Have you thought about the tone or voice you create when you interact with social media? As a business leader, using social media can be ineffective if you aren’t also guarding your reputation and brand closely. Part of that brand is your voice, the things you stand for and the way in which you interact with others. If you happen to be a solopreneur, creating a brand voice isn’t as difficult, but how do you remove emotion or frustration from your online interactions? Consistency is critical to your business’s brand and identity!
It falls into the same category as #2 above. Even if different accounts are used Google still sees that they are coming from the same location and it looks like spam. It’s almost like someone is sitting at home writing reviews for this particular company. It just raises a red flag from Google.
A balance doesn’t mean flat, by the way. You can have a balance in your marketing campaign, while having your profits shoot straight up. One way to make sure that steady growth in your business is one of the newest kinds of Internet marketing, online PR. This can involve press releases, keyword-optimized character and how-to articles, branded blogs, and online What Are Some Ways to Self-Manage Your Online Reputation?.
You cannot outrun the lion. One of my favorite cases is BC’s extra curricular activity with Monica. This is what happens when you try to outrun the lion: Mr. Prez, did you have sex with Monica? No…, well maybe…, actually it was inappropriate. Bingo, let us get him! This is how I would have done it: Mr. Prez, did you have sex with Monica. Oh yes, we had great sex! I have lot of juicy details as well. Would you like to have them? Thank you, Sir, that would not be necessary. You (and Monica) have a great day! You see, if you try to run, they chase you. If you hide, they look for you. Lies feed on lies and uncover more lies. The truth is where the buck stops!
Left unattended, the wild wild web and “search” is a relatively uncontrollable aspect of your Online Reputation Management, unless of course you make and attempt to control it.
If you suspect you have links to your site that you don’t know about, use a tool such as SEOmoz to check your backlinks. There have been occasions when a website has bought links to a competitor’s site, and then reported the site to Google. Using SEOmoz will allow you to see what sites are linking to you. If you find a site that should not be linking to you, contact them and demand to be delinked. If your demand goes unheeded, have the rel=”no follow” attribute added to them.
Buzzlogic takes monitoring to another level by offering you watch lists that allow you to monitor specific blogs, bloggers and social maps. There are two separate options with this service one for marketers and one for public relations individuals.
Most importantly, be proactive. Take the above steps now to establish your online reputation. Then, should anyone post negatively about you (regardless of how untrue it is), the negative will be drowned out by the sea of positive information you’ve already created about yourself online.