Building Reputation in the Internet Streets

Online Reputation

most people don't recognize how important this is until the day they find themselves staggering underneath a mountain-load of bad reputation in the internet.

While building your real life reputation isn't bad, (and in most cases, it's very important to build your real life reputation) this isn't the only thing that will matter nowadays. Not when consumers can literally peek in the web, type your company name on a search engine, and basically read about anything there is to know bout your company. This also applies to employees and job seekers, especially with the rise of social networking sites such as friendster and facebook. You might even find yourself being featured in a website you thought was unaccessible.

The thing is, online reputation is becoming an essential part of being our modern day world. If you neglect proving yourself over at the internet, you might find yourself getting a harsh whiplash from reality.

So first things first, Why bother building your online reputation?

According to Andy Beal and Dr. Strauss: Radically Transparent, "The power is with the people. Companies and CEOs previously controlled their reputations in both business and consumer markets, aided by public relations (PR) firms and crisis-management plans. Individuals monitored their reputations via feedback from clients and people in their personal and professional networks. The switch from traditional media and corporate monologues on websites to social media on the internet makes every internet user a journalist. People will judge
you, your company."

As I've said earlier, online reputation is essential nowadays. For companies, the days of traditional media has long been forgotten. Consumers nowadays won't just stick to listening to commercial advertisement. The internet is their way of verifying whether or not your company really offers what you were advertising for. As an added bonus (or problem), online journalist or "bloggers" will write about your company, with or without your knowledge. Of course this shouldn't hurt if its all praises and positive things, but these journalists will be one of the most critical people to write about your company. Why? Because most of these people are consumers.

This meant that if they don't like your services or products, you can expect they will write about it fearlessly, especially within the anonymity of their blogs.

The same thing can be said for individuals looking for work. Social networking sites and blogs that are about you will have significant impact on whether or not you will get hired for a specific job. According to Job Star, 80% of all positions are filled without employee advertising, meaning, companies doesn't advertise for vacant job positions all the time. Most of the time, they look for candidates online.

With that said, if you've got a bad online reputation, expect a nasty turn of events in real life.

So How do we build online reputation?

That is where an Electronic Portfolio, or an E-Portfolio comes in. An E-portfolio is a cohesive, powerful, and well-designed collection of electronic documents that demonstrate your skills, education, professional development, and the benefits you offer to a hiring organization. A very good example of an E-Portfolio is a BLOG.

Yes, a Blog. Professional blogs should contain information about oneself. This include, but are not limited to:

• Important Contact Information: Provide E-mail addresses and necessary phone numbers so that you can easily be contacted.
• Keywords: Place keywords or keyword phrases that will easily be spotted by employers using automated resume tracking systems.
• Powerful Objective Statements: Specifies where you want to go and what you want to do.
• Qualifications, Education, Work Experience (if any), Activities: This will give employers a heads up of what you can do for them.

Stack your resume in a chronological manner, placing your most marketable skill on top of the list.

Aside from what are written above, your E-Portfolio should also contain an E-Gallery. This gallery should showcase your accomplishments, examples of previous work you've done, examples of activities you've participated in, and other related events/things that will boost your credibility. Always remember to use only original works, keep examples short, keep confidentiality, focus on obtaining Job, and keep things organized.

Why bother with an E-Portfolio?

Aside from the fact that it will help boost your online reputation, here are other reasons why you should have and E-Portfolio:

• An E-Portfolio can give you instant credibility
• An E-Portfolio gives instant access to you and examples of your works.
• An E-Portfolio shows you are current and up-to-date.
• An E-Portfolio expands your exposure and increases your visibility worldwide.

How about for Corporate Online Reputation?

Ah yes, corporations aren't immune to bad online reputation. But it doesn't mean they can't do anything about it.

Companies should learn:

• How to monitor their brand on the internet
• How to react to an online crisis
• How to repair your reputation should you suffer a crisis
• Why monitoring is vital to your reputation management efforts.

Having said that, companies need to monitor their own brand(s), their company name, their products and services, their executives and spokespeople, their marketing campaigns, the current industry trends, competitors, and most of all, the companies known weaknesses.

Nothing helps a company protects its reputation more than honesty. As Andy Beal and Dr. Strauss wrote in their book, Radically Transparent, "Show what you are doing, and reveal your processes. Acknowledge your mistakes and participate fully in conversations that concern you."

Of course, a little help from modern technology won't hurt as well. Google Analytics and Technorati can help companies find out what people are saying about their brands. Knowledge is power, as they say, and with it, comes responsibility. If a company can vigilantly keep tabs on what's going on around it, chances are it can prevent itself from any serious damage, reputation or otherwise.

So in a nutshell, Online reputation is important, both for Companies and Individuals alike. Quoting from Andy Beal and Dr. Strauss' Radically Transparent, "Reputation is NOT what the company or the individual thinks about itself, but what OTHERS think.... -you have no reputation at all because no one cares."

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