Making Reputation Management Happen

If you're just getting started with reputation management, I'd recommend experimenting with setting up your own RSS feeds. It won't be the easiest (or simplest) thing to do. In fact, it will probably be a process of trial and error before you find the most direct ways to get the alerts you need. Just keep in mind that your efforts in monitoring your reputation should be commensurate with the effort you put in to your actual service or product. Both will shape the success of your company over time.

Our recent newsletters have tended to focus on issues that just didn't exist until recently. For many, these concepts probably represent a frustrating non-stop blitz of new things to deal with. Consequently, the takeaway tends to be that there is more internal work to be absorbed into your already packed schedules. I sympathize, of course, but the hard truth is that dedicating resources toward things like web strategy and online reputation management is no longer negotiable. This may start out as extra work for you or someone on your team, but, just like I recommended with content strategy, it needs to eventually be part of someone's job description.

I always like to offer a little positive spin when offering tough advice, though, so here it is: There are more helpful data and analysis tools available to you now than there have ever been. All you have to do is get up to speed on a few of them before you can put this data to good use. With your brand's reputation at stake, you really can't afford not to! So take a deep breath, and just jump in.