For those of you who have managed to not hear about Don Imus’s comments on the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team, here’s a very brief recap. The famous radio shock jock referred to the women’s college team as “nappy headed hoes.” He said that the Tennessee women’s players were cute, but the Rutgers’ team was tattooed and tough looking.

MSNBC has suspended his simulcast for two weeks. His primary network, CBS, has yet to take any action. The media commentators have crawled out of the woodwork to rail against the use of racial slurs and “hate”. The majority of media channels are now embroiled in the debate of censorship vs. free speech. The question on NPR is: “Should censorship be allowed and under what conditions?”

Visit YouTube and judge for yourself. I personally listened to 30 minutes of NPR commentary and debate over the issue before hearing firsthand what Imus had actually said. Ahh, the miracle of YouTube!

One of the columnists talking on NPR this morning about the issue made a comment that continues to resonate within me: slurs and negative comments are more apt to cause a backlash today than 15 years ago due to social media sites like YouTube. In the mid-90s, a shock jock or commentator could say something derogatory and despite the gossip, the majority of public opinion would be based on hearsay. Today, YouTube catches nearly everything controversial said on television and anyone can hear what was said word for word. The public’s reaction is therefore more reactionary much faster than in days gone by.

Don Imus has been apologizing profusely throughout the past week. He is what he is - a shock jock - which means he is not someone I will ever waste time listening to. He is contributing to the popularity of slurs and slander, but he is and should be protected by free speech. He doesn’t need to worry much about reputation management because his job is to be controversial. In the end, he will only make more money and gain more fame from this incident. His future as a shock jock is not in any jeopardy (he can always join Stern on satellite radio).

Imus represents a microscopically small percentage of the population who has very little need for online reputation management. For Imus, bad press = more $$$. It is the nature of the beast.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Most companies throw up a website to validate their existence. It’s the virtual equivalent of renting office space to show your clients that you’re serious and committed to the business. While it’s great to have a website (especially if you own “yourcompanyname.com”), real Web presence doesn’t begin until you have implemented some semblance of a search engine marketing campaign. We’ll cover the basics of an SEO / SEM campaign in another post. For now, let’s talk blogs.

Five years ago, it was okay to have a static site that never changed. After all, you figured out beforehand what you wanted to say about your company, products, and services, and you wrote the copy well (let’s hope). You pretty much leave the website alone, allowing it to only function as a contact page through which users can email, call, or submit a contact form if they’re interested in what you have to offer. The more advanced websites opened forums, which began the revolution known as “user-generated content” or social media.

For the most part, forums have fallen by the wayside and given way to the blog. It never hurts to have a forum available, which we’ll cover at another time, but the blog is a way to have focused, regularly updated content available to your customers. Weblogs are used for a variety of purposes, including:

• customer relationship management
• reputation management
• industry news
• company news
• commentary

1. Customer Relationship Management - One of the most popular CRM blogs is operated by Matt Cutts at Google. He functions as an easy to get along with mediator/spokesperson between SEO professionals and Google. He addresses questions and concerns about the way Google handles search, and he puts a human face and personality on the company. He’s been extremely effective at this over the years.

2. Reputation Management - Blogs are a perfect way to allow someone from your company to allay the fears, angers, or complaints of your customers as well. It’s a guarantee that if someone is disappointed with your company or products, they will eventually write about it in a blog or forum on the Internet. It’s going to get out, and you’re going to have damage control on your hands. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a silly blog,” you might say. Companies lose millions in revenue to these silly blogs every day. Let’s put it in perspective: imagine that silly little blog post appearing on page one of Google any time someone searches for the name of your company, product, or the names of your executives. Anyone wanting to read about you will see this negative post and their judgment of your company will be affected. A company blog provides a place for your customers to come and voice their opinions in a structure you can control. It also provides a place for you to respond to complaints and to produce additional positive content in hopes of outranking and displacing the negative comments on search results.

3. Industry News - The remaining uses of company blogs can bleed into each other or remain separate as you choose. A blog is the perfect avenue for your company to discuss what’s new in the industry. Write your opinions on new technologies or discuss how current events could affect your business, investors, and customers. It will build investor and consumer confidence in your company as they see your company regularly staying abreast of current events.

4. Company News - You can post press releases internally. You might also want to present company news in a less formal manner that addresses the anticipated concerns and questions of your readers.

5. Commentary - As is the case with many SEO, SEM, and PR blogs, business professionals can really develop a solid readership with commentary. It’s the human side, possibly including non-company related copy that simply says, “Hey, we’re people too.” It’s easy for the consumer to view a company as an inhuman machine. This puts the humanity back into the company image, and can even assist in branding.

If you think of a primary use for company blogs that I’ve overlooked, feel free to let me know.

Popularity: 4% [?]

The answer is yes, if you believe their latest television commercial. In it, a old, very unhip guy with a German accent In reality, it’s a desperate attempt from a failed enterprise. Non-SEO types may appreciate Ask for its “appreciation of concepts.” Me, I happen to appreciate a search engine that understands the words I’m searching for.

Not only that, but as a search marketer and public relations “specialist” (whatever that really means), I appreciate a search engine that actually drives traffic. For example, my personal blog has NEVER received a single visit from anyone through Ask.com. I might have received one visit from a MSN searcher. For every 20 visits from Google, I receive one or two visits from Yahoo!.

Of course, Ask.com doesn’t actually have to provide anything it claims to provide. All they have to do is make cool commercials that convince people that using Ask.com is cool. Funny isn’t it? In order for Ask to grab attention, they have to advertise on television. Though truthfully, Google did the same in movies ten years ago.

For what it’s worth, Ask will have a very difficult time spreading through word of mouth. It’s easy to say “Ask”, but it’s not as unique and cool to say “ask it” as “google it.” Everybody knows what you mean when you say “google it”, but ask is so generic that the term would be misunderstood.

So, for all they have to say about being the “pimped out” search engine, don’t believe the hype. Let’s pretend that we’re still living in an age where people question whether what they are told is true. Let’s pretend that we can’t be fooled by an old German guy pounding fists with some random dude off camera.

Popularity: 5% [?]