Whether you are on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ or not, you have to look at how you manage WHAT is said about you, and how it affects your business. I recently heard a participant in a seminar tell the people at her table that she LOVES her Facebook Business page over Yelp because if someone says something negative she has the power to REMOVE it and “make it go away” and she can’t do that on Yelp! Social Media is about MANAGING the conversations, not MAKING THEM GO AWAY.

If you delete that post, trust me they will post it elsewhere. And it will probably be even more negative.

The IBM CIO recently said: “We have entered the age of the smarter consumer.” Deleting their complaint isn’t smart. (We talk more about this in our reputation management session in the So Me Insights tele-series and you can get the recordings if you missed the call series).

Here is the other thing: NOT having an account on one of these sites doesn’t mean they are not talking about you or your brand. It just means YOU are not a part of the conversation!

Here is the most interesting part: most of it will be positive and you STILL won’t be a part! You WANT to be a part of managing the positive things said about your business online. Those people help you achieve the goal of the SNCC way:

1-visibility
2-raving fans
3-referral sources
4-press…. (oh you know what we teach!)

Your accounts matter. It localizes what is said on different sites. And you want to monitor and manage because how you respond is what makes the difference!

These are just a few tips to get you started in managing the positive (and rarely negative) comments! Do you have a reputation management strategy you love?

 

Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”