Online reputation management (ORM) and what NOT do. If you don’t care about your online reputation then follow these steps exactly as I have outlined in this article. Your online reputation is too important to leave in the hands of your customers to manage.

1. Online Reputation Management and What NOT to do!
First off let’s start with the obvious, what exactly is online reputation management. I feel like
everyone is talking about this concept, but very few are explaining what this is. Online
reputation management involves managing reviews, mentions, conversations about your
company, potentially on lots of other web sites. Its requires active involvement on sites like
Yelp, Google Hotpot, CitySearch, Angies List, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and so on. Really its
about protecting your business or personal reputation online and not leaving it up to your
consumers and clients to determine your reputation for you.
Keep in mind that in today’s market, it is often difficult to stand out from your competitors. And
if you are in a volume business, negative reviews are most likely going to happen at some point.
Even if you are not in a business that has lots of customers, one bad review can cause your
prospects to hesitate to do business with you.
Let’s lay out exactly what NOT to do in regards to online reputation management
1) Ignore Negative Reviews – ignoring negative reviews on some of the top review sites is
a great way to drive away potential business. Your prospects are going to find reviews
about your company, and if you have not responded to those reviews, it looks like you
don’t care about your customers.
2) Fight Back – fight fire with fire! If someone leaves you a negative review, another great
way to drive away business is to be negative back. Tell the customer that they are the
one that was wrong and to stop complaining, get a life, go away, find something better
to do, etc . Responding back negatively is a sure fire way to lose even more prospects
and customers.
3) Your Web Site is the Only Site That is Important to Your Business – continue to ignore
review sites like Yelp, and Google Hotpot and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter,
and LinkedIn. Don’t claim your Google Places page or your Yelp page, Bing Local…etc etc
These sites are just fads and will eventually go away and will just amount to a big waste
of time for your business or marketing team. Your web site is the only site that people
will go to when searching for keywords related to your business or when looking for
more information about your business. Don’t worry about establishing a web presence
across multiple web sites, that’s too much work and will never help you acquire more
customers or manage your reputation.
4) Don’t Look at Analytics – continue to ignore all the great built in analytics data that
exists on your YouTube Channel, Google Places page, Facebook Fan Page Insights data,

2. Google Analytics, and Twitter. Knowing where your customers are coming from won’t
help you adjust your marketing strategies, or tailor your products and services to what
your customers actually want. Also, you won’t need to know exactly who your
customers are (Men, Women, Age, Income, etc) as that will have little value to your
business.
As you can see, the above 4 steps will certainly help you drive away more customers and
continue to sour your brand and reputation online. If that is what you are looking to do, then
follow those 4 steps for success (if that’s the type of success you want). Online reputation
management can be a lot of work if you don’t have the right tools and strategies in place.
Logging into 20 or 30 different accounts can be a daunting process.
I don’t want to make this blog into a sales pitch, but every once in a while I find as solution that
will make people’s lives much easier and allow them to grow their business substantially. Take a
look at WSI ReachCast which can manage the entire online reputation management process for
you in one easy to use platform.
WSI | We Simplify Internet Marketing
Search Marketing (SEO, PPC) | Social Media | Web Design | Integrated Solutions | Lead Generation | Video Marketing
P: 1-877-999-9741 ● E: info@wsipremierEsolutions.com ● www.wsipremierEsolutions.com
Chicago, IL | Portland, ME
About the Author
Ryan Adams is a WSI Certified Internet Marketing
Consultant. Having successfully developed several start‐up
companies, both online and offline, he launched his next
venture and opened a WSI Internet Marketing business
with offices in Portland, ME and Chicago, IL.
Ryan graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree from the
University of Southern Maine as well as receiving several
advanced certifications from Notre Dame Mendoza College
of Business and Cornell University. He is also a Google
Certified Analytics consultant and holds several
certifications in internet
marketing from SEMPO, the leading educator in the field of
internet marketing.
http://www.wsipremierEsolutions.com
http://www.ryanadams.us