Is Your Online Reputation Costing You?
The internet has changed the game for all of us. We are all able to find out a ton of information about a company, its product and any of their employees by just running a google search. Some of the information we find will be positive and some won’t be.
This helps all of us when making purchasing or even hiring decisions. But do you even know how it affects you personally? If you own a business, Online Reputation Management is critical. It is just as critical for individuals.
Companies choose to hire, and sometimes fire, people based on the information found on the internet. Do you know what the internet says about you? Have you googled your name or company recently? If not, do so now. Check out what comes up in the first few pages. Click on links and see if you like the content that shows up.
Do the pictures, articles, comments, or ratings meet your personal standards? If not, you need to figure out what to do about it. There are companies that actually specialize in online reputation management. It’s different than PR (public relations).
Online reputation management is about maintaining a positive impression of you and your company. Many organizations have rules about employees posting on any social media. Not just about what they can say about the company they work for, but how they may represent themselves. Gone are the days when we can assume what we do in our off time won’t get back to our employers or reflect on our business. Now we have to keep in mind that whenever anything is posted on the internet it’s never gone.
This is something we need to discuss with our kids and our employees. The things they post on the internet can follow them for years to come. Posting something in the heat of the moment can have dire consequences down the road.
Learning to manage your personal and business online reputation is vital to your success whether you are looking to grow your company or get promoted down the road. Some simple tips to help you are:
- Set up a Google Alert so that you get notified whenever you’re mentioned online.
- Post content that is positive and reflects your brand.
- Respond to comments, questions, or criticisms appropriately and respectfully.
- Remove private information on social media outlets which you don’t want others to know.
There are many more tips and steps to effectively managing your online reputation. Hopefully, this will get you started today. Don’t let others hijack your reputation. Your future is counting on you.
To your success!