What is Online Reputation?

Reputation is a part of the identity of an entity (person, business, site, organization, brand) which sets it apart from other entities. Reputation, in general, is the long term impression of an identity with which society perceives that establishment or individual.

Online reputation refers to how one is viewed in online circles as a whole. Attributes like social behavior, cooperation, coordination, compliance, attitude, views mostly influence the entities reputation.

Online reputation and embarrassments 

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Internet has become more accessible to the public. Due to this every word we say, every view we have and every action we take is scrutinized by people we do know, and if it goes out of control, by people, we don’t know via tweets, messages, posts, etc. Losing control over our privacy is where the seed of downslide of our online reputation is sown.

So how exactly is our online reputation ruined? 

We always have some moments which we wouldn’t want to be exposed online. Be it an embarrassing drunken video of us, or an online argument or photos, messages, comments we post online which we are not very proud of. These contents create both favorable and unfavorable impressions of us to different people, which affects our reputation in the long term.

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ are various social networking sites where we share everything, but there are certain things which we would probably not want to go public. We can prevent ourselves from putting them up online, but we can’t control others from posting. Like friends posting weird pictures or videos of us, our ex posting love letters we gave them and sometimes even hate posts against us. Sure we can report against them, but by then our reputation already lies in tatters. Some people even make it their agenda to destroy our reputation and don’t stop until they achieve it.

However, all this is preventable by keeping a clean image and by limiting our online exposure. Most of the other times, we ourselves are the reason for our undoing by-

Being over-opinionated– Sure, we all must have our own opinions, which probably might defer from others. But sometimes it’s a good idea to keep them to ourselves, especially in matters which don’t concern us. Our opinions may cause people to think we’re arrogant and in most cases, give us the tag of being opinionated.

Posting controversial photos/posts – Posting inflammatory photos like burning flags or of cruelty towards animals, photos of us which we might later regret, distasteful or racist posts or hateful comments is a strict no-no. These things leave such a digital footprint that people might view them even after they are deleted.

Spamming– No one, absolutely NO one likes spams. Never send spams.

Living our lives online– Starting and ending relationships online, letting people know each and everything that happens in our lives, posting personal stuff and being online just about the whole day doesn’t really plant a good image of us in people’s minds.

Being Socially Awkward– If you don’t know how to behave or talk to people, please just shut up. No one likes abusers, flirts, or stalkers. Sending friend request randomly, flirting with strangers, and hurling out abuses is definitely not the way to go.

Not respecting opinions of consumers– The Internet has made it very easy for consumers to make their frustrations known. Even one unhappy consumer can destroy a companies reputation. So brands have to be very careful with the service they provide.

Brand Ambassadors kicking up a storm– People perceive the image of a brand the way they perceive it’s brand ambassadors. So if your ambassador is Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong or any such controversial individual…..Good Luck!

All said and done, our online reputation today defines who we are and how we are perceived. Some companies check the online background of people before hiring them. Negative reviews of a company affect its sales. So it’s important for people and brands to maintain a clean image. Management companies and online websites are there which help people maintain it. So next time you do anything….think. The world is watching.

It’s a great feeling when your current online marketing campaign begins to bear fruit, and the phone starts to ring. But it’s how you act after you answer the phone that could spell the difference between a closed lead and a lost opportunity. The following will take you through a typical call beginning to end, with the end result being a closed lead. If you’re waiting for your online marketing campaign to produce results or if it already has and you have a phone-close-rate of little-to-none, the following should help. Here is exactly what do the next time someone calls after finding your business on the Internet.

Pick Up and Smile

It sounds frivolous, but if you’re having a bad day and your caller manages to feel your bad mood over the phone, the person is not going to have a very good or memorable experience.

On the other hand, if you can manage to smile – even if you have to fake it – the person will hear that smile over the phone, and the conversation will automatically turn positive.

In order to keep the positivity flowing, immediately ask for the person’s name and use their name throughout the call. People love the sound of their own voice and hearing their name several times (don’t overdo it) will be music to their ears.

For best results, keep a ‘lead form’ next to the phone that reminds you to smile and that includes a space for the person’s name, much like the following.

Ex. #1: Answer the Call With a Smile and Immediately Get the Person’s Name

Caller’s Name: ________________________________   

Keep the Phone Conversation Short

The typical phone call that comes into your office should last no more than three-to-five minutes. More than that and you may give your customer second thoughts on taking action.

That’s what you don’t want.

Instead, you will want to take control of the call and guide the person directly into an appointment. Here is how it’s done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Underneath the space for the caller’s name, you may want to list up to six questions that people commonly ask. Because, let’s face it, most callers will say something to the effect of, “I have a question for you.”

Ideally, you’ll want to provide a list of FAQs on your website. The more information you can provide to your customers externally – via your website, social media, or offline marketing methods – the more targeted and ready-to-take-action your prospect will be.

Even still, keep the answers to commonly asked questions ready just in case your customer asks for them. It’s better to do that than to say, “Hang on,” and then yell across the office for the answer; or worse, put the person on hold.

Ex #2: Common Questions that Callers Might Ask

1. What Payments Do You Accept? We accept cash, check, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express for your convenience.

2. What are Your Hours of Operation? We are open Monday through Friday 10-5 and Saturday 11-4, and we’re closed on Sundays. Would you like to schedule an appointment?

ROI Tracking

One of the benefits of Internet marketing is that you can easily track your results, as long as you ask your caller how he/she heard about you. After you’ve answered the person’s question, ask them where they saw your phone number online.

Ex. #3: Find Out How the Caller Found Our Business

“How did you hear about us today?”

If the caller says, “The Internet,”: That’s great. We’ve been working very hard to make sure it’s easy to find us online. Where did you happen to see us? Was it a Google Search?

If the person gives the name of a current customer, make a note to give that customer a discount or at least a thank you!

Guide the Call and Convert 

Don’t let the customer ramble on. Again, you want to keep the call short, and you want the caller to convert by the time the call ends. You can do that by offering two appointment options, and assuming that the person is going to make an appointment.

What you don’t want to do is ask a closed question, such as, “Would you like to schedule an appointment?” That leaves the caller open to answering with a big fat NO.

Instead, offer two options. That way the caller only has two choices, and NO doesn’t even enter the equation.

You might say, “Would mornings or afternoons work better for you?” Then, offer two appointment options. Like so:

Ex. #4: Guide the Person Into An Appointment

1. “Would mornings or afternoons work better for you?”

2. Provide 2 options. (Ex. I have an opening at 3 on Wednesday or 2 on Friday. Which one do you like best?)

3. Book the appointment.

Appointment Date: _________________________ Time: ___________

Get Important Information

Even if you attempt to guide the conversation, there is a chance that the person could say no. Whether you schedule an appointment or you don’t manage to close the caller just yet, always get the person’s call-back number and email address.

Ex. #5: Get the Caller’s Information

What’s your phone number? _______________________

What about your email address? _________________________

Close the Call

You now have everything you need – you have either successfully guided the caller into an appointment, or you managed to at least gather the caller’s contact information. The latter allows you to call the person back later, which is a very good thing.

Because get this: 43% of people who call your office won’t be ready to make a commitment just yet. If you get a, “I’m not ready to commit just yet,” or a plain NO, thank the person for calling and make a note to call them back later.

You might want to find a date two weeks out so that you can call the person back, and mark it on your ‘Phone Lead’ form, like so:

Ex. #6: Schedule a Call Back

Call the person back at: ________________

A good tip is to leave a second form on your desk that you can use to make note of people’s names, phone numbers, and their call back dates so that you can keep track of your leads, and potentially close much more of them.

Now, remember, you’re not going to close everyone, and some people won’t even give you their phone number. You’re not going to get all of them, but you’ll also never get what you don’t ask for. So the next time the phone rings, get ready to change the game for the better. You’re about to show your caller exactly how a closed call is done.

In the mad rush to attract audiences, many bloggers fail to realize that not every reader is of equal value. It’s true that blogs are a great way to drive traffic to your site, increase your SEO, improve customer relationships, and enable your brand to be seen as a trustworthy source of information. But it’s important to understand that even if you receive a large volume of visitors every week, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll receive a larger volume of quality leads. If you want to attract customers, you need to make your blog relevant, functional, and above all, tailored to your target audience. This article looks at a variety of ways you can make some simple changes that can help your blog attract the right crowd.

Optimization

If you’re creating high-quality content, odds are you’ve already spent time including several relevant keywords in your posts. However, there’s still a fair chance that your content is lacking in valuable keywords and phrases that you haven’t considered. With the aid of Google’s free AdWords tool, you can discover many of the most relevant long-tail keywords for your niche, including those that your competitors are currently targeting. Remember, the point of your content isn’t to just get tons of visitors, but to attract relevant audiences. Popular keywords might offer larger audiences, but more relevant keywords will give you the visitors that will ultimately convert.

It’s also worth remembering that it’s important to spread your keywords evenly throughout your content. It’s particularly important to place them in titles, headlines, introductions, conclusions, and meta descriptions. More is typically better, just be sure not to become guilty of keyword stuffing. Not only will that reduce the quality of your content, but Google may also end up penalizing you for it.

Blogging for Businesses vs. Consumers

For a business to consumer (B2C) content, it’s considered the best practice to focus on creating content that’s perceived as trendy and engaged with current events. Articles with shorter titles and more succinct messages generally perform better due to the relatively short attention span that you can expect of the average consumer. Images and visuals also have particularly weighted importance for B2C content, and it’s important to post at least once or twice every day.

For business to business (B2B) content, things are slightly different. Business audiences are more interested in useful content that can be immediately applied to solving a concrete problem. That means there’s a premium placed on content with relevant statistics and sources. When using images, you should prefer infographics or other data-rich media. Above all else, remember that B2B readers expect you to help them solve problems rather than simply entertain them, even if the problems you’re solving aren’t directly related to the services your brand offers.

Interlinking Your Content

The practice of interlinking content is when you connect two or more of your blog posts together. This allows you to link your new content with your older content, keeping your entire archive in circulation as relevant and productive material. When you’re selecting anchor text to pin a link on, you should prefer anchoring on keywords that you already rank well for. This is because it’s much easier to improve existing rankings than to try and rank for a totally new keyword. It’s also worth remembering that you should only interlink the same content once in any given article because search engine algorithms only count the first time a link is presented.

Image Optimization

As with any other website on the Internet, images make your content more exciting, engaging, and digestible. Large walls of text can detour readers, even if the quality of the content is very high. Research has also shown that text is more believable and trustworthy when accompanied by a professional-looking image.

To make the most of your SEO with images, be sure to name images with keyword-driven descriptions in file names, like Marketing_Tips.jpg. You should also avoid using very large images because they can result in slow download times, particularly on the mobile platform. Most people are only willing to wait four or five seconds for a page to load before giving up and trying another site. Often, all it takes is one or two large images to create those kinds of load times.

Blog Promotion

These days, the most common method for promoting a blog is with social media. However, rather than relying on one or two big networks like Facebook and Twitter, consider using as many networks as possible to promote your content. Of course, you should prefer the networks that your audience prefers, but less popular networks can still help you expand your reach considerably.

Finally, a few remarks about promoting your blog on sites like Twitter. As you probably know, whenever you publish new content, you should send out a tweet to alert your followers. What you may not know is that it’s also a good idea to schedule several posts throughout the week directing people back to that blog post. This is because the shelf life of a tweet is only a few hours. If you don’t promote the same item several times throughout the week, it’s very likely that only a tiny fragment of your total audience will ever see your promotion. Multiple promotions also give you an opportunity to test what kind of keywords and what times of day your content performs best with, which can help you reach new audiences both now and well into the future.