Mark Cuban may very well find himself in serious need of some reputation management very shortly. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly discussed the soon to be distributed Loose Change, a film about the supposed 9/11 government conspiracy. Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is going to distribute it and Charlie Sheen has said he will do the narration.

Jennifer Engle (a.k.a. “The Little Ball of Hate”) asked the people on Dallas’ local ESPN radio station whether Cuban’s involvement with this conspiratorial film will adversely affect the national public’s perception of the Dallas Mavericks. Callers of varying opinions spoke up, but none of them covered the issue sufficiently.

Cuban may or may not reap a whirlwind of negative press. Truthfully, with today’s popular opinion swaying the way it does, I doubt he will face much in the way of losses either financially or reputationally. It is possible, just not probable. What is more likely to happen is that Mister Cuban has just given the national press something to talk about instead of his Dallas Mavericks. Look for the national spotlight to consistently sweep in his direction and steal the Mavericks’ thunder.

That’s the real travesty here. The Dallas Mavericks have put together one of the most incredible seasons of basketball history, and as we approach the playoffs, their owner lacks the foresight to even wait to discuss this film until the season is over. If the Dallas Mavericks lose the spotlight to their owner, they have no one to blame but him.

On the political side, I disagree with the O’Reilly and his guests when they say it is unpatriotic to make a film like Loose Change. Regardless of its content, the people have the right to voice their opinions and beliefs. This film does not make them less patriotic. Of course, I have no idea what happened on 9/11 and at this point I choose to believe that there was no foul play on our government’s end.

Mark Cuban’s argument is that every American should watch the film and make their own decision. He says that ignorance and rumor are sometimes more dangerous than direct exposure. So he may be hoping to diffuse the subject, but he’s really opening a can of worms. What’s to stop every money hungry conspiracy theorist from making films in hopes of getting Cuban’s distribution power? This situation tells us that you might profit via Mark Cuban if your film is conspiratorial enough. His diffusing may very well encourage more people to take advantage of him. That is, of course, if he really is distributing this film for the reason he’s said.

Today’s Lesson: Be aware of the possible repercussions of your public statements and actions. Make wise decisions, because the best strategy for PR and ORM is to behave and conduct your business in such a way that you will always be proud.

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Rule #1 is simple. Your clients and customers are going to say what they are going to say. The question is, will it be in a controlled environment or will it be total chaos? You choose.

There are three recommendations to choose from, and I personally recommend a blend of all 3:

1) Create a Blog on your website

2) Create a Forum on your website

3) Encourage your customers to supply honest feedback on your website

Both blog and forum will assist your company in addressing the complaints and recommendations of your customers. Their are advantages and disadvantages to both. The great thing about each is that they take very little time to set up and are very affordable tools.

Most company websites only provide a “contact us” page for customer/client feedback. Unfortunately, an angry or dissatisfied customer may not take the time to fill out something formal that, honestly, looks like it is meant only for new business leads. For most of us, if we’re savvy enough to use Contact pages, we’re probably savvy enough to know that webmasters take forever to respond to concerns or questions, and we don’t like waiting for answers.

As I mentioned before, blogs and discussion forums are excellent places to give your customers a voice. And by doing so, you offer them the dignity they deserve. And when a company shows its customers respect, it’s always a win/win.

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If you search Google for “reputation management” in quotes (in order to only receive results with the exact phrase), you will probably see Jack Nielson’s article from February 8, 1998 at the #1 spot. In the article, Jack briefly discusses the difference between branding and reputation management.

Keep in mind that Jack’s article is 9 years old. Some of his comments are so dated, it’s hard to believe they were ever applicable. Let’s forget about that and look at the “reputation manager” he proposed:

My vision for a reputation manager involves the coordination of billions of individual quality judgments by hundreds of millions of users. Every time you encounter an information source on the Internet, your Web client software will present you with an opportunity to vote on its quality. Typically, this would be done by adding two buttons to the interface: a thumbs-up button and a thumbs-down button. A neutral rating would be given by doing nothing (since we want to minimize overhead in the user interface), but when a user encounters something particularly good, he or she would hit the “good” button. Similarly, disappointing services would be punished by a click on “bad.”

Sound familiar? That’s because years later, Digg.com implemented this idea into a website, whereby individual articles and blogs could be rated exactly the same way with the exact same icons. Everyone out there who thinks Digg is original will just have to weep and moan. Then again, Digg made the idea workable and popular. So perhaps you can forgo the Kleenex at this time.

It’s important to note that in 1998, Jack was using the term “reputation manager” to represent a software program similar to Nielsen Ratings which would represent each website’s popularity based on fair and accurate opinions of users. In 2007, anyone using the term “reputation manager” is more likely to be referring to a person or product which assists a company, person, or product with public image problems. As a person, a reputation manager is likely to look somewhat similar to an image consultant, only more tech savvy. As a product, a reputation manager will likely be some kind of web scouring software that reports on every comment made about the name in question in order to help a client address negative comments made.

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Visit just about any of the hundreds of SEO blogs out there and you’ll find plenty of opinions and stats about Digg and Reddit. These two user generated content sites have a huge influence over the tech savvy populace. The rest of us don’t have time to read CNN or MSNBC, much less Digg and all its clones.

But whether you have time to visit daily and keep up with all the crazy news, you should still be aware of the power Digg and Reddit hold on your reputation. One popular story about you, your company, or your website will drive tons of traffic to your site. The floodgates may close as quickly as they opened, but you will receive a LOT of attention. Mind you, this completely depends upon the popularity of the story posted on Digg or Reddit. Just because someone diggs you doesn’t mean you’re going to get more than ten random visitors.

Still, you need to be aware of these sites. Many companies are now implementing copywriting / linkbaiting campaigns for the sole purpose of getting popular on Digg and Reddit. And some companies feel compelled to do this because a negative blog or article has become popular on Digg and they need to combat the bad publicity.

This is a new site, so it may be a while before people begin commenting on every post. If you ever have any questions about how to use Digg or Reddit as a reputation management tool, feel free to ask.

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Small to mid-sized businesses frequently fail to see the value of reputation management, especially online. When every decision rides on the competence and experience of one or two individuals, key issues frequently go overlooked. Hey, it’s only natural. But this isn’t one of those areas you should let slip by.

Experience tells me that small companies are often subject to unfair criticism from ex-employees or poor vendor relationships. Small business lends toward a more comfortable, personable atmosphere in the workplace, which can be great for morale, until a relationship goes awry. Just one disgruntled employee might feel empowered to slander or even falsely accuse a former employer. I’ve even seen instances where former employees or business partners take on false identities in forums and pretend to be the voice of the company.

Any company that utilizes a website for any amount of lead generation or business interaction will suffer from accusations or any level of bad press. Imagine how difficult it could be to sell a high level product or gain an investor if anyone checking your name online first reads accusations against you and your company! The damage is irreparable… or it would be, if not for online reputation management!

Just keep in mind that the goal is to create positive results which replace the negative results. More often than not, you won’t convince a webmaster to remove content from their site without a lawsuit. Your most reliable option is to hire someone to do some SEO/ORM for your name or company name. I would personally recommend VIZION Interactive, especially if you’re looking for a Dallas-based Search Engine Optimization company. That said, there are other professionals out there who can help (and VIZION works for clients all around the country, too).

Regardless of whom you choose, make sure they know what they’re doing. If you’re not sure, contact me and I’ll review their website and claims and let you know whether they appear to have it all together.

This site is meant to be a useful tool for business owners, marketing managers, and PR professionals. It’s more of a hobby for me, so I don’t have much to gain from giving you advice (unless you click on my AdSense ads). I think I made a total of $35 for last year from my other website, so I’m obviously not doing it for the money.

Questions and comments are always welcome.

Popularity: 13% [?]

After a lengthy joust, I recently won a bidding battle for ReputationManager.com. You might doubt how anyone could know enough about a subject to warrant owning two websites about it. Well, that’s an excellent question.

It is safe to say that ReputationManager.com will eventually be sold, likely to someone with Reputation Management software to sell. How or when it will be sold, well that’s another question. I’ll optimize the URL some first, to add to its value.

I give Purposeweb credit for the idea, though the idea for the domain name I chose was entirely mine.

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Dell faced a troubling fourth quarter, and is now scrambling to rebound. According to the Associated Press,

The company faces a raft of issues, from an ongoing federal accounting investigation to customer service complaints and shareholder lawsuits, not to mention growing competition.

One of the tactics Dell will use to regain favor with the public is the return of Michael Dell as chairman and CEO. The founder of the company hopes to restore confidence in the brand he established. It’s a classic move. It was Michael Dell, after all, who took this company from nothing to the powerhouse that it was in 2000.

Let’s face it: No computer company is branding their product like Apple. With the Mac versus PC commercials, Apple is defining itself as the trendy and functionally superior alternative. The iPod sent Apple rocketing into the popularity stratosphere. Apple is successfully building on the popularity and trendy attitude of the iPod and carrying it out across the board.

Dell’s a different story. Dell computers were originally known for it’s reliability and affordable prices. That reputation has largely evaporated over the past few years. What’s left? The only good things I hear about Dell these days revolve around their servers and high dollar equipment - a complete turnaround from the company’s original claim to fame.

The New York Times quotes Michael Dell:

In the company’s statement, Mr. Dell called for investor patience. “We won’t achieve our goals overnight, but we will achieve our goals,” he said. “We will be known again for strong operating and financial performance and a great experience for our customers. But it will take time to realize the future benefits of the improvements we are making today.”

It remains to be seen whether the iconic do-it-yourself computer figure will be able to realign the company’s future.

Perhaps even more frightening than Dell’s poor management and business strategy are the rumors of a deal with Google to popularize the disposable computer. In this rumored scenario, Google provides the hard drive space via internet and Dell provides the affordable monitor and keyboard unit. The marketing spin is the safety of one’s hard drive from viruses and hackers. You would be expected to put all of your trust in Google and Dell would just pimp out its cheap hardware. Not especially comforting, if you ask me.

For now, Michael Dell is banking on his own reputation as the saving grace for Dell investors and speculators. Time will tell if the man can actually still compete in today’s market.

Popularity: 8% [?]