1) DO YOU HAVE A REPUTATION?

If you aren’t showing up, it’s like you don’t exist.

Traditionally, you should assume that people online won’t go past the first couple of pages of search results, and now we are hearing that unless someone is highly engaged, they aren’t likely to go past the first 3-5 results.

With this in mind, where do you stand? Do you find results about your company with simple searches like your name, company, brand, products, and industry + area.

If not, think of your online reputation as Non-Existent. It’s time to start building one!

2) DO YOU OWN YOUR LISTINGS?

If you don’t control your brand online, someone else will.

Another issue with search results. Going back to the last topic, if you did the simple searches and results about you appear, but you don’t have control of the pages that show up, this is another issue. If you don’t claim ownership of listings from sites like Google Places and Yelp, then other people can update your information as they please. Not only will you be able to ensure more accuracy about your company by owning your listings, you will also be able to gain insights into how people find your online listings and be more aware of reviews people write about you.

This also applies to social media sites. Claim your name on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc. Someone else could have already or may soon take the name you would want to use and it can cause discrepancies in your branding strategies. In a worst case scenario, someone who is upset with you could register your name or be squatting on your name hoping to make you buy it from them.

Each of the sites mentioned above, and many others that may be appropriate places to list your business have guides on how to take control of your listings or profiles. Use their Help or FAQ sections.

If you don’t offer a positive opportunity for people to communicate with you, they can become discouraged and try to interact through less desirable channels.

3) DO YOU RESPOND TO ONLINE FEEDBACK?

People expect accessibility online.

Now, assuming that you have taken control of your online presence, how do you manage it?

Positive Feedback:

Do you have positive reviews out there? Note the good things people are saying about you and keep them in mind as important aspects of your efforts moving forward. If people’s reviews say they appreciate your cheerful customer service, then taking on a snobby demeanor in your ads or other copywriting could estrange some of your most loyal customers.

Negative Feedback:

Are there negative reviews out there?

Own up to the reviews: If someone has a valid complaint, or if a group has similar or “me too!” complaints, do what you can to address the issue and make things right. People want to know that you care about their perception of you and that you take their concerns to heart.

Inaccurate reviews? Did someone say something like- you rescinded on an offer or your service didn’t work as promised, but the issue they are calling out doesn’t match your promotions or service descriptions? Politely let them know the facts. Perhaps they are mistaking you for someone else or didn’t review the terms of your service thoroughly.

Hateful but empty: Is someone saying something mean or angry with no real substance? If there is no real issue to address either let it go, or in the case of places like your Facebook wall, delete it. If you plan to do this, you should have a terms of use tab on your page outlining types of content that are not allowed, such as profane or hateful comments. Never delete a comment about a real issue! This will feel like you just hung up on a customer who called you with a concern. We’re sure you can imagine the negative word of mouth that follows this sort of action.

4) DO YOU HAVE A STRATEGY?

Be cognizant of the impact of anything you post online. Keep your marketing goals in mind and never say anything that conflicts with your brand image. This means you must do things like: avoid petty reactions to others, fact check your information, and include end dates on promotions that you don’t want to offer FOREVER. Mistakes in these areas can cost you dearly.

5)  ARE YOU BEING DILIGENT?

It’s not enough to set things up, you need to monitor them. Make a routine effort to check on your listings, engage through social media, and read your reviews. There are tools to help with this: Google Alerts, Yahoo Alerts, Facebook Alerts and Insights, etc.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Want to read more on this topic? Here are some articles:

http://mashable.com/2011/10/15/protect-small-business-reputation-online/

http://outspokenmedia.com/guides/orm-guide/

http://www.visibilitymagazine.com/location3-media/tarla-cummings/online-reputation-management#

http://www.anvilmediainc.com/search-engine-marketing-resources/search-engine-marketing-articles/online-reputation-management-article

1 ) TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED

Your customers are coming to you and giving you their business. It is important to treat them as individuals, value them, and show your genuine appreciation. This can be as simple as including everyone involved in your e-mails, or sending them a thank you note.

2 ) DON’T COMMUNICATE

It can be easy to get caught up in what you are doing and let communication fall to the back burner, but if you think about how you would want to be treated, good communication becomes very important. This means many things:

- Give updates on the status of the work you are doing, whether it is a milestone or you run into an issue.

- If your customer prefers e-mail and you prefer the phone. Do your best to accommodate them. Little things like that are perfectly reasonable, try to be flexible.

- Don’t make assumptions about what your customer is thinking (you know what they say about assumptions). Ask for feedback!

- Your customers are individuals, not numbers, get to know them. If you are working with more than one person, include all of them as appropriate in your communications, and don’t belittle someone just because that aren’t your “key” contact.

3 ) DON’T FOLLOW BILLING ETIQUETTE

Be clear about costs up front and stay aware of the budget as you work.

Bill on time. Not unexpectedly or later than planned, your customers have a cash flow, and that must be respected. In the case of some agencies, if you miss the timeline for a bill, their hands are tied and they can’t pay you!

4 ) TALK BIGGER THAN YOU WALK

Never make promises you can’t keep. People have little patience for this and having a reputation for over-promising and under-delivering will follow you. Word of mouth is extremely powerful and unfortunately, the fastest way to get it is to do a bad job!

5 ) FORGET INITIATIVE

Never make your customers prod you to do your job! This means keeping your own schedule in check, and goes back to #2, keep your customer informed of your progress and any issues that may arise.

6 ) BE FLAKEY

If you schedule a meeting or service time, keep to that scheduled time! Don’t be late or unexpectedly early and don’t make a habit of canceling. This will quickly color a customer’s opinion of you and damage their faith in your competency.

7 ) JUST SAY “NO”

If your customers are making reasonable requests, do whatever you can to say yes every time.

Move the deadline up 2 days because the customer had something come up? You padded your timeline from the beginning and this fits your schedule, “Yes.”

8 ) NEVER SAY YOU’RE SORRY

Always own up to mistakes. Be humble and do what you can to make things right.

Earlier we said that word of mouth is powerful. This is your opportunity to take a potentially bad situation and turn it into something good. People appreciate it when you do the right thing, and even if they are a bit unhappy about what happened, they will feel like they can trust you. Trust is invaluable.

9 ) ALWAYS BE THE BOSS

Yes, be the boss and be accountable and ensure quality from your staff, but remember the customer. When your customers foot the bill, treat them with the respect and authority they warrant; you answer to them.

10 ) SHOW YOUR EMPLOYEES YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THEM

It’s simple, when you treat your employees well, they will pass it on to your customers. Be sure to lead by example and offer training/guidance for your standards of customer service.

Hey “big kids,” back to school season had us thinking… are you investing time in your continual learning? To enhance your business it’s necessary to stay up to date on the latest technology, business principles, and marketing techniques. Fortunately for us, there are some great ways to continue our ongoing education without spending semesters on end in a classroom.

Here are a few of the ways to continue learning that we like best:

1) The Internet. Why not take advantage of all of the resources online for enhancing our knowledge?? If nothing more, find a couple of good sites that write or post articles related to your industry and read them. (If you use twitter you can simply follow someone who posts articles of interest to you and they’ll pick good ones for you!)

2) Webinars. Get a great presentation on a topic of interest without leaving the comforts of your home or office.

3) Entrepreneurs’ Groups. Industry groups and leads groups can be great sources for presentations on current information and technology. There are other great local resources like Chambers and Economic Development Councils. They put on events that give great information.

4) Books. This may feel like back to school on a more literal level, but there are fabulous industry related books out there. Odds are you’ll find some extremely useful books in the business or technology section of the bookstores here in town.

5) Online Groups. Whether you find a group with related interests on a major site like facebook or linkedin, or you find a site dedicated to your industry, meeting up with like-minded people online simply breeds learning.

6) The Small Business Development Center. Not only does the local small business development center offer great opportunities for learning (like short classes), if you are running a small business, they will help you make improvements to your business.

7) Publications. Business publications, both local and national, are another great source for keeping up with the ever-changing face of business. Your continuing education should focus on all of the aspects of your business whether it is specific to the goods or services you offer, or to the issues involved in running a business today.

Want to learn more? Here is the article.

-Jenny

Our Mommies-to-be

Aunt Courtney

- Jenny

In the meeting today I brought up Old Spice “Manmercials.” I think “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” is awesome! Check it out then share any thoughts in comment!

-Jenny

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Follow Paul’s lead and you’ll have the bad-economy monster running scared:

1) Reinvent yourself as needed. You are so much more than any one skill. When it’s logical, offer more interconnected services to your customers.

2) Keep doing an awesome job. As things change it is good for your customers to know they can always depend on you for quality work, an impressive turn-around, and a professional attitude.

3) Focus on how great it is to be doing what you do. When things are stressful it is be easy to feel jaded. Passion and enthusiasm for what you do is great for your endorphins (and your customers will appreciate it).

4) Remind people that you are still around and want to help. It can be as simple as a message like this or a phone call.

5) IF ALL ELSE FAILS… Get cast in a movie that provides scary props, like monster teeth. No one will mess with you, especially that would-be-tough, bad-economy monster.

-Jenny

From Ahajokes.com, examples of translations in advertising gone awry:

Coors put its slogan, “Turn it loose,” into Spanish, where it was read as “Suffer from diarrhea.”

Clairol introduced the “Mist Stick,” a curling iron, into German only to find out that “mist” is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the “manure stick”.

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the beautiful baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what’s inside, since most people can’t read English.

Pepsi’s “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” translated into “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave,” in Chinese.

When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you.” However, the company mistakenly thought the spanish word “embarazar” meant embarrass. Instead the ads said that “It wont leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.”

Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan “finger-lickin’ good” came out as “eat your fingers off.”

When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that “no va” means “it won’t go.” After the company figured out why it wasn’t selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.

Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.