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How do you influence your audience's perception of your products?
A couple of weeks ago I had an author call me in a blind panic - somebody had examined her book online and it wasn't excellent, in truth it was downright nasty. She was horrified, and the worst part, there was very little she could do. It wasn't somebody we, the publisher, or the author had actually ever worked with in the past, nor had anyone ever contacted her, how she got the book is anyone's guess, but she did, and she disliked it.
The cost for online direct exposure can sometimes be high, however this story restores the clear reality: regardless of whether or not you market yourself on the 'Net, somewhere, somehow, you'll end up on there. Whether it's through an evaluation or some other posting, you'll wind up on the Internet and as a watchful online marketer you'll wish to know who's saying what about you.
Whether it's good or bad, you can still handle it. Also, you wish to watch on what people are saying about your topic.
So how do you win the online reputation video game? Here are some pointers you might wish to consider. Remember that in all the years I've been online, I've not understood a lot of folks to go through an unfavorable publishing, in fact, it's typically the opposite. The majority of the time those who select to examine a book or talk about a service do so positively, but even positive postings need to be kept an eye on. Why? Well, there's a lot you can do with them, and these ideas will show you how.
1) Monitoring your credibility online does not have to cost you anything. You can do this really just with tools that are already available to you for free. Yahoo and google both have monitoring tools.
They're very simple to use, all you do is go to the links, register for them and plug in the keywords you want to keep track of. Remember that you're not only doing this simply to monitor who's talking or blogging about you, but to keep track of what's being said about your topic, so you can both track new developments and engage in conversations with other blog writers. These include http://alerts.yahoo.com and http://www.google.com/alerts
2) Use RSS feeds to help keep track of discussions on the Internet that include you, your subject, or your book. You can go to any of these sites to develop these custom RSS feeds: Technorati, blogpulse, google news, spaces.live, feedster, icerocket and google's Blogsearch.
3) Using http://MonitorThis.com you can keep track of your keywords across 22 different online search engine. Keep in mind that you'll need an RSS Feedreader to monitor the feeds that come in.
4) Online groups may be another place to look. If you have not signed up for any groups connected to your topic, now could be a good time. Check out the groups at yahoo, aol, msn and google.
5) It's most likely not a smart move to invest your days chasing down every blog writer that posts on your subject, so before you decide to connect with a blogger, head on over to http://www.alexa.com to get some site statistics first. That way you can make certain that prior to you go the effort of contacting the blogger, he or she has a broader audience than simply mom and Aunt Viola.
Now that you have your monitors in location, what's next? Let's look at how you can constructively utilize this details. First you'll want to have a blog site. Why? You'll wish to use this as an online forum to deal with news on your topic or on you.
And don't wait up until you need to publish something to start a blog site, start one as soon as possible so you're up and running.
A blog will humanize your site and assist you create a relationship with your readers, then whenever your displays notify you to a brand-new topic, a brand-new evaluation, or a new mention of you, you can respond by using your own twist, insight or feedback. In the case of the negative evaluation, the author chose to address the thing all of us fear most: what if someone hates your book? She posted a blog site and got numerous positive responses they virtually canceled out whatever the reviewer said.
Next, if you discover somebody has actually discussed you, your book or your topic, I advise connecting with them, providing your insight, or thanking him or her for any positive evaluations or mentions you got.
Aside from tracking, blogging, and online networking, another foolproof way to safeguard your credibility online is to have a great deal of positive feedback, evaluations, features, or points out. Why? Much like the author who blogged on her review, the great counteracts the bad. The Internet is very self-correcting that method, so get out there and obtain some terrific "press," it'll pay off not just in the case of a reputation, but likewise when someone is looking for details on your subject.
And finally, if you're sitting on a questionable subject, it may not make sense to spend your days policing the Internet. People will state what they say and the 'Net has actually given many a voice even as they stay in obscurity. That said, remember the principle of PR: there's no such thing as bad publicity.
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