The internet is an amazing tool for any business, new or old to drive sales, grow three brand and ultimately make more money. Unfortunately, with most positive things, there is a possible negative flip side and when it comes to the internet, that negative is that your reputation online is highly sensitive and has the possibility to be destroyed in a matter of clicks if you allow it.
It is for this reason that companies like Eric Schiffer Reputation Management Consultants exist and these are services that you should be enlisting the support of if you want to ensure that your online reputation stays in good shape. Let’s take a look then at just how easy it is for your reputation to fall by the wayside.
Reviews
Reviews are pretty complex and whilst this is a great way for people to wax lyrical about your company and your services, it is also a place where they can vent about you, fairly or unfairly. The problem with reviews on places like Yelp and Google are that most people only want to tell the world about something bad which has happened, rather than something good. No business is perfect and the last thing you want is an isolated problem to be the reflection of your company on the whole. Equally, reviews are open to anyone who wishes to speak about your company and as such you are open to attack from the competition or even a disgruntled ex-employee. Ignoring your reviews could be a surefire way for your online rep to be damaged beyond repair.
Social Media
The speed of social media is blistering and if you make an enemy online or rub the wrong person up the wrong way, then you could be looking at the possibility of your reputation being destroyed in a matter of tweets. It is important that you work hard to maintain a strong reputation online and on social media even more so, one wrong move and your business could see its reputation completely razed.
Influencers
The idea alf the internet is that it is a community of people who help and support each other, there are some looking to do the opposite but in the main, this is the model of the online community. For this reason it is important that you do things right and work with important people in the community, for example, influencers. Influencers online are popular people within your industry who review, commentate and show off businesses and their products. Working in line with these key people will be important for the success of your business, even if they don’t love what you do, they can still prove helpful to your success. Working against such people however can have devastating consequences to your business because of the amount of people who listen to what they say.
Don’t ever think that our business is immune to having its reputation destroyed, it can, it has and it will happened to anyone if you take your eye off the ball.