Discovering that your online reputation or the reputation of your company is being compromised on the Internet is always upsetting. It’s upsetting if the negative online publicity is valid, and it is extremely upsetting if the bad search results that tarnish your image are not true, dated, or out of context. The natural response to discovering that your reputation is being hurt on the Internet is to take immediate action. But in our experience, immediate rash action can often make things worse. Even though learning that your online reputation is being compromised is highly emotional, it is important that you deal with the problem with a cool head. Just know that there are online reputation managment solutions and that you can regain, rebuild and even improve your reputation.

In the past five years, we have spoken to hundreds of companies and individuals and we have distilled the advice that we gave them into ten easy to follow steps.  This posting covers the first step to successful reputation managment.

Remember that the very nature of the Internet makes it easy for one person to damage the reputation of another. Anybody can start a blog, or contribute to a website that invites reviews and criticisms. Most people don’t misuse the great communications potential of the Internet. But some do and there is nothing you can do about it. So if you are on a special interest website and you have a difference of opinion with another individual, there is a small chance that this individual will “get back” at you by posting a strong negative opinion or even an outright lie. Is the damaging statement on Google or Yahoo? Or is it confined to another website with a limited audience? Is the negative statement easy to find or is it only available to serious researchers? Will the damaging statements hurt your business or career or merely your ego? Before taking any action, take the time to fully evaluate the damage to your reputation

Our next posting will bring you STEP #2 - BE ANALYTICAL!