Let’s face it; almost everything we do today is online. Whether you own a business or are looking for a job, you will be spending a good portion of your time on the Internet. It’s important that you have a good online reputation.
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1. Social Media is the New Word of Mouth
Image via Flickr by Jason A. Howie
The best way to hear about something new that you will enjoy is to talk to friends or family. This way, you will get great recommendations that you will actually trust. Once upon a time, this was done face to face, over the phone, or in letters. Today however, this is done online. Social media has become how we give recommendations or warnings about companies and products.
2. Your Job May Depend on Your Reputation
Image via Flickr by Waponi
When considering your online reputation, it’s important to consider more than what others think about you or how many friends you have. It’s also important to look at what you have shared with the world, and how you are portrayed by that. Up to 90% of employers today are looking at Social media accounts before hiring new employees. Make sure that your accounts don’t show potential employers your bad side.
3. You Can Build Confidence in Your Company
The more you get your name out there, especially when associated with your company, the more you build trust and confidence for the company. When customers can associate a person with a company, they are going to feel more comfortable with that company. Take a look at Reputation.com’s cofounder Michael Fertik. He keeps his name associated with his company regularly, instilling confidence with customers. When putting yourself out there like this, you are showing others that you have a vested interest in the business.
4. Online Reputation Can Make or Break a Relationship
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Whether you meet someone at a bar or through an Internet dating site, they will search you. If you are lucky, they won’t do it while you are in the same room. However, it’s important to know that it is going to happen. If you have an embarrassing online reputation, that is going to come out, and quickly. This can break a relationship before it even starts.
5. People Will Read Reviews and Make Judgments
Before someone works with your company, they are going to search for information about it. One of the most common searches they will do is a search for reviews. This is going to get them the best information on how your company has interacted with other customers. If you have many bad reviews, it’s likely that you will lose customers. However, the better your online reputation, the more likely you are to keep and even gain customers. Unfortunately, many people do not take the time to review a company unless they have a negative experience.
Ensuring that you have a good online reputation is important. This is no longer something that you can simply ignore and hope will go away. Instead, it is something that you need to work at and create in a positive light.