The Tribune

By D’Arcy Rahming

“I don’t want a Facebook page,” one of my clients told me emphatically. “I can’t control what people put on that page.” I had to reassure him that there were, indeed, many ways in which you can control the content that is being put on the page. But he raised a very interesting and important point. In this era of social media, when anyone can say anything for or against your company, regardless of the truth, you have to pay attention to your online reputation as much as you do your offline reputation.

There is a lot of Internet bullying that goes on against companies. Someone with a personal grudge can cost a company a lot in sales. They can create rumours that are circulated quickly, and lessen your brand reputation considerably. And if you react incorrectly, you can make matters far worse.

A recent case against a very successful martial arts school in the US underscores this point. Three members of the school were out partying. The two male students were “escorting” a fellow female student home because she had had too much to drink. They are alleged to have taken her down a back alley and raped her. The incident was caught by a CCTV camera and they were subsequently arrested. If this was not horrible enough, the story took a different twist.

It was discovered on Google that, 20 years ago, the owner of the school had been charged in a gang rape and acquitted. When this came to light he tried to use a PR firm to put him to the top of Google, so anyone looking up the information would come to a rape defence course that he offered. This backfired horrifically, as someone found out he was behind this Internet manipulation. From what I understand he will be lucky if his business survives.

That is the definition of poor reputation management. While there are certainly some Internet tricks that will work for you, if you try to manipulate the system you may pay a horrible price. So, naturally, some businesses have opted out of things such as social media altogether, preferring to fly beneath the radar. They use more traditional methods to get the word out. But, like the school owner, they do not realise that most people are putting their information in print and online.

It is a Catch-22. Social media is so powerful that you cannot ignore its use. The ability of one friend to recommend and tell many friends is awesome. It’s even possible for persons to grant coupons to others. But more on that later. Here’s the take away from this article: Your first line of defense in reputation management is to be honest and forthright with people in dealing with legitimate problems. In the next article, I will explain some more practical steps you can take to manage your online reputation.

NB: D’Arcy Rahming holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Mr Rahming has clients in general insurance, retail, the health and medical fields, sports federations and financial services. To receive his marketing newsletter FREE go to http://darcyrahming.com