Reputation Management

People are talking about you, and today's search engines have the ability to unearth whatever they are saying. They are a tool that everyone uses - employers to check on potential employees, potential employees to check on potential employers, investors to check on a company's employment health, potential members to check on organizations they may want to join. It's critical, therefore, that every organization and individual know how to check their online reputation and to do it often. This week's articles can help you do just that.

Unfortunately, perceptions - and your online reputation -- are not always based on fact, but on opinion, conjecture and rumors. (Item #1)   If you don't control your brand online, someone else will. (Item #2)   In a world that grows more digital by the day, a new adage has emerged: "You are who Google says you are." (Item #3)  

Online reputation management is becoming big business, as companies look to track what's being said and measure the success of their social media marketing strategies. (Item #4)   Proactive PR is important for online reputation management, because it means you are creating positive search engine results, which can keep negative search results from ever appearing. (Item #5)   This post outlines - and provides links to -- some of the free tools available for monitoring your online reputation. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp



1. Online Reputation Management: The New PR

Generally speaking, your reputation is created and altered by what you do and what everyone, including you, says. Today, there are millions of people surfing the Web for news and information about people, places and companies. It's not a question whether or not you should be managing your reputation online, it's a question of how. Just because you haven't drawn fire from detractors online yet doesn't mean it won't happen.
http://www.anvilmediainc.com/online-reputation-management-article.htm


2. The Online Reputation Management Guide

The following Online Reputation Management Guide will show small businesses how to assess, build, track and monitor their online reputation. In most cases, you can follow these simple steps to easily grow your personal brand and/or small business. (There also is a link to download the guide as a pdf file, if you desire.)
http://outspokenmedia.com/guides/orm-guide/


3. Playing Brand DE-FENSE With Search Reputation Management

If you want to know what first impressions are being made online about your brand or organization, just Google yourself. You may be surprised by what you discover. While online chatter occurs across social media networks, community websites, or blogs, the real damage to brands occurs across search engine results pages (SERPs).
http://searchenginewatch.com/3641105


4. Your Digital Employer Brand: Reputation Management in a Digital World

According to a study conducted by Microsoft earlier this year, 70% of surveyed HR professionals in U.S. (41% in the UK) have rejected a candidate based on online reputation information. Don't be surprised, but your candidates doing the same thing.
http://www.ere.net/2010/05/16/your-digital-employer-brand-reputation-management-in-a-digital-world/


5. Improve Online Reputation Management with Proactive PR

Practicing online reputation management is a must for any public relations professional who believes his or her company may face a corporate crisis in the future. As our news gathering and reporting moves online, online reputation management is becoming more important. Now, news stories and blogs are being indexed by search engines, and many times, if a company makes the news, that can sometimes be the first item found in the search engine rankings.
http://www.sitepronews.com/2010/07/30/improve-online-reputation-management-with-proactive-pr/


6. Online Reputation Management: 16 Free Tools

One of the keys to maintaining a good online reputation is the ability to carefully monitor that reputation. This blog offers a number of links to various types of free monitoring tools. Use them and they could save you a lot of trouble in the long run.
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/05/21/tools-manage-online-reputation/


Quote of the Week:

"A good reputation is more valuable than money."
-- Publilius Syrus

Contact Us:

Attainium Corp
15110 Gaffney Circle
Gainesville, VA 20155
www.attainium.net