Online Reputation Management (also known as ORM) deals with maintenance of your online profile by enhancing your reputation, positively.
The concept is to maintain a strong online profile that is indisputable and the single source of truth on you, your brand, your company, your products or your services (and often, all of these).
ORM is best conducted as early as possible though it often comes to mind when you’re under attack or there are potential negative elements online that pose a threat to your online reputation.
This is why you need a strong ORM plan that is proactive, consistent, persistent, authentic and sustainable.
You have more power in your hands than you realise and everything in your arsenal will be used to build a strong online profile that will last.
There are of course exceptions to this, because not every profile or reputation is defensible. But for the most part, ORM is essential to everyone.
Ask yourself: what would you do if, negative content suddenly started appearing online when you Googled your name?
It doesn’t matter what the sentiment is – it’s negative and something that immediately throws your reputation into disrepute. It causes people to second guess you and ask more questions than you care to answer. You then have to go into damage control because you’re adopting a reactive approach which puts you on the backfoot. You then get desperate and scramble to try to bury negative news or suppress it from page 1 of search engines completely. Desperation makes you vulnerable.
Sure, in some cases, you can flex some legal muscle and get some negative press taken down but you won’t always have this opportunity. Plus there’s the legal costs involved which far outweigh your investment into a proactive ORM strategy. If you value your online reputation, then you won’t feel shy to pay for ORM.
When you work with me on your ORM, we will adopt a proactive strategy that puts you in the best position to defend any negative sentiment, should it ever surface. It encourages positive sentiment and gives you more control over what is being said online about you through monitoring of online mentions. And you can rest assured, this ORM strategy will integrate seamlessly with other marketing, promotional and PR efforts.
ORM is something that has to be customised completely for each situation. There is no one size fits all approach to a successful ORM strategy. I empathise with anyone who has ever found negative commentary about them online. But it’s not always an easy fix nor is it always an insurmountable climb.
By carefully analysing your particular situation (whether it’s proactive or reactive), I will put together a plan that is workable and sustainable. When it comes to guarantees, each case is different. I prefer to work towards milestones and set goals. Search engines and websites are unpredictable which makes the concept of providing firm guarantees unfeasible.
There will always be moments where you’re not in control of what’s being said about you online, but by starting now, before things go bad, you put yourself in the driver’s seat. And when you’re in the driver’s seat from the start, you get to decide where the car goes.
Whether you’re an individual, a company or a huge brand – you need Online Reputation Management. And you should have started yesterday.
Don’t delay it any further. Protect yourself and your brand with a proactive Online Reputation Management plan today.
As a side note, I reserve the right to accept or reject ORM projects based on safety risk. This is non negotiable.