There’s an old adage that if something isn’t broke, you shouldn’t fix it.  Online reputation management (ORM) firms have been warning clients (and the general public) for years that this isn’t the case on the internet.  This week one ORM firm has provided proof of this fallacy.  “Brands Under Attack” is a powerful online reputation management case study that proves no one’s reputation is safe. It doesn’t matter if your business is squeaky clean, you can still be attacked.

Elixir Interactive has been targeted for over four months by someone engaging in a persist attack of their online reputation.  The case study carefully outlines the tactics used by this anonymous attacker and, in doing so, provides a wake up call to anyone with a web presence – which in 2010 is pretty much every company and every individual.  In Elixir’s case, they already had a strong presence in the search engine results for their branded terms.  However, this prolonged campaign has forced them to spend valuable resources and time to defend and strengthen their online assets.

The case study demonstrates how the current climate on the web makes it easy for anyone to threaten or even destroy your reputation.  It could be an unhappy client, a disgruntled employee, a psycho ex, or even a competitor who is jealous of your position.  And it’s not just companies that are at risk.  After revealing the first round of attacks, Elixir’s CEO, Fionn Downhill, was the target of a separate attack on her own brand.  There is a separate Elixir Interactive CEO Case Study that exposes the fraudulent actions engaged in by the anonymous attacker(s) against Fionn’s stellar reputation.

All it takes is false reports, properly crafted, on the right websites, and what would be considered slander if it were in a print publication, can easily cause untold damage to your reputation. And that can result in loss of clients, potential clients, speaking engagements, advertisers, etc.  Worse yet, you have little or no legal recourse on the web, because the justice system hasn’t caught up with the state of the internet.

There are steps you can take to protect yourself before something goes wrong.  Elixir’s case study offers tips to follow.  If you find yourself under attack, Elixir also provides recommendations on how to find a good ORM company to help you, if you can’t fix it yourself.

New Case Study Highlights Threats to Brand and Individual Reputations is a post from: Search Engine Reputation Management

Fionn Downhill today blogged about how Repspinner may have filed bogus complaints about her company.

Repspinner (or is that Rep Spinner) appear to be putting up fake reviews of companies and emailing them to get the complaints removed. Fionn Downhill discusses her issues with a potential Rep Spinner scam.

Fionn details various telltale giveaways that the reports are bogus including:

• They mention the owner of Elixir Interactive is a man (first Fionn has heard of that).
• They say that Elixir uses telemarketers – they never have.

These are the two easiest claims to refute, the other claims are bogus too.

So is Repspinner involved? Fionn contacted their phone number in the states who denied any link to Rep Spinner and started complaining about the number being a home address and she had a baby asleep in her house. At  this stage no one at Rep Spinner has not contacted Fionn so until they do we have to assume this scam is not being run by RepSpinner, it just appears to be.

If you have any information on RepSpinner scams then let me know.

Rep Spinner Scam Warning – RepSpinner.com is a post from: Search Engine Reputation Management

Most of us see the online world as wide open space. With just a few key strokes and a couple clicks, you can look up information on nearly everything. From the comfort of your own home you can do nearly everything; shop for clothes, plan your dream vacation, and even buy groceries. Blogs have given many a new outlet for writing. You can express and share your thoughts on the world, politics, travel, and any other subject you could ever want to write about. However, as with most things there is a positive side and a negative side. The negative side to our online freedom is the destruction that can be done our reputations. While this applies for the most part to business owners and those in the public spotlight, online reputation management is something that we should all be aware of.
If you own a business and you have a disgruntled customer or former employee, they can go online and fill sites with negative comments and feedback that can be truly damaging to your business. Politicians and celebrities constantly have critics that blog about negative things they have down or point out holes in things that they say. This is where online reputation management comes in. Companies, such as Elixir Interactive, can come in and work with you to establish solid, positive sites. They will then begin a process of moving the negative sites out and replacing them with the positive ones. The important thing is not to just leave it at that. Management is the key word ‚ reputation management is an ongoing process of keeping the positive image at the forefront.
For many this process can be started before a problem ever arises. Running a business and being in the spotlight is a big responsibility and managing and maintaining your reputation is an important part of the job.

Understanding Online Reputation Management is a post from: Search Engine Reputation Management

Of all the people in the world, the ones that require the most assistance with online reputation management are celebrities. From the most well- behaved to the wildest partiers, they have all had their faces on the front cover of a tabloid and their names smeared across blogs and hate-sites. One unfortunate or misunderstood picture can bring the world crashing down around them. But while they have come to somewhat expect such abuse, to the average citizen or small business owner that gets their name or business marred it can be quite devastating ‚ emotionally and financially. And while celebrities have high-priced agents to help clean up and manage the trail of debris left behind, the average citizen is left high and dry.
For some though, there are options. There are marketing agencies that specialize in online reputation management, like Elixir Interactive. Here you will find many services that can help repair a damaged reputation as well as planning ahead of time so as to avoid such a situation. Through the search engine optimization process (SEO) they are able to move the bad sites down and replace them with positive ones.
If you are an individual without a marketing budget to spend, there are things that you can do yourself. Maintain sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. Be aware of the information, pictures, etc. that you post and who is able to see it. Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t be comfortable with your boss, or mom, seeing should they pop online.
With the technological world growing by leaps and bounds every day, celebrities are no longer the only ones that risk getting their reputations tarnished on the internet. But unlike celebrities if we plan ahead and are mindful of what we are doing, we can avoid the brunt of it.

Celebrities and Online Reputation Management is a post from: Search Engine Reputation Management

Corporate reputation can make or break an organization. It is a long slow process to build this reputation and unfortunately it can be lost overnight. Reputation loss can significantly erode the ability of the business to successfully retain market share, maximize shareholder value, raise finance, manage debt, and remain independent.

Organizations take hits to their reputation on a continual basis. It is one of the facts of life of being in business. This happens across the board in all types of industries.

Major corporations take hits to their reputation all the time, but the problem has rarely seemed as pervasive as during the recent pileup of business scandals. Alsop, a marketing columnist and editor at the Wall Street Journal, studies companies from a broad range of industries to show how a corporation can make a name for itself, then maintain that reputation or fix it when things go wrong. Harris Interactive supplies plenty of poll data to gauge public perception, but the real meat of this book lies in the stories Alsop tells about specific companies. His examples are detailed and immediate, from Coca-Cola’s use of its Web site to debunk persistent urban legends to the disastrously slow corporate response when a flustered Starbucks employee made World Trade Center rescue workers pay for bottled water. Some companies come in for particularly close scrutiny, such as Phillip Morris, for trying to shed its big tobacco image by renaming itself the Altria Group. And Alsop’s not afraid to call things as he sees them. He criticizes Martha Stewart’s attempts to spin her bad publicity and declares McDonald’s “had better hurry up and give people more reasons to love it,” suggesting a new ad campaign won’t make up for poor customer service. That feistiness permeates much of his advice, as when he suggests to business owners that “most activists are your enemy,” but the tone is combative without being offensive. And though some of the conclusions may seem obvious, executives will likely find the book an effective basic primer for dealing with public image.

Alsop is a senior reporter for the Wall Street Journal and I have read many of his stories over the years. I am glad that someone of his caliber has addressed the issue of corporate reputaion at a time when big business ranks about equal to politicians in public perception. Even the mafia is thought to be less sleazy!!
Alsop starts with a basic, uncontestable premise: A corporation’s reputation is one of its most valuable assets. This determines how much slack a cynical public will cut it when things start to go wrong. Other assets – such as those that show up on the balance sheet – are carefully measured, tracked and managed. Reputations are not. Not even by so-called excellently managed companies.

Next Alsop lays out various ‘laws’ to help a company manage its reputation. The first two just talk about how important it is and how important it is to measure it. Then he becomes much more interesting as he starts laying out what a company should do build and maintain a sterling reputation.

He stresses how important it is for a company to ‘live’ its values and ethics and why being defensive is actually offensive. These could be bromides. What gives them value are Alsop’s anecdotes drawn from a lifetime of reporting on business. These well selected stories not only illustrate his points, they also show the reader how to implement his ideas in their own situation. And there are hundreds os such stories.
For example, Alsop talks about how being socially responsible can be an important component of a sterling reputation. And he relates how Timberland does it with a range of initiatives from monitoring labor practices at its contractors’ overseas factories to giving its employees the opportunity to do community service on company time. And he doesn’t stop there. He tells what dozens of other companies do from Johnson & Johnson to Paul Newman’s food company.

These stories and examples are, by far, the best part of the book. This is where the value resides and it is not at all difficult to take each of these examples and suitably modify it to use in your situation.
An excellent book. My one quibble is a philosophical one. I think Alsop is too easy on companies like Altria – the former Phillip Morris. Does having an exemplary ethics code with lots of employee input compensate for the fact that its core product kills when used as intended? You make up your mind on that one. Alsop shows how Altria does a lot of things right in terms of global cultural sensitivity but I would simply not have used such an example.

Corporate Reputations is a post from: Search Engine Reputation Management

Your online reputation can make or break your business.  It is often a long slow process to build your reputation and unfortunately it can easily be lost overnight. This loss of reputation can impact your business, your market share, your shareholder value, as well as your ability to raise finance, manage debt, and remain independent.  Your reputation is continually under threat – this is a fact of being in business.  Therefore its important to proactively manage your online reputation.

Proactive Reputation Management is a post from: Search Engine Reputation Management