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Posts Tagged ‘online reputation’
Saturday, November 5th, 2011
Online marketing is a 24/7 endeavor. That’s because the Internet never sleeps. But what if you run a Monday through Friday 9-5 type of business? Should you work on off hours?
Of course, I don’t know your schedule so I can’t tell you when you should work. But if you have trouble performing essential online marketing tasks such as social media updating, SEO for your website, and other tasks associated with managing your online reputation, then you have to fit those activities in somewhere. Working during off duty hours may become a necessity if you want to maintain an online presence.
That’s easy to do, however, with certain online tools that I recommend. You can manage your social media accounts when you have time.
Services like SocialOomph and HootSuite allow you to preschedule your social bookmarking messages, which is great for saving time. You can write them at night and schedule them to post during the day, then use your lunch break to “check in.” If it means working Saturday for a couple of hours just to see your social media presence managed well, then it could be in your business’s best interest.
Managing your time is essential to running a good operation. I know you need family time, but your online reputation won’t manage itself.
Tags: online marketing, online reputation, Social Media, time management
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
Mikal Belicove makes a good point when he says that not all publicity is good publicity.
Are you still sending out press releases to every online source you find? You might want to rethink that strategy. Reputation matters and if you get associated with low quality spam sites, that will be a hard reputation to shake. It could stay with you for the rest of your online life.
Mr. Belicove mentions four specific ways that bad PR can hurt your business:
- Promoting to audiences not likely to become your customers.
- You could drive traffic away from your website with bad PR practices.
- Placing your news article or press release on bad sites with unfocused content, cheap PPC ads, or other issues.
- You could benefit the other site more than you benefit your own.
These are all valid concerns. You don’t want to take on the practice of just publishing anywhere you can get a byline. Rather, you want to examine and analyze every website you find to determine whether or not that website is a good place for you. Don’t publish content anywhere it could hurt your business.
In an age of online content marketing, public relations is not all good. Some can hurt you long term.
Tags: content marketing, online reputation, public relations
Posted in PR for Small Business | 3 Comments »
Monday, December 27th, 2010
Megan Calhoun thought it would be cool to use Twitter to connect moms from around the world. It was. And she built a successful website and business around this niche at TwitterMoms.com. There’s just one problem. Twitter didn’t like it.
This is a particularly useful topic considering that so many businesses use Twitter in their name. Third-party applications, social bookmarking sites, and other social tools get their start using Twitter’s API. No problem. But then they go the extra step to put “Twitter” in their name. That’s a bad move.
Twitter has a right to protect its trademark. And so does every other company. If you think you can piggyback off a successful name brand to build your business and brand, think again. Not many companies will appreciate this. You can get an impression that you are connected to that more successful brand when you are in fact not connected at all. So is there a danger in piggybacking off another brand?
Twittermoms.com changed its name to socialmoms.com. A new website is in the works.
When TweetLater.com changed its name to SocialOomph in August 2009, they gave this explanation:
We decided to change our name to allow for future expansion into other social media solutions, and to ensure that our brand does not conflict with any current or future legal rights of the Twitter organization.
To allay any speculation, we want to make clear that this is an unsolicited, proactive and preemptive action on our side.
I guess they saw the writing on the wall. And you should too.
If you are planning to use a technology, API, or a tool that was developed by another company, make sure that you put some thought into your brand name. Don’t assume that you can use the name of the brand of the other company within your own. You will likely run into legal trouble. Consult an attorney when in doubt.
Tags: Branding, internet marketing, online reputation, Social Media
Posted in Branding | No Comments »
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
Company Brand Name Reputation is one of the most important factors to create and foster with online advertising. When people are talking about your product or services, you can be sure that others are reading or watching those comments and forming an idea about your business.
So what do you do when an unhappy customer posts a negative review of your business or product? Keep in mind that negative reviews are detrimental to your online reputation, but if it managed correctly, you can negate some of its worst impacts. The best way to manage a negative online review of your small business is to take moment to collect yourself and then investigate the situation before you reply.
Researching a Negative Online Review of your Small Business:
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Your first course of investigating should of course revolve around the facts listed in the negative review.
Was the review about service? Find out when, where, and who, and then interview that employee to understand what happened.
Was the review about a product? Look into the product and the complaint to find out if that particular product had a flaw that caused an issue.
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If the negative review is legitimate, because of a bad employee or a fault in the product, reply back that you have or are addressing the situation, and how. Many negative experiences can be turned into positive ones if the company takes the time to take action. If the negative review is factually incorrect, ask for a removal or a retraction of the post, and explain why.
Online Reputation is important, and even a negative review, when properly handled, can be turned around.Â
Tags: Business Reputation, Online Brand Management, online reputation
Posted in Branding | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
One of the most important things you can do for your business online is to set up profiles at all of the social bookmarking and networking sites. If you don’t, someone else could.
Online, anyone can essentially steal your identity and pretend to be you, making promises in your name and not fulfilling them, doing all sorts of damage that you’ll spend hours upon hours upon hours cleaning up and still not sure if you got it all. That could be worse than cleaning up a negative credit report!
It’s up to you to protect your brand online and one of the best ways to do that is to set up profiles in your business name or brand and actively engage other social media marketers through those profiles. Even if all you do is set up the profile and never use it you’ll at least stop others from using your brand name illegitimately. Many social sites offer link juice for the links from your profile to your website so that alone is worth the effort. But actively using your profile by networking with others in those social sites could lead to additional business as you develop relationships. Not only will you be protecting your online reputation, but you’ll be building your business brand in a positive, forward-moving way.
Tags: Branding, link building, online reputation, social media marketing
Posted in Branding, Reputation Management | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
(Source) In a report Sunday, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of U.S. adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine.
Is this good news or bad? I’m not sure. It seems that online reputation management is growing in popularity. I mean, in 2002 the percentage of people who Googled themselves was only 22%. It seems we’re making progress. But there is still about half of all Internet users who don’t search for themselves online to see what’s being said about them. On the other hand, maybe those people are confident that no one is talking about them. Should they be?
I think online reputation management is one of the most important things to pay attention to now. Two or three negative comments about you from a reputable source or in a forum with a lot of traffic could cost you greatly. You might lose a big client or fail to attract one because of a negative review. But that’s not all. It could affect your personal life as well. The same study by Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that people go online to find personal information about others, including information about bankruptcies and divorces. It could be someone you are dating or planning to marry.
Now, I’m not suggesting you should cover or conceal your past, but it is important to check out your reputation online from time to time. What are people saying about you? And better yet, what are you doing about it?
Caroline Melberg
Small Business Mavericks
Small Business Mavericks Blog
Tags: google, online reputation, search
Posted in Reputation Management | No Comments »
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