It’s 2013, do you know where you reputations are?

It’s 2013, do you know where you reputations are?

by Andy Beal Advice

2013reputationsAnyone younger than 30 may not remember the PSA that asked, “It’s 11pm, do you know where your children are?”

Well, as we kick-off 2013, it’s a good question to ask about your reputations. Yes, you read that right, reputations–plural.

You see, we tend to think of our reputation as an only child–one that is coddled and sheltered from the evil attacks lurking on the internet. In reality, we all have at least a few reputations to worry about. For example, even the smallest of companies should care about the reputation of their company name, leader, and any product they market. Ramp that up to a company like Google or Apple, and you start hitting on dozens of reputations. Go to the extreme, say GlaxoSmithKline, and you have hundreds of reputations, all across the world!

So, before you start diving into the plethora of “How to improve your reputation in 2013” advice already hitting the interwebz, start by identifying all of the reputations that are vital to your success.

To help you get to grips on the many reputations you should be managing, we created this simple list to get you started. Highlight those that matter to you then do the following simple check list:

  1. [highlight color=”yellow”]Head to Google[/highlight], preferably using the incognito mode of your browser, and search for each reputation. Conduct a  SWOT analysis of the first 30 results for each reputation. Those that are positive in sentiment warrant your reputation management focus over the course of the year. Those that are negative require your immediate attention.
  2. [highlight color=”yellow”]Cross check those reputations with your web analytics.[/highlight] When someone searches for one of your reputations where do they land? What do they look at? How do they convert? You see, your online reputation is not just what Google says, it’s also what your web site says.
  3. Lastly, [highlight color=”yellow”]set up online reputation monitoring[/highlight] to keep track of discussions about your reputations. Of course, we can recommend a social media monitoring tool for you, but the key is to use something…heck, even Google Alerts is better than nothing! Remember, you’re not just watching for reputation attacks, but looking for opportunities to thank those that have shared praise, follow-up on customer ideas, and make sure your community feels loved!

Just three steps! Not too demoralizing, right? So, if you want your 2013 to be remarkable, start with a solid reputation foundation.

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ByAndy Beal

Andy Beal is The Original Online Reputation Expert™. A bestselling author of two critically-acclaimed reputation management books, a keynote speaker at dozens of events, and brand consultant experience with thousands of individuals and companies.

    2 Comments for “It’s 2013, do you know where you reputations are?”

    1. Nice post Andy. I would add a #4 to the list: Do a self analysis on what values we’re emotionally placing on those reputations. To avoid, for whatever reason, being to myopic on the importance on some reputations. Could be that maybe it’s the first product we developed, brand we launched, the project we’ve had more say over, whatever it is, our emotions could be leading us in prolonging the life of some reputations that could be better off not seeing 2013. Again, excellent post.

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