Reputation Management

ext">It’s one thing to hear people say that youdefensive. For example, Microsoft is constantly running
need quality reputation management, it’s anotherinto headaches because if its software (namely
thing to see how reputation management can seriousWindows) and has to respond to numerous negative
affect one’s business or even personal life.reviews. Reputation management in that instance is
Here are some examples:difficult because it’s easier to create positive
Blendtec, the marketing arm of a blender company, ismessaging than it is to try and erase negative
famous for its countless “will it blend” videos thatcomments.
they post on Youtube. Those Youtube videos areTools
shared by millions of people across the Internet, whichIf you’re trying to repair or simply enhance your
of course helps to sell blenders.online reputation, here are some reputation
Adobe, the company that makes graphic designmanagement tools you can use.
programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop, maintains— This links all your networks together and
a list of interesting company related Websites andverifies your identity so people know it’s your
conversations on the social bookmaring siteprofile.
“Delicious.”— Sign up for a free account and use as
Best Western, the global hotel chain, sponsors a blogOpenID, this is a great blog tool numerous people are
“On the Go with Amy” where the author travelsusing.
the country writing about her experiences. This gives— If you sign-up, you can invite your customers
the reader a one-on-one interaction with a person,to write reviews about you, your work and your
rather than with a large corporation.company.
Cadence, a high technology company which describesMonitor This — This tool allows you to monitor
itself as the world’s leading electronic designand track keywords over multiple search engines so
automation corporation, launched its Website that nowyou can see what people are tracking and searching.
prominently promotes the company’sMonitor Yourself
community.There are also various monitoring tools for you to see
Cisco, one of the world’s leading hardware andwhat’s in the news about you, including: Google
software makers, hosts 12 blogs addressing a varietyNews Alerts, Yahoo News RSS Feed, BackTweets,
of audiences for their global business.Google Blog Search and more that are all free. With
In fact, there are countless examples of companiesso many reputation management tools at your fingers,
such as Dell, Ford, HSBC bank, GM, H&R Block andthere’s no reason you shouldn’t know
other Fortune 500 companies using blogs and otherexactly what’s being said about you on the
social networking tools (Twitter, Youtube, Stumbleupon,Web. They’re free, easy to use and provide
Digg) to enhance their reputation on the Internet.excellent reputation management with minimal
Reputation management is always better wheninvestment.
you’re offense than when you’re on the