| The conversation starts like this: | | | | optimization (SEO). But first, a few definitions: |
| (Eric's phone rings at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time) | | | | Online Reputation: The ratio of positive to negative |
| CEO of Small-Cap Public Company: Hey, Eric. Some | | | | content about your company or products contained in |
| jerks are saying bad things about our company and | | | | various websites or online services (like Twitter). If |
| stock on some websites. | | | | people are writing lots of good things about your |
| Eric: Email me the links and I'll check it out. | | | | company, you have a positive online reputation. |
| (Eric calls CEO at 6:40 a.m. Pacific Time) | | | | Online Reputation Management (ORM): The practice |
| Eric: The good news or the bad news first? | | | | of measuring, monitoring and improving your Online |
| CEO: Gimme the bad news. | | | | Reputation. Many of the same strategies and |
| Eric: Google has cached the negative pages so you're | | | | techniques are used in ORM as in SEO: keywords, |
| stuck with them for a while. | | | | back-links, blogs, social media, PR, etc., but ORM for |
| CEO: Ugh. Give me the good news. | | | | publicly traded companies also includes participating |
| Eric: The message board websites have removal | | | | (either directly or through third-parties) in online forums, |
| request policies, and maybe if your lawyer sends them | | | | bulletin boards and message boards. |
| a letter, they'll actually remove the posts. Also, it looks | | | | The Best Defense Is A Good Offense |
| like you can respond to the posts. | | | | An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure in |
| CEO: Not sure my lawyer will let me respond or even | | | | online reputation management. That means getting |
| acknowledge this at all. What else can we do? | | | | ahead of the bad guys by posting as much positive, |
| Eric: The rest is the long slog. Create a blog, use social | | | | quality content about your company and stock that |
| media. Use all the SEO tactics you can to override the | | | | you legally can. |
| bad content with your own good content. | | | | Here's how to do it: |
| CEO: Sounds expensive and time-consuming. | | | | 1. Content is king |
| Eric: Well, it definitely takes time. But these tactics | | | | Here is where the content comes from: Accurate |
| work. | | | | press releases; blogs (a blog for each company |
| CEO: %$#@!*& short sellers are scum!!! | | | | division or product, and other personas); a LinkedIn |
| The company is then typically paralyzed by legal, cost | | | | account and group; Twitter personas; links with smart |
| and time issues. Legal doesn't want to deal with it, and | | | | keywords to your press releases in the message |
| nobody wants to take the time or pay someone to | | | | boards, bulletin boards and forums. |
| write the content, set up social media personas or build | | | | You need to diligently and consistently create |
| blogs. So nothing happens, web searchers continue to | | | | high-quality content to be sure your pages get into the |
| find negative content about your company and, in the | | | | search engines so your content pre-empts bad stuff. |
| short term, the stock languishes. But there is hope. | | | | 2. Own the negative words |
| First, A Word About the Small Cap Neighborhood | | | | The shorts are going to use these kinds of words: |
| Let's be honest about Bulletin Board and Pink Sheet | | | | scum, fraud, jerk, liar, psychopath, inept, stupid, |
| stocks. We're in a bad neighborhood and the smallest | | | | incompetent, sleaze... you get the idea. A well-done |
| misstep by the company will have the short sellers | | | | off-brand or third-party blog can utilize these words so |
| smelling blood. And shell companies often have a | | | | the search engines direct people to a positive blog |
| bunch of old garbage lingering around in various | | | | rather than a negative one. |
| websites - either about the old company or the old | | | | Also, your SEC filings may contain good keywords |
| management, or both - so you're stuck with it even if it | | | | you want to own (like "fraud"). Be sure you include this |
| isn't completely relevant anymore. So, there's a good | | | | news content on your site, and perhaps have a |
| chance you're going to have to deal with short sellers | | | | "Financial News" headline section. |
| and the negative comments they generate. Whether | | | | 3. Respond professionally and graciously |
| the short sellers are behaving legally or not is not | | | | As appropriate, thank writers for saying nice things |
| relevant. | | | | about your company, either on a website or directly or |
| The key is to acknowledge that people with an | | | | privately to the writer. Tell nay-sayers that you hope |
| interest in your stock's failure are going to say bad | | | | that you can eventually convince them of how solid |
| things, then go on the offensive by building a positive | | | | your company is (create some boilerplate text with |
| online reputation! | | | | your legal team that you can quickly post and forget). |
| What Is An Online Reputation? | | | | Yes, this takes resources. And yes, it takes time |
| The good and bad things that people are saying online | | | | before you see results. But, you'll have the satisfaction |
| about your company and stock is called your "online | | | | of seeing your short sellers eat their... shorts... while |
| reputation." And, in practice, online reputation | | | | your company builds a long-lasting positive online |
| management (ORM) is very similar to search engine | | | | reputation. |