords + Right Platform = Cash!
Who needs new keywords then? - 3 weeks ago
- Empower Network Scam or Legit?
I was introduced to the Empower Network by an acquaintance at a rare blogging meetup in my home town. - 5 weeks ago
- Internet Marketing Business Plan – 2012 Edition
Sorry this is a bit of long one, even for me! - 5 weeks ago
- 2012 Goals – Introduction
As I mentioned in passing in my last post 2011 – wasn’t the most exciting year of my life. - 6 weeks ago
- 2011 Review Looking Back
Hmm, looks like although I’ve used Chris Guillebeau’s approach to planning before, I’ve not actually blogged about it! - 6 weeks ago
- All I Want for Christmas Are Long Tail Keywords – Keyword Researcher Review
Yeah Christmas or whatever you choose to celebrate or not in this happy/stressful/profitable time of the year! - 7 weeks ago
What to Avoid With Your Online Image
That all said I think there are some fairly obvious things to avoid:
- Avoid exchanges on forums or blog comments which get to the personal and nasty. By personal I mean attacking a person's sex/colour/looks/height or any other characteristic they can't control. You will invariably come out looking like an idiot, in fact if you own the blog publishing these types of idiot comments, which go all the way to death threats if you get lucky, can make a very powerful case for your argument without you saying a word;
- Be consistent use the same photo/user name in many places - that way people will know "its you". My name is a curse which I hated all the way through school - but at least ever instance of "lis sowerbutts" is me and no one else! Lissie is the name of some singer who I never heard of and is not me. That's why I have slowly stopped using lissie and instead use my real name on many sites. It doesn't have to your real name - but choose something distinctive that is easy to track;
- Don't worry about compartmentalising your interests - so I am probably the only ballroom dance competitor who is also into Internet Marketing - and travel. If you find that confusing you probably find life a challenge, because most people have lots of interests. There are very good reasons to keep a blog on topic - but extending this idea to the whole online world is just nonsense. I don't follow people on twitter called "internetmarker2.0" or even "realestateguru" - I follow "mary" or "joan" - cause they are real people.
- Don't pretend to be what you are not. I write on making money online - but I don't claim to make huge amounts of money online. I've been told that I have no credibility because I admit that - oddly though I now have a reasonable following, because I am authentic, bonus - when I do start making millions of dollars overnight in my sleep - I will probably have a lot of people who will believe me!
Do you actively manage your online reputation
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Well exactly Terry - a very dodgy handle if you ask me! I seriously didn't even think about it until I thought I should probably buy my domain name - and then though oh I want to move my blog of blogger - that domain will do! That's called a marketing strategy I think NOT!
My name gets worse actually - in fact I only use "lissie" online - in Australia I am "Lis" but that's too short for many forums. Because my first name is spelt Elisabeth but Australians can't handle multi-syllable names (that not a slander just a fact) - which hardly anyone (including my bank) can spell correctly - so then I had to go and buy both variations of my fullname as well *sigh* oh and normally professionally I just use my initials to sign so I bought that too! Thank goodness for redirection is all I can say!
Do you sell used cars - I thought it was just dodgy hosting deals :-)
How would you defend yourself online towards people who have singled you out and attempted to sabotage your ratings through insulting your work (whereas you notice a trend where they don't insult anyone else's work) without giving any constructive criticism? I've tried to ignore such people, and will in the future, but they do have an influence over the community which is a shame on an amateur site (no offense to the site, it's not a syndicated newspaper) and can cause potential harm to one's reputation for a few pennies. This place could be a great community but I hesistate to come here sometimes due to the ruthless nature of some of these hubbers.
Do you mean on Hubpages forums WR? To be honest I don't bother much with the forums at the moment they seem to be going thru a nasty aggressive phase at the moment - I'm not sure why but it started when the redesign listed the top 10 posters on the forums- why that would matter to anyone is beyond me but it is well-known that its easy to get to the top of the list by starting fights and there are several doing that at the the moment.
Its a shame because they used to be one of the most supportive on the Internet - hopefully it will come back. People have got themselves banned before, and attacking others is a very good way to go about it. You can also report any post that you consider goes too far.
To be honest none of it matters because forum threads rarely make it high in the search engine rankings and mostly you tell who is reasonable and who is being attention seeking just by reading a few threads ... Personally I stay way away from the religious forum though - very little intelligence to be found there - except when Mark is on form! Once the thread is buried a few pages down in never sees the Internet light of day again
Online reputation management is an interesting topic. I know IM'er tend to use a lot of different names so they can look like an expert in many fields. Is that being honest? I'm not sure. Not many people are expert in oil filter, women's hair products, and toy dog breeds. In this case they want to create an image or reputation that they can then manage.
This is different than a "big boy" on the web. I think (hope) the internet is leveling the playing field and allowing the little guy with a good idea the chance to go up against the mega-corporations and win. It is now much easier to spread the word about a big company forcing out a samll guy and a lot of consumers don't like to see the underdog lose. Maybe the large corporations should worry about an online reputation that is built on quality products and services instead of how big their law office is.
They should get back into the business of building businesses instead of doing what ever it is these idiot MBA's have had them do to torpedoe the world economy.
This was thoroughly interesting and pertinent. We're all still learning, to a certain extent, how best to manage our online presence and identities. Image is everything, and is fiction!
Thanks for visiting guys. Yes I remember one of the first things I learned online that each "persona" should only have one speciality - to be honest I don't buy it for that reason - but I do have some other personas so that all my sites aren't easily tied together.
Teresa I think its just at the beginning and a topic which is rapidly evolving. There are a number of companies now offering "online reputation management" as a service - maybe they should spend he money on customer service instead?
I wish that all companies cared about their reputation (not just the online ones). What you call Reputation - I call Customer Service. Reputation is just a better word I suppose? I excel in customer service because my business is my source of income. I have a business both online and offline and I feel they do well because of the customer service I offer and I get continued business by having a good reptuation. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the subject. I admire your writing style, it was very easy to read and engaging. Great topic. Thumbs up!
interesting topic, Lissie! I'm like you - I have a new appreciation for my name now that I write online. It was a pain that no one could spell or pronounce it when I was a kid, but now I appreciate most google returns for Dineane are mine.
I'm a little careful about what I post online - but I'm juggling my writing presence with a "regular" job. I never say much about work, and I try to be careful about my friends and family's privacy, but I want my readers to be able to see/find the "real me".
Oh Lis, I loved this hub! Really. The photos too, well done! I am trying to grow a business online, so I use another profile for that stuff, just to keep it separate.
A comment on reputation and customer service, in some ways they are related but I think what you're talking about here Lis goes way beyond customer service. I have a 'real job' as an accountant in a printing company and I have had to learn lots about customer service. But that has nothing to do with whether I get sloshed on the weekend, and neither should it. I'm with you on that.
@thelesleyshow - I agree great customer service will go a long,long way - but what if your business started taking work away from the competitor and they started posted all over the net that your business was crap and ripped people off - what would you do?
@dineane - its amazing these days people seem to give kids unusual names so they can be individuals- it was always a nightmare for me! My alternative IDs online have very ordinary names - not quite John Smith but close!
I agree that if you are working elsewhere its a little different . I certainly protect my partner's ID online and never mentioned my workplace by name (when I had one) - basically I don't think its fair implicating others - I never use photos which include other people and it surprises me how often people include their kids in their profile pic
@Robyn - I agree - in the States particularly - where this whole concept comes from of course, there is a strong implication that a job owns you - that you should work all the hours they require and even off the job you reflect their brand! Lets put it this way these days there are regular alchohol testing in the mining industry - but in the old days I certainly went to work over the limit more than once and the only person that it hurt was me (my head normally!). I can handle doing what my employer wants me to do on his time - but no man owns me never has - maybe that's why I'm an entrepreneur now LOL
Yeah, entrepreneurship is the way to go I think, too. My sister's partner works in the gold mines in Ballarat, and she :-) won't drink at all during the week for the same reason. She does drive heavy equipment, but still it has really altered their lifestyle. Not that they would drink a lot or anything, but basically she lives Mon-Fri for her job, so she'll get a paycheck. If she wasn't so computer illiterate I'd introduce her to MMO.
Good article, but you focused mainly on the reactive aspects: "What are people saying about me or my company?"
People who specialize in reputation management also work proactively; for instance, to move positive mentions into the top 10 or 20 results on Google thus pushing out negative ones.
I had a bit of angst before putting myself out there as an expert but I've always been open and honest in real life so it makes sense to do the same online. I do have a naughty sense of humour and clients who don't gel with that tend not to see it. I DO get regular paid business-type writing work from the pubic hair hub - shy clients who ask for the "hair writer from hubpages". I also get fun clients as a result who want fun topics.
Occasionally I have a falling out with a client who threatens to blacken my name. I always invite them to do their worst. I very actively manage my online reputation but not in the way most people think of it - not actively doing positive PR stuff just checking that what's out there is accurate- good and bad. My PERSONAL website carries the strapline "A life without compromise" which does mean answering difficult questions honestly and some stuff being out there I might prefer not but if it's true, fair 'nuff.
And thanks for the mention.
Julie-Ann Amos
Resident Pubic Hair Expert
(Never look a gift niche in the mouth, whatever it is)
@Andy - I was going to include it but I was already at 1300 words LOL ! I think another hub may have to focus on that aspect - its a really big topic which I have just started being aware of
@Pubic Hair specialist aka Julie-Ann - I think you have hit the proverbial nail - I am very open in real life too - never figured out what the point of a public mask was - or at least I was too lazy to bother with the image! I notice you use the same photo here as on your book - I think a consistent photo is important - keeps us young too! Thanks for commenting!
Lissie, yes forums, comments, potentially a hub, I don't know the author says it wasn't mean't to be hostile so maybe I read into that. Not sure. But it does become unfair once it effects my ratings and reputation amongst other hubbers.
Well you are writing about religion and politics so you will get a bit of that - but basically people take offense and what they want to be offended about - it happens.
I pretty much purely write on line to make money - I am controversal in that arena and although I got a lot of personal insults in the this thread http://lissowerbutts.com/site-build-it-scam-review which ranged from my grammar (fair enough) , to my likely death by cancer (unacceptable) - the end result was that it enhanced my reputation because I didn't back down or drop to their level of insult - in fact I get regular emails from people who came to my blog for that post - and ended up buying from me and thanking me - must be doing something right.
See, Lissie, it's controversy that gets the ratings...my most popular hubs are about politics. Though, maybe I shouldn't have sunken to someone's level I admit.
What do you mean by ratings - traffic from hubpages or google?
Internal hubpage traffic is nice becaue people leave comments which is nice - but it doesnt' make me any money! The hubs i have which only get google searchers get no comments - but they make money.
I guess I was never popular at school so I never really understood how to be the popular person in real-life or a forum. I have got a helluva lot of fans here - and that is purely from providing useful information and commenting on others peoples hubs (sometimes, not often enough). I don't know how that applies to politics - useful information doesn't really go with that niche does it LOL
Very interesting stuff. I think it's a mixed bag, which you cover pretty well. I mean, who wants to work for a company that holds some picture of you at a party against you. They're eitiher total stiffs who don't party and therefore would be miserable to work with, or they are lying a-holes who pretend they don't party for some reason or other to fool themselves, their superiors or their preacher/congregation. Either way, sounds like a bad place to work. The real question is how much time to the person doing the hiring spend looking around for different facets of you? If they just log onto the picture of you puking behind the garbage can and don't surf around to the article you wrote that got some charity a grant or whatever, well, then it's a problem.
Shades you have a point - I personally can't find my facebook profile on the first 4 or 5 pages for results for lis sowerbutts - probably because I never promote it! I do think that if you have a distinctive name that owning your dot com is importatant - because almost automatically that site will be number one for your name!
You're probably right, but I pay for shadesbreath.com every year anyway, still waiting for the time I become techno savy enough to do something with it. (Or wealthy enough to outsource heh)
This is very similar to the conversation I had with my two teens recently. Kids do not seem to understand that what they are putting on their social pages will be viewed by colleges and potential employers. It needs to be kept positive.
It has taken 4 days to get to the end of this line just to say Thank you.... So I'll make the most of it! Thank you very much Lissie. I love the 'Real' test that people must pass to be 'Real.' It is so hard for some to Just Be.....
Just wanted to say, "DITTO."
Erick - I am kinda glad my teenage angst never got out of my bedroom LOL! It will be different for their generation - but I think keeping everything positive is unrealistic too.
LOL pearldiver - this is not even a very long hub - you gonna have to learn to read faster! Thanks though I think its an evolving area and I must admit some of the stuff that has been going on in the forums here recently partly "inspired" me to write it!
Online "reputation management" is becoming an important issue, as more and more people routinely google other people's names.
Which is a bit of a problem, if your name happens to be the same as some porn star.
@ Shadesbreath - you could connect your domain name to your hub pages profile for starters.
You should be able to do this from the control panel of your domain registrar. Let me know if you want a hand with anything.
cheers, Eric G.
Eric I searched and searched and couldn't find any porn when I google "eric graudins" just some Internet bloke who improbably claims to live in Tasmania and does mountain biking - very unlikely if you ask me!
Good point re redirecting a domain to your profile
Great article. VERY good tips and advice. I know that when I started my career, I googled my name and had to spend hours contacting a few websites to take my name down. I also used Reputation Defender. Nothing was sketchy, but rather unprofessional such as pet games that I had signed up when I was younger! lol I didn't want colleagues finding this information as my name is quite unique. There are '3 others of me' in the U.S. and one in Canada, but none work in my field. One of the other folks that shares my name is actually quite risque and I hate that, but can't do anything about it. Luckily, she looks totally different than me, so at first glance people know it's not me. :)
Your online reputation should definitely be of concern. If you are younger, you should start thinking about it now before you post pictures of yourself drinking underage, etc.
You never know what life will bring and if you'll end up with people scrutinizing your activities online to gauge your character and use things against you.
Once it's online - it's there FOREVER.
I once had a tip that a potentially major story was about to break for a political campaign that I was working on. I was able to prevent the mainstream media from picking up. However, an independent online paper ended up publishing an article, based upon strewed facts. They embarassed themselves as I contacted them and explained what really had happened and how they had jumped the gun a little too early. The next day, they deleted all signs of the story from their site. However, a little noisy blogger picked it up. The story will come up in google, but it is deeply buried. The blogger would not respond to my messages. Luckily, it stopped there. Man, was that a nightmare!
For political campaigns, google is frequently utilized to look up background information. Vetting supporters and even potential field staff on the internet is a godsend. It can save you so many headaches. National campaigns actually have departments set up to do research on the internet for the vetting process. You enter the room, and there are a bunch of college interns huddled over computers looking at people's myspace page, blogs, etc. Really interesting!
If you don't want someone to find it - don't post it!
I'm loving your skeptics guide. Great article.
Unfortunately for the skeptics search volume is up. Folk need to be conscious that if you put it on line it can and probably will be found. People and companies need to have have some guidelines to follow.
It's going to end up like literacy. Those who do not give themselves a framework will be illiterate and not be able to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there...
honestway 2 years ago
I probably picked a crap handle without realising early on. Who'd buy a used car from anyone called "Honest John"?
I know what you mean about names. I always hated my name as a kid too. No one ever said it right and I was forever getting called stupid names. Terry Didcott is unusual and sticks out like the sore thumb it always was, but now it has its positive advantages online.