Category Archives: Online Reputation Management

Feb 26 2 comments
Computer Goddess, Online Reputation Management

GYN disposable single use instruments

Well, no response from the Docs, so I’m getting closer to the Big Reveal. Who are these docs that don’t pay their bills? I am on the brink of exposing them by name.

What can you do to let others know when you are dissatisfied with the way a business operates? And why would you want to report to the world about your problems with collecting money from customers or clients? I suppose the watchword here is Justice. If you know that there is a business that doesn’t pay their bills, you might be doing a service to let others know that business should be avoided.  Frankly, I think that is where my focus lies. I do not like the thought of doing damage to any business — but blatant disregard for professional business practices is reason enough to stand up and be heard.

There are a number of places you can report disreputable business practices starting with the Better Business Bureau in all of the cities in which they operate. Then you can report them to RipoffReport.com (the most difficult to deal with in reputation management because they never remove a complaint), Complaints.com, PissedConsumer.com (although I’m not a consumer, I’m a vendor), ComplaintNow.com, or ComplaintsBoard.com to name the most popular complaints sites. You can also report a business to the Attorney General of the state where you and they are doing business or the FCC, depending on the kind of business they operate. There are more places than this, but this is a good starter list.

My next step is to alert the offenders by email that they should use their main keywords to see how close my postings have ended up to their website in a Google search. They should also read my blog posts and my next step plans. The difference between my taking this situation publicly in my blogs vs. in RipOffReport.com or others is that I can take these blog postings down if the situation is resolved. However, if I complain on any of these named complaint sites, their names will be permanently associated with these negative postings with no hope of the complaints going away. The only way they can hope to improve their reputation after an onslaught from these complaints would be to hire someone like TAO Consultants to repair their reputation.  Not the smartest decision for them to make I would imagine given they are trying to build and expand their business in their industry.

I am not someone who enjoys strife, conflict or negativity. My daily intentions are to do no harm and to help businesses growth profitably and expand so they can be a positive and professional influence in their industry. My experience with these doctors has not been satisfying from a professional perspective and their refusal to act honorably leaves me little choice but to go public.

I have a motto by which I live:

You can push me a long way; just don’t push me past way.

Chesa
www.computergoddess.com

Feb 18 4 comments
ORM, Online Reputation Management, SEO Tools

Single-use disposable gyn instruments client

Isn’t it tiresome when you make the effort to be professional and the results don’t pan out. Yep - still no payment, no contact from this gang of renegade doctors. Without trying to sound as tiresome as this issue is, I have a couple of questions that I would like to pose to the docs directly:

  • When did ignoring a bill for $7,600 for services performed become the proper way to do business?
  • Since we were hired to manage their online reputation - which is non-existent in their industry (they can only be found by their company name), do they think I don’t know the other side of the reputation management business; that is, creating a negative reputation?
  • Do they think I’ll ignore this non-payment behavior - or might I stop this game of trying to get their attention and move straight to revealing their identity?
  • How long do they think I might wait before I do that?

From the standpoint of professionalism and good business relations, this situation is disturbing and from an ethical viewpoint, I am not in business to do damage to anyone. But what do they think my next move will be?

So, again, I do invite comments.

Chesa
www.computergoddess.com

Feb 15 2 comments
Computer Goddess, ORM, Online Reputation Management

Single-use disposable gynecological instruments

Guess what? Surprise of surprises, this group of dishonorable doctors still has not paid. Now they have extended their non-payment tactics to others on our team. Are these people with whom you would want to do business? I know I wouldn’t. There is a special place in the netherworld for this kind of arrogance.

The real shame of it is that they have a good product. Women would definitely benefit from their product. But if the very women they could help knew what disreputable actions they have taken against the people who were hired to expand their online presence and who they really are, I think that the voting power of women might sink them. Or maybe that is just a wish and a hope.

So apparently they don’t think I am able to render the reverse side of reputation management. That is, tactics for a reputation that you can save is the same as for the reputation you destroy. The question for them would be:  will she do that to us?

Stay tuned.

Chesa
www.computergoddess.com

Feb 12 6 comments
ORM, Online Reputation Management

Single-use, disposable gynecological instruments

Client still hasn’t paid — see earlier post, Ethical vs Unethical.

This issue was originally posted for the sake of exploring online communication, reputation management, and the ethics of business. When you read the comments, you see that all are well-thought out, professionally presented and all points are valuable and viable.

What am I going to do?  I’m going to get the attention of those people who have made this decision to act outside of what I think is the image they actually wish to project.  I want also for anyone who thinks that doing business in a manner that is without conscience or positive purpose runs the risk of doing extreme damage to themselves, their online reputation and their stakeholders.

Could I post to RipOffReport.com or ComplaintBoard.com? Absolutely.  And this is one of the ways that consumers reach out to be heard.  Once your first negative report goes online, you as the target of negativity become quite aware that there are many more responsible ways of handling a dispute. Thinking you are right is simply not enough. As I’ve said before, “Unlike gravity, what goes up online never comes down.”

Take care out there, business people.  While I do not necessarily believe that customers are always right — I do believe that your interaction should be satisfying or any dissatisfaction or problem should be settled to avoid the negative potential from a dissatisfied customer who knows how to type w.w.w.r.i.p.o.f.f.r.e.p.o.r.t.c.o.m Unlike what you might have heard, just any publicity is not good — only that publicity that delivers your message as you wish to be seen is good.  All other publicity can have a far-reaching and unexpected effect in this virtual world of the Internet.

Stay tuned.

Chesa
www.computergoddess.com

Feb 03 0 comments
Online Reputation Management, Search Engine Strategy

The Court of Public Opinion

Here is a perfect example of how the Internet becomes the “court of public opinion.” Our team is working on this project with today being the worldwide announcement of our client’s lawsuit. If you follow this case online, you can see how the process works.

First, we created a blog, www.morrisvswestfield.com, with the complaint and the facts of the case presented online. Once everything was in place, a press release was sent out for worldwide release. Within minutes, the story began showing up everywhere. Additional support for the release was offered through Twitter postings and retweets.

If you wish to follow this as a case study, it is the perfect example of how a well-managed reputation management campaign can get your message out to the right audience.

Chesa

Feb 01 6 comments
Computer Goddess, ORM, Online Reputation Management

Ethical or Unethical?

I’m in a quandry.  I was hired by a group of doctors manufacturing a single-use, disposable gynecological product to build their brand and market their entry into this new market.  After four or five teleconferences, three or four proposal modifications, and the final go-ahead, I felt I was dealing with a group of honorable men.

Apparently not.  After one month into this one-year project, I billed them for the first month’s work and continued working.  Oh, by the way, I never work this way — billing in arrears.  As any consultant will tell you, you need advance payment to begin your project because work done as a service can’t be recalled for lack of payment.  But I softened on these guys — they have a good product. I know I could build their brand recognition and increase their sales using my strategies.  And after so many conversations, I also thought I was dealing with an honorable company.  Not to mention that I was working with my partner who was doing other work for them when he referred me to them.

Well, I billed mid-November 2009 and here it is the first of February and not a dime has come my way.  I have talked to them, emailed them and offered to accept payments. Nothing.

What is their reason for not paying?  Well, it seems a little false, but they said they didn’t see any results from my work after one month.  Anyone who know anything about SEO, ORM and the Internet knows that immediate results are a pipe dream especially for a start-up company with a relatively new product.  I was in the first month of a 12-month project building the foundation for the year.  Since sales were down from the month of October, they seemed to be looking for any excuse at all to simply not pay.

Two Courts

I have two options:  the Court of Law or the Court of Public Opinion.  Given the cost of a lawsuit, you can imagine that I am pondering the Court of Public Opinion. My dilemma is that it is my job to help my clients manage their online reputation.  I help repair a negative online reputation; I help build a non-existent online reputation (like this client); or I help pave the way for future problem solving by creating a strong online presence in a troublesome industry.

I am simply not interested in damaging anyone’s reputation online.

Likewise, TAO Consultants has been in business for more than 27 years, I am not used to being taken advantage of and my own reputation in my area of expertise is impeccable. I have earned my reputation with successful results for my clients. Ignoring this lack of payment puts me into a frame of reference I am simply not used to.

So let me ask for comments. What would you do? Let it go or go over to the dark side by going public with this client’s name and web address?

I leave it to you.

Chesa Keane

Dec 30 0 comments
ORM, Online Reputation Management

Manage your environmental crisis before it happens

An article on Forbes.com points out the how too often a company fails to prepare for the unknown crisis that could threaten their business continuity and lead to online reputation management problems.  As the article states, “The time to put together a management plan for handling all the negative press you get from an environmental or social crisis is before it happens, not after.”

Two companies that have experienced reputation problems in 2009 are Trader Joe’s and Sigg.  Trader Joe’s was ranked 17th out of 20 grocery store chains and the worst among national chains in sustainable seafood practices because of its lack of publicly available purchasing policies.  Around the same time, Sigg, a water bottle brand popular among environmentally-conscious consumers, revealed that its bottle linings contained bispenol-A, a hormone-disrupting chemical.  Worse, the CEO had to admit publicly that he had known about it long before the public revelation.

These two companies had a slight advantage in managing these crises because of their well-established brands and good environmental track records prior to these incidents.  However, without strong branding, a company faced with environmental issues can be in jeopardy of irreparable damage before the problems are corrected.

Authors Stephen Linaweaver and Brad Bate suggest that there are three steps that any company should take to manage crisis:

  • Know what you know - and what you need to find out. Environmental issues are often complicated and proactive research to determine a corporation’s vulnerability can shorten the time of response in the face of crisis.
  • Acknowledge the event, and put it in context. Responding to an event quickly in a manner that recognizes the big picture rather than focusing too closely on specifics can place the proper emphasis on the issue without dwelling on it.
  • Engage in dialogue. Environmental issues create an opportunity to communicate with the accusing organizations because their acknowledged purpose is to bring about change, not simply attack the “bad guys.”  Developing a positive relationship with activist environmental organizations can open the doors to both sides sharing what they know, believe and want, leading to a positive resolution.

For the full articles, read more…

Chesa
www.computergoddess.com

Mar 10 0 comments
ORM, Online Reputation Management

Now that’s what I’m saying

Julia Angwin was frustrated because every time someone Googled her, the top results were for an article she wrote for the Washington Post in 2005 about Lewis “Scooter” Libby who was indicted for making false statement, perjuring himself and obstructing justice by lying about how and when he learned the identity of CIA operative valerie Plame.

Now you might think this is not such a bad thing, but Angwin as a journalist felt stuck in the past and her work as a longtime media and technology reporter was not shining or showing up well-positioned for a search on her name.  Frankly, this one article wasn’t representing her career very well.

This issue is a prime example of someone who wants to change or enhance their reputation online.  However, this isn’t the worst issue I’ve come across, but annoying for Angwin just the same.  And she decided to go about changing her online reputation and her story is outlined clearly in an article, It’s a New Me (As Seen on Google) in The Wall Street Journal | Personal Technology.

The really interesting thing about this article is that it follows the strategy we use in our business to change, enhance, subdue, or repair reputations online.  While she did the work herself, she had some good advice and she followed it well.  Read her whole story about changing her online Google image for the details. 

Then contact TAO Consultants if you need help changing your online reputation.

Chesa
www.computergoddess.com