| Managing your reputation involves using tools and | | | | reputation management doesn’t just focus on |
| language to improve and/or control how the public | | | | force feeding messages, in a perfect world it involves |
| views you, your company and those who work for | | | | encouraging other people to basically market your |
| your company. Reputation management can’t | | | | business for you. Social networking can be a tool that |
| simply be approached from a technology standpoint, or | | | | accomplishes just that, because it’s based around |
| a communications standpoint. This means that you | | | | shared experiences, shared opinions and so forth. It |
| can’t simply rely on blogs and/or the Internet for | | | | also doesn’t require the resources that a national |
| reputation management, and you can’t simply rely | | | | publicity campaign would. |
| on press releases or well-planned events. | | | | SEO/SEM |
| Tools | | | | Search engine optimization and search engine |
| Reputation management and online reputation | | | | marketing are possibly the two most important tools |
| management require the use of certain tools to help | | | | for online reputation management. SEO and SEM utilize |
| repair, create or manage public perception. Those tools | | | | pay-per-click technology, keyword usage and even |
| include blogs, social networking, SEO/SEM and more. | | | | HTML coding to successfully keep your company’s |
| Blogs | | | | name and services in the top Google search lists. |
| Having a quality blog works in a couple of ways. It | | | | Keywords should target words related to your |
| offers you a medium with which to talk directly to the | | | | company. |
| public, without having to go through the newspapers, | | | | Communications |
| magazines, radio or television where your message | | | | Using your language properly is vitally important. |
| can be distorted. You can link your blog to your | | | | Whether it’s properly seeding your Web content |
| Website, have as a link on your Website or have it as | | | | with keywords or writing a persuasive and eye |
| a completely separate Website. If you post regularly, | | | | catching press release, writing your content effectively |
| not only will that benefit your search engine | | | | can mean the difference between molding public |
| optimization (SEO), but it will communicate with your | | | | opinion and being ignored. It’s important that you |
| public without any outside interference. | | | | highlight exactly where you’d like your reputation |
| Being able to talk directly to your audience will greatly | | | | management to go in terms of how you want to |
| enhance your reputation management capabilities, | | | | influence opinion. You can write a great press release, |
| because you can affect opinion with minimal effort. | | | | or have a Website with great content, but if you |
| Social Networking | | | | aren’t making strong statements and giving positive |
| Websites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and | | | | information, you’ll be wasting your time. |
| others offer a way to create a community based | | | | Outline your goals and try to see what your |
| around or involving your company. As another form of | | | | competition is doing. This may help to give you some |
| communication with your audience, social networking | | | | ideas as to where you want your messaging to |
| sites (also known as Web 2.0) can help you create | | | | go.Reputation management can be a huge asset to |
| positive public opinion based around open | | | | your company and/or business, if the tools and |
| communication and shared experience. Quality | | | | language involved are used properly. |