Reputation Management Online Is A Must

Here in NL, and in many other oil-producing regions there is a major downturn in the economy. The last few months have been challenging for all business sectors, and anyone reliant on oil revenue (and in Newfoundland that’s just about every one of us) has felt the pinch in some capacity.

Managing your reputation in this business climate has never been more important. Reputation starts with those closest to you and radiates from there. If you are well thought of at home base, by colleagues, peers, clients, suppliers and the like, it can and often does, trickle out into a larger sphere of influence that often includes people who might not know you personally, but ‘have heard good things’.

Now that we have a bonafide reputation and a good one at that, how do we protect it? Good news! You can be in control of a lot of the information ‘out there’ about you and your business practices.

Start here

When you are away from your own computer, Google yourself. If you’ve had a presence on LinkedIn for a while your profile will likely show up on page one. You have complete control of that profile and all the things that it can lead to.

Every category on your LinkedIn profile can be customized by you to include the many aspects of why you have a stellar reputation. Everything from projects you’ve managed to volunteer efforts can be highlighted to provide evidence of your accomplishments. When utilized correctly these categories will be populated with keywords that will have a positive effect on your standing in search results.

Recommendations

One of the least used tools on LinkedIn is probably the best at providing the “social proof” that you’re a worthy candidate, client or connection. Recommendations.

Receiving over 10 Recommendations puts your profile above most that hover far below with only one or two. This also affects your placement in search results related to your product or service. Unlike Endorsements, which although useful, don’t carry the same weight, Recommendations can provide an area of unbiased written opinion about your results, your character, and your business practices. There’s weight in those words, and when stacked against the recommendation-barren competition they can turn into actual dollars.

With such things as privacy issues and transparency limits to worry about its often a fine line between management and obsession when it comes to our reputation both on and offline.

Grabbing control of the wheel on LinkedIn is not only an excellent business practice in today’s economic climate but also a way to showcase your brightest business moments at any time to all potential business connections. I can’t think of a better position to be in when the opportunity comes knocking.

To learn more about online reputation management go to www.socialmediamanagement.ca

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