Online Reputation Management Podcast

Don Sorensen an online reputation management authority discusses the commonly asked questions about Online Reputation Management.

Listen to the podcast, watch the video, or read the transcript below.

Online Reputation Management for Direct Selling Companies

Additional videos from Don Sorensen:

3 Steps to managing your online reputation

How to rate your company's online reputation

The Top 12 Ways a CEO can Boost their Personal and Corporate Reputation

How much does online reputation management cost?

Transcript - Online Reputation Management for Direct Selling Companies

Hi, my name is Don Sorensen and today I’m talking about Online Reputation Management for Direct Selling Companies.

Over the last 15 years I've worked with many direct selling companies helping them to improve online branding and push down negative websites in their Google results.

When customers perform a search for your company, what do they see in the first page of the Google results? Chances are a search might include websites with negative content about your company. Negative websites can hurt your brand and decrease your company’s revenue.

You can either let your reputation and sales suffer, or you can manage your online reputation just as you manage everything else in your company — taking steps to get the results you want and keep your company on track for success.

The most effective Online Reputation Management strategy is to get positive websites about your company to rank high, which pushes other negative websites down in the rankings. Easier said than done, of course. But this strategy has three distinct advantages:

1) You don’t have to confront the owners of the negative sites, who may or may not be cooperative in removing the comments, reviews or forum posts.

2) You are in control of your efforts to rank the positive sites, and are no longer at the whims of complainers, critics, disgruntled employees or disapproving reviewers who post their opinions online.

3) It’s completely fair. You’re not forcing anyone to change their content, whether through begging, arm-twisting or legal threats. You’re simply helping those who search about your company to see the good side of your company.

Imagine the effect on your online reputation when an online search produces a page full of websites containing only positive reviews, complimentary articles and glowing testimonials. You’ll project a much better image to everyone who finds you through Google.

How do you improve your company’s online reputation? Here are four key strategies to improve and protect your online reputation.

1) Develop a plan

First and foremost, take charge of your online reputation. If you wait till there are multiple negative websites showing in the Google results, a lot of damage has already happened. It can take months, or even years to repair a bad reputation, so it’s best to never get to that point in the first place. Your goal is to dominate the first two pages of Google search results with results that present a positive and accurate image of your company. If you control the top 20 spots in Google it’s very difficult for a negative page to suddenly appear and rank in the top 5, where it can have a significant impact on your reputation. So the first thing to do is to develop a proactive strategy and build a defensive position that will help you maintain an accurate online reputation from the start.

2) Be very active on social media

One of the best ways to protect your online reputation is the proper development and constant updating of social media profiles. The primary social media networks include: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. Your company should be active on all of these. Link all of your social media profiles together. For example, your YouTube “About” page should link back to all of your social media sites and to your main website. The more information you put on social media, the better chance you have of getting them to rank high in the Google results.

3) Create your own reviews

Many companies live and die by online reviews, so don’t leave this to chance. Reviews will have a great deal of influence on prospective company representatives. There is always high search traffic on phrases that include the word reviews. First, be sure to have a distinct section on your website called “reviews.” In this section include both text and video reviews. Don’t be shy about quantity. A great way to get lots of reviews is to have an area at your next conference where someone can simply record people individually talking about their success with your company. These videos don’t need to be long, or even professional (actually a little less professional makes them more believable). These testimonial videos should be short, under 60 seconds long. You should be able to generate 25-50 great reviews at your next company event.

You’ll also want to create sections on your social media accounts for reviews. You can set up a reviews tab on Facebook and a reviews playlist on YouTube. If you do business in other countries make sure to divide the reviews into geographic areas. Reviews on your YouTube channel can then be shared to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and embedded in the “reviews” section of your website.

4) Stay active with public relations

Good public relations are critical to a positive online reputation. Sometimes company’s feel that because of the Internet they don’t need to be as active developing their brand in traditional media spaces. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is the best traditional media (newspapers, magazines) all have great websites. When your company is featured in an article there’s a good chance that article will show up high in the Google results. I have a recent client that secured great articles in Forbes, Entrepreneur and HuffingtonPost. Now each one of those articles sits high in the Google results.

Press releases can often rank high in Google for your company name, so it’s worthwhile to report on anything newsworthy from your company. Include information about your company in the press release, mentioning your company and brand names, while also linking to your social media sites. You can then publish the release through websites like BusinessWire or PR Newswire. Your releases should contain legitimate news and paint a progressive story of your company’s ongoing success. These releases will comprise much of the “digital footprints” your prospective customers will see over time. Aim for a release every month or two, but only do so if the release contains legitimate news that will continue to be meaningful for the long term, as the Google results will remain for many seasons to come.

All of this may sound like a fair amount of work, but the process is straightforward. In the digital age, managing your online reputation is just as important as keeping your books in order or delivering excellent support. It’s something you need to set aside time for. By following these guidelines, you’ll be well on your way toward developing a positive online reputation that will improve your company’s bottom line.

If you’d like help improving your company’s online reputation please call or send me an email. Thank you!

Contact Don Sorensen

917-727-5756

[email protected]

 

Don Sorensen an online reputation management authority discusses the commonly asked questions about Online Reputation Management.

Listen to the podcast, watch the video, or read the transcript below.

How to Use Social Media to Avoid an Online Reputation Crisis

Additional videos from Don Sorensen:

3 Steps to managing your online reputation

How to rate your company's online reputation

The Top 12 Ways a CEO can Boost their Personal and Corporate Reputation

How much does online reputation management cost?

Transcript - How to Use Social Media to Avoid an Online Reputation Crisis

Hi, my name is Don Sorensen and today I’d like to talk about: How to Use Social Media to Avoid an Online Reputation Crisis. Here are six critical steps.

1. Plan and Prepare

Most brands were quick to jump on the social media bandwagon, but slow to plan the details for managing their accounts. Here are some of the details you should consider:

• what and how often to post on each social platform
• which metrics are most important to your brand
• how to measure and report on those metrics
• how your brand will respond to both positive and negative comments
• what your brand will do to show transparency, build trust, and boost engagement
• how social media managers, employees, and others will react to, contain, and minimize the damage of a online reputation crisis

1. Monitor Constantly

The best thing about social media is that everything happens in real time. That can also be a bad thing if you’re not constantly monitoring and moderating your social media accounts. I recommend using tools like BrandMentions or Brand24 to keep an eye on what others are saying about your brand, people, and products.

1. Moderate as Appropriate

Your social media profiles are an extension of your company. That means they need to be moderated to reflect your brand in the best light possible while also providing transparency. This type of moderation means the removal of inappropriate content. Catching and removing unsuitable content as early as possible prevents high levels of lost customers, and a declining online reputation.

1. Prepare Against Threats

Hacked social media accounts can be devastating to your brand’s reputation. You must have strong threat detection and escalation processes in place to regain control of your social channels and prevent lasting damage to your reputation.

1. Watch Campaign Sentiment

Poorly timed or thought-out social media campaigns can inspire strong negative sentiment that spread quickly online. Make sure your campaigns are research-based, and appeal to your audience. Then if you see negative sentiment spreading react to it quickly.

1. Respond Quickly

The real-time nature of social media means your customers expect interaction and answers in a timely manner. Fast and proactive responses can help you both avoid a crisis and build a reputation for excellent customer service.

When used effectively, social media can be a powerful tool for building, protecting and maintaining your online reputation.

Thanks for your time. If you have any questions please send me an email or call.

Contact Don Sorensen

917-727-5756

[email protected]

 

Don Sorensen an online reputation management authority discusses the commonly asked questions about Online Reputation Management.

Listen to the podcast, watch the video, or read the transcript below.

The Top 12 Ways a CEO can Boost their Personal and Corporate Reputation

Additional videos from Don Sorensen:

How much does online reputation management cost?

3 Steps to managing your online reputation

How to rate your company's online reputation

Online Reputation Management Services - Forbes

Transcript - The Top 12 Ways a CEO can Boost their Personal and Corporate Reputation

Hi, my name is Don Sorensen and today I want to talk about the Top 12 things CEOs can do to boost their personal and corporate reputation.

Over the years I’ve worked to improve the online reputations of a number of CEOs and their companies. As the face of the company, CEOs embody and express the company’s reputation, so it’s important they play an active role in defining and maintaining it.

1. Be very visible and vocal.

As the topmost representative of the business, a CEO’s name often becomes synonymous with the company’s. Being visible and vocal reinforces the connection and builds leadership.

1. Use social media.

There are several positive results from CEOs’ using social media, including an improved corporate reputation and increased employee engagement. It also build relationships with partners, prospects, media, and others.

1. Become an industry leader.

“Publish or perish” applies to executive and corporate reputations as much as academic ones. Consistently publishing high-quality content about your industry, like innovations, research, and predictions, builds both the CEO’s and the company’s thought leadership and authority.

1. Be friendly and approachable.

CEOs are the human side of the business. The more open and friendly you are, the more approachable the company as a whole can be. It also helps you attract better talent and publicity.

1. Maintain a strong personal reputation.

Because the CEO’s reputation is tied so closely to the company’s, keeping a strong personal reputation is a must. Your good name and the business’s good name reinforce each other.

1. Encourage transparency and integrity.

Openness and honesty are two critical factors influencing how your company is perceived. They especially affect your reputation as a trustworthy, credible business.

1. Champion the company values and vision.

As the highest executive officer of the company, a big part of the CEO’s job is promoting and communicating the company values and vision. Embracing them is the most effective way to show what the business stands for.

1. Foster improved communication.

Better communication all around has many benefits. Increased customer exposure to your messaging is important, while improving internal communications is how you build a strong, loyal team.

1. Ask for feedback.

The company’s direction should be constantly evaluated and adjusted to make sure it delivers the most benefit. Asking for and acting on feedback helps you maintain a good corporate image.

1. Turn employees into brand ambassadors.

The CEO can only do so much to communicate the company’s values and boost the corporate reputation. Helping employees embrace the vision can substantially improve the business’s reputation and its bottom line.

1. Promote good governance and leadership.

Actions speak louder than words, especially when they come from the highest level. Avoid unethical behaviors and strive to be the kind of leader you want your executive team, directors, and managers to be.

1. Always be innovating and generating ideas.

CEOs who get too comfortable and don’t keep up with industry changes tend to have the shortest tenures. By always thinking ahead and being willing to adapt, you keep your job and build a robust company reputation.

Hopefully these ideas can help anyone in executive leadership at a corporation. If you’d like help improving your company’s online reputation please call or send me an email. Thank you!

Contact Don Sorensen

917-727-5756

[email protected]

 

Don Sorensen an online reputation management authority discusses the commonly asked questions about Online Reputation Management.

Listen to the podcast, watch the video, or read the transcript below.

How to rate your company's online reputation

Additional videos from Don Sorensen:

3 Steps to managing your online reputation

How much does online reputation management cost?

Online Reputation Management Services - Forbes

Transcript - How much does online reputation management cost?

Hi, my name is Don Sorensen and I’ve been fixing the online reputations of companies and individuals for over fifteen years.

Today I’d like to talk about How to Rate a Company’s Reputation.

If you could have a “Nielsen Rating” for reputation, what would it look like? Well, the Harris Poll, which is owned by Nielsen, has the answer in the form of the Harris Poll Reputation Quotient. This is a yearly poll that gauges the reputations of the largest, well-known companies in the U.S.

Here are the six dimensions they measure:

• products and services
• financial performance
• vision and leadership
• workplace environment
• social responsibility
• and emotional appeal.

The goal is to help corporate leaders manage their company’s reputation among the general public. But the Harris Poll also publishes the list of the top 100 companies, so you and I can see how they rank.

For example, the top five companies with the best reputations for 2019 are Wegmans, Amazon, Patagonia, L.L. Bean, and The Walt Disney Company.

Now, it’s likely that you’re not a multi-billion dollar company with thousands of employees. So should you care about the Harris Poll Reputation Quotient? Sure, the things they measure can be important when you’re in the public eye. But it likely your company won’t show on Harris Poll’s list of reputation rankings.

It’s just a fact that, if you’re not a well-known company, brand, or celebrity, you’re not likely to have any kind of reputation among the general public. Your customers know you, your suppliers may know you, and a few journalists who cover your industry or area of expertise might also be aware of your existence. But outside of that circle, you won’t register on anyone’s radar.

And that’s where your online reputation comes in. Because, if someone doesn’t know much about you, they’re going to search you on Google.

When we talk about online reputation management, we’re not talking about the kinds of things that the Harris Poll looks at. We care about what someone finds when they do search on you or your company. That’s how your prospects begin to gain a sense of what your reputation is, mostly by seeing what other people say about you online. And since this could be the first exposure they have to your company, it had better be a good impression.

Curiously, one of the things the Harris Poll evaluates is someone’s “willingness to say something positive, and intent to purchase or recommend your products and services.” But you can easily find that yourself. Just look at the first couple of pages of Google search results and see what people actually say about you. No need to poll them about their intentions. The good, the bad, and the ugly is all right there for you — and everyone else — to see.

So a simple way to rate your reputation is by looking at the number of positive search results on the first page of Google. You’ll get a number like 6 out of 10 positive, or 9 out of 10. The higher the better. Managing your online reputation is a matter of getting more positive results to show up above the negative results. That can be a challenge, but that’s exactly what I do.

If you need help fixing your company’s or your personal reputation please send me and email and give me a call.

Contact Don Sorensen

917-727-5756

[email protected]

 

Don Sorensen an online reputation management authority discusses the commonly asked questions about Online Reputation Management.

Listen to the podcast, watch the video, or read the transcript below.

How much does online reputation management cost?

Additional videos from Don Sorensen:

3 Steps to managing your online reputation

How to rate your company's online reputation

Online Reputation Management Services - Forbes

Transcript - How much does online reputation management cost?

Hi, my name is Don Sorensen and today I’d like to share my “insiders” view of how much online reputation management should cost.

First of all, let me break down online reputation management needs into three groups: First) individuals, Second) high-profile individuals and Third) businesses and brands.

The first group is individuals who are not in an executive roll at a business. This group could include almost anyone. Many of these individuals have very unique names and are dealing with something negative being said about them online. Generally these persons will benefit by using a software services platform such as BrandYourself.

Pricing for software based services start at $400 a month — an affordable service for most individuals.

The next group I’ll call high-profile individuals: this group includes business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, executives at large corporations, celebrities and those who may find themselves in the public eye. These persons have a lot to lose if their reputation is damaged. Their personal reputation may be tied so closely to their company that a bad reputation could affect company revenues. Ultimately a bad reputation may make them unemployable.

These persons may be dealing with a partnership gone bad, a lawsuit, bad press, or even outright slander or libel. When you search their name on Google these negative sites are showing in the first page results.

Pricing will depend on the difficulty of moving negative websites down and off at least the first page Google results. Pushing positive websites up and over a negative blog is one thing, but outranking negative press on a majority media sites is an exponentially more difficult project.

A business owner or executive should expect to pay from between $3,000 to 10,000 a month depending on the project difficulty. Most projects will take a minimum of 6 months, and a very difficult project may take over a year.

The last group are businesses and brands. When a business is dealing with negative press, reviews, or major business faux pas they could be losing a substantial percentage of revenue. Years ago I worked with a business that had multiple negative reviews on the first page of Google. Based on their current annual revenue I estimated they were losing at least a couple millions dollars a year — their response was “yes, definitely, much more than that.”

Another issue for large corporations is the Google indices in multiple countries. Each Google index is unique. Each country will have unique websites ranking for a business or brand. Each country will require its own online reputation management.

Pricing will depend on project difficulty and the various country needs. Small to medium size businesses should expect to pay around $5,000 a month. A large business should expect to pay a minimum of $8,000 a month and higher depending of difficulty and the number of countries. A project requiring multiple brands and countries can run into the tens of thousands.

So in conclusion: online reputation management for individuals starts at $400 a month for a software based service. High-profile individuals can expect to pay $3,000 to 10,000 a month depending on the project difficulty, and businesses and brands will start at $5,000 a month and go up depending on the number of countries and additional search terms, with large projects costing in the tens of thousands.

I hope this video has been helpful. If you have other questions about online reputation management please comment, or email me directly.

Contact Don Sorensen

917-727-5756

[email protected]

 

Don Sorensen an online reputation management authority discusses the commonly asked questions about Online Reputation Management.

Listen to the podcast, watch the video, or read the transcript below.

3 Steps to Managing your Online Reputation

Additional videos from Don Sorensen:

How much does online reputation management cost?

How to rate your company's online reputation

Online Reputation Management Services - Forbes

Transcript - 3 Steps to Managing your Online Reputation

Hi, my name is Don Sorensen and today I want to share 3 steps to managing your online reputation.

First a quote from Sandra Bullock. She said: “So, I Googled myself and read the comments section, thinking I could get some tidbits of what people really think of me. No human being should ever read the comments, or ever Google one’s self at any time.”

Just like Bullock, many CEOs are often taken aback when they Google their own name or the name of their company. What they find isn’t always flattering. It could be hostile and mean. It might not even be true. But there is it for the world to read. What they read could cost you in lost business or damage your brand’s reputation.

However, there are things you can do to manage your online reputation so you’re not at the mercy of your company’s critics. Start by following these three steps:

Step No. 1: Accept the fact of online reviews.

The reality is people can say just about anything they want online. You don’t have much legal recourse to make the negative postings go away. People have a right to complain, and online it’s easy for unhappy customers to vent their frustrations.

When you see a negative review about your company the instinctive reaction is to post a response to set the record straight. While it’s natural to want to respond and defend yourself, under most cases you should resist.

When you post a comment on a website, you are adding new content. And if you get into a back-and-forth discussion with someone about your company it can hurt you.

Google will see the website has a lot of information about the company, so they will rank the website high for searches on your company name. When someone does a search on your company, they are even more likely to see the negative review. Your goal is the opposite—you want websites with negative comments to slip further down the Google rankings so they don’t appear on the first page of a search. The next two steps help you with that.

Step No. 2: Focus on getting positive content.

A major part of online reputation management is trying to push the negative websites off of the first page or two of a Google search. You can do this by posting positive content and getting those pages to rank higher than the negative websites.

Your marketing or PR department needs to make online reputation management part of their job. They should always be looking for, gathering or creating positive content that can be used to continually update your websites. Don’t put everything onto one corporate website. Instead, set up different websites for different purposes. Or, get interviews or articles about your company on highly respected websites.

Step No. 3: Push positive websites higher.

The best way to help a website move higher is with search engine optimization. Carefully review your websites’ content and the title tags to be sure they contain your company name. The magic of ranking higher in Google is relevant content and getting links from other websites that point to your website. While it’s not easy to get all of the positive websites to rank higher than the negative websites, it’s worth the effort.

Online reputation management is not always easy and it can take many months of steady effort to achieve. Still, consider the alternative of letting complaints and negative reviews dominate the search results and destroy your online reputation.

If you choose to hire an agency or consultant, ask them to show you what they’ve achieved with other clients. This can be as simple as a before and after screenshot of Google results showing they have made a positive impact.

Of course, there are more details to managing your online reputation, but the above steps give you the basic outline of what you need to do. Just keep in mind that your company’s online reputation is one of the most important factors in determining its success.

Contact Don Sorensen

917-727-5756

[email protected]