Moving past your mistakes is one thing; living them down is another. In the fickle world of the Internet, online reputation management (ORM) is a virtual necessity. Whether you happen to be the subject of scrutiny or unfair criticism or need to keep your own mistakes from being blown out of proportion, ORM can be used to protect your good name. The best part of all is that you can lay the foundations of ORM on your own.
The first aspect of online reputation repair is to watch what you and your friends say or share. Poor communication can kill your reputation; every drunken post or off-color joke can leave a terrible impression on anyone, even if it only happened once. Developing this habit is important to teenagers, who could then later carry this over in their own professional lives in the future. Likewise, keeping tighter reins on your social media accounts is also important to keep the sensitive details of your personal life distinct from your professional one.
The second part of do-it-yourself ORM is to have a number of social media accounts available to the public, with content that illustrates you or your business’ best accomplishments. This ensures that you—and not potential detractors—would be the arbiter of your online image. If you are a business owner in particular, having social media accounts would not only help your customers find you but also give them a place to voice out legitimate concerns.
Finally, being consistent and transparent with how you own up to actual mistakes is vital to keep yourself in good standing to those who gave you a second chance.
The opening moves of ORM are easy enough for those knowledgeable enough to utilize social media and can be a good way to put your best foot forward online. In many cases, however, it is impractical to continue a sufficiently sustainable ORM campaign by yourself, with the more technical aspects of the practice being out-of-reach to all but specialists.
Here is where dedicated ORM companies step in. A successful ORM service provider knows how to integrate your personal or corporate branding to comprehensive, highly tactical ORM campaigns, combining your vision with its know-how. Sure, you could gather the parts to your own ORM machine, but pros know how to keep it running and well-oiled for long-term results.
Seeking out their services can help continue the work you started while freeing up more time and resources for yourself or your business.
FURTHER READING:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sue-scheff/online-reputation-management_b_3333735.html
www.huffingtonpost.com/sue-scheff/smile-snap-click-and-post_b_3067990.html