Two days ago, Fionn Downhill asked the question, “Is it Reputation Management or Reputation Repair?” Downhill’s company has yet to receive a call for pro-active management of corporate reputations. She calls proactive solutions “reputation management” and mid-emergency campaigns “reputation repair.”

It’s rather obvious that most executives are not going to understand the value of proactive reputation management. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… right? Managing something you don’t know or believe could actually become a problem is not worth the monthly maintenance fee of several thousand dollars. Or is it? Only the cautious, conservative investor is likely to acknowledge the wisdom in proactively managing and guarding the corporate brand reputation.

Why spend money on something that hasn’t happened yet? Well, as Downhill points out, “Extensive reputation repair can entail building out as many as 10 sites - in other words 10 separate SEO jobs. At the heart of reputation management is an effective organic SEO strategy, and as we know - good organic SEO is not cheap.”

Well said. Building out sites and pages to fill the top 10 results of Google, Yahoo, MSN Live, and Ask will inevitably cost you much more when you’re competing with a solid negative authorities already in the top 10. The earlier you establish your presence, the better your chances of remaining at the top.

Let’s consider the options:

$3k-5k per month for proactive reputation management, OR

$40k+ per month for last minute emergency reputation repair.

Hmmm….. tough decision.

If the past five years of online growing pains have taught us nothing else, they have taught us that security is essential. Data loss leads to reputation crises on a fairly regular basis. Obviously, online security isn’t the only issue. Stolen Blackberries, PDAs, and laptops are the most significant causes of data theft and loss.

Regardless of the manner in which sensitive personal information is lost, the result is always a loss of funds and damage to a company’s reputation. As an executive for such a company, you’ll need to monitor your reputation online. Angry, hurt, and dissatisfied customers are more prone to comment online than happy and satisfied customers. Look for negative statements made and respond to them quickly.

In order to do this, your company needs to have a public statement/response prepared in advance. Know what you will say to your clients and customers before they complain, so that you can be first to comment on negative blog posts and forum discussions.

Even a meager data loss in case of business loan may lead to severe reputation loss for a financial body. Data management is a critical task for every single occurrence of funds transfer be it for any cheap loans or for a highly secured heavy loan. Some specific funding institutions, like home loan bank, grant long term loans even to the customers who are not eligible for bad credit loan. In most of the cases choosing a bad credit need loan may incur much higher interest rates than usual making them always the last resort.

In the case of data theft or loss, be prepared to announce how the company has taken action to pursue justice and/or what steps will be taken to ensure said loss does not happen again. Some percentage of customer fallout is unavoidable, but you can manage that percentage with a well-timed and worded response.

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.