Over 3 billion people worldwide now use the Internet. The world is truly a stage and you’re on it. How big or small is your role online? And what information can the world find out about you?
In the digital age, search engines ensure that each of us have an online reputation whether we want one or not. Too often, that reputation is misleading or a scattered list of information, adding up to a less than satisfying projection of our real selves.
Here’s the good news: the Internet enables us to build our reputations without a middleman. That is nearly unprecedented in world history. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live. Simply by going online, you can introduce or reintroduce yourself to the world. By communicating your abilities, world view, skills and talent online, you can attract unlimited connections and opportunities. Fail to establish yourself on the Internet in a way that is appropriate for you, and the world may do it for you. Or it may overlook you.
The Internet enables you to establish your own credible image. To curate your achievements, innovations and mindset in order to attract, develop and profit from relationships that once required an introduction or facilitator.
The Internet also provides you with the opportunity to rebuild your reputation if necessary. If you can’t change the facts, you can proactively present a well-balanced image that effectively counteracts damaging content about you.
Yes, the Internet floods us with daily headlines about the newest celebrity, corporate and every-person’s reputation crisis. And according to many online reputation management firms, we are all one click away from reputational disaster that we may never recover from. (We aren’t…and we can.)
One thing is true: once you have a presence on the Internet, you lose control over how you are perceived.
Unless you have an online reputation management (ORM) strategy.
As a nationally recognized expert in online reputation management, I blog about reputation management to help leaders take a proactive approach to building, managing, amplifying and repairing their digital reputations. My mission is to show you how to make the Internet a valuable ally for achieving your goals. I also want to help you prevent reputational risks before they become problems.
If you are a CEO, executive or professional and would like insight and guidance into how to plan an effective reputation management program, please read Reputation Reboot, our free eBook. It is the ultimate insider’s guide and tells you what you need to know about this process before you begin.
Welcome to the era of artificial intelligence (AI). How this tech is being harnessed by tech companies and search engines like Google, in particular, also means your reputation could be on the line.
This is a big threat for people who haven’t worked on managing their reputations online.
Misinformation can be spread easily when there is a vacuum of information about you and your brand. Many people just have LinkedIn profiles that often sit idle and without updates — and that’s it.
Now, it’s time to change that.
The New York Times’s Tiffany Hsu delved into the reputational risks that an unchecked AI can bring. In an article about how an AI-fueled lie can impact your image online, Hsu reports on the fact that many people currently have little to no protection from ever smarter tech.
This is still new. Current AI has a hard time with accuracy. An AI-generated photo of you might give you a photorealistic face — but 12 fingers. The article mentions Google’s Bard chatbot being unable to provide accurate information about the James Webb Space Telescope. These are details that you, my fellow human, would be able to find with a quick manual Google search yourself.
While the initial harm that can come from AI-written inaccuracies about you may seem minimal and harmless, this isn’t something to be taken lightly. Hsu writes this tech can “create and spread fiction about specific people that threatens their reputations and leaves them with few option for protection recourse.” Many leading tech companies have only started putting guardrails in place.
If potentially libelous information appears attributed to your name or likeness, there isn’t much legal protection right now, Hsu adds.
There are current examples of legal fights against the machine, but they are few and far between. As we all know, misinformation tied to our names and our brands can leave an indelible stain online. AI “Frankenpeople” have now become common, which Hsu defines as “AI hallucinations” with “fake biographical details and mashed-up identities” that can emerge easily and be tied to your name if there isn’t much information out there to begin with.
This is where we come in.
You must be proactive about shoring up your reputation online by way of a personal branding website.
At Reputation Communications, we help you with publishing articles and blog posts, as well as disseminating op-Eds and thought leadership content.
We also harness your social media strategically.
We aim to create a reputational firewall to protect against this onslaught of AI threats.
Since search engines rely increasingly on AI, now isn’t the time to sit idle or stick with the status quo. A static public Facebook page that hasn’t been updated in five years isn’t the way to go.
Hsu writes that the AI Incident Database has logged more than 550 entries this year. That number will only grow. She quotes Scott Cambo, the man behind this tool, who says that we can expect “a huge increase of cases” tied to AI mischaracterizations of real people.
AI will undoubtedly change the way we get information and connect with the world. Now is the time to makes sure that information about you and your brand is accurate.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, it turned our daily life upside down.
As states around the country begin the complex process of phasing in a return toward normalcy, a major question arises: how do you go back to business-as-usual while making sure your employees, clients and office guests all stay safe and healthy?
Now, running a business is just as much a public health responsibility as it is one that requires financial know-how and the managerial skills needed to oversee personnel. It has put a strain on restauranteurs and startup CEOs alike. It brings with it serious reputational risk.
If you open up without all proper health precautions in place, you put the health of yourself and those you work with at risk.
One way to avoid some of these legal and public relations pitfalls is to install COVID-tracing technology. Titan Health & Security Technologies, Inc., a southern California-based tech company, has been a pioneer in this area. Its TITAN HST, a mass-emergency communications platform, is infused with COVID-tracing, population density monitoring and asset tracking features.
“Our system gives organizations a unique and unified solution to re-open safely with location-based services and COVID-19 safety response technology, said Titan founder, Vic A. Merjanian, Esq. “We give sites the ability for efficient QR code ingress through a HIPAA-compliant health pre-screen. It allows the user to take the survey before they even enter the parking lot. Privacy-by-design 2-level contact tracing ensures the individual is not tracked when they are not on the premises. It also catches points of exposure that are missed from standard contact tracing in areas where phones do not cross paths. Our asset trackers can further confirm sanitization in effected areas.”
How does it all work? The company provides a range of services to ensure your business stays safe. They provide “phone-to-phone” COVID-19-tracing — you can do this just by having phones next to or near each other. They also offer “phone-to-zone” tracing.
Extensive tracking capabilities
Titan HST’s “Phone-to-zone” tracing utilizes beacons to notify business administrators exactly where a person infected with the virus has been, as well as how long they’ve spent in a particular location. Additionally, they will know who else was in that location and how long they spent there, even if they did not come into direct contact with the infected individual. This is particularly relevant given the highly infectious nature of COVID-19 and that it can remain airborne even after an infected person leaves an area. Through their platform, notifications can be sent to employees or clients who might have been exposed to the virus as well as the ability for polling and surveys to employees who might be exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.
Beyond these offerings, they have population density monitoring that automatically notifies business administrators when set population densities are exceeded. This way, you can enforce social distancing practices in your office or store, for example.
The company’s asset tracking and sanitization confirmation makes sure you know where sanitation units are and how long they’ve been in use in your business. All of the features of Titan HST technology are safe, secure and independently audited by cybersecurity and privacy experts who also audit the CIA and FBI.
As of early July, the U.S. has faced the worrying reality that COVID-19 numbers are starting to climb again as states reopen. This will be our reality for a long time. Now, more than ever, it’s important you mitigate risk to your company and brand.
In today’s new world, reputation and public health safety are one and the same.
“Our multi-patented core technologies are both concrete and fluid – able to meet the safety needs of today but easily able to evolve to address unforeseen threats of the future,” said Merjanian. “We are giving you the tools to be prepared in all conditions – past, present, and future.”
According to Variety, “As soon as the New York Times story about Bill O’Reilly’s sexual harassment settlements hit on April 1, Color of Change began to mobilize.
The nonprofit African-American civil rights group sent an email blast to its 1.2 million members, calling on them to help ramp up a campaign to pressure advertisers to pull money out of Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.”
The campaign was remarkably effective, hastening the withdrawals of more than 60 major advertisers from the top-rated hour in cable news.”
Clearly, social media is now the most powerful tool for activist groups to use on organizations whose behavior, they believe, merit boycotts.
In 2014 we experienced the power of hashtag activism: the response by activist group UltraViolet to the way the National Football League handled the Ray Rice domestic abuse scandal. In their criticism of the NFL’s actions, UltraViolet employed a telling combination of the online and off. During a recent game they hired an airplane to fly a banner over the stadium printed with the hashtag “#GoodellMustGo.”
With that banner, UltraViolet was able to very succinctly (and inexpensively) direct a tremendous number of viewers to an online community. They paired that effort with an online petition demanding that the NFL change its policies. Over 50,000 people signed it. And it worked.
As the Lululemon and other crises have shown, hashtag journalism can effect a change at the highest levels of corporate leadership.
How Corporate Leaders Can Navigate this Growing Movement
How can corporate leaders navigate this growing movement? Follow the conversations on social media as they continue to develop, including #hashtags on Twitter. Stay aware of the key issues concerning women. Those include employment opportunities, low minimum wages, the lack of women on boards and the glass ceiling so many face. If you’re a CEO, tuning in to these and related concerns will help you avoid becoming the focus of the next wave of hashtag protests (and nightly newscasts). It will also help ensure you avoid the type of online reputation crisis that can impact your brand as well as your company’s stock valuation.
In this week’s Reputation Reboot, we address why it takes so long for the first item on a Google search to be displaced. It explains why ORM is usually not a quick fix.
This week we interview our founder, Shannon Wilkinson. She discusses the online reputation management (ORM) industry, the goals of the clients it serves and the types of services Reputation Communications offers.
How does Reputation Communications differ from other online reputation management firms?
We specialize in providing guidance and solutions for executives, leaders and professionals in business, culture, law enforcement and philanthropy, as well as their organizations. That includes artists, authors and their representatives. We have made a point of taking a leadership role in the industry by contributing to consumers’ understanding of online reputation management. There is a lot of conflicting information out there, and this can be confusing for them. So we have published extensive educational content, and links to other reliable resources, on our You(Online) blog. It has attracted readers from all over the world.
Who is your average client?
Someone who is not highly active on social media but has a visible presence on the Internet due to media coverage of their career, company or initiatives. In the majority of our cases, clients have not been proactive in taking ownership of their online image. Often they just want to create a polished personal brand on the Internet. Sometimes a crisis, major or minor, has prompted them to start actively managing it. Increasingly we are the second online reputation management provider they have used when a first one has been ineffective or not the right fit.
What kind of help do they seek?
Everyone has a specific goal. They want to know how it can be met, how long it will take and what it will cost. Some clients are too invisible online and want to create a distinctive online presence. Others have too much visibility, but their online image is dominated by third-party content. It isn’t negative or inappropriate, but it doesn’t represent them authentically. Because we have a history of building a strong media presence for clients, sometimes they utilize us to begin building or expanding one. Common reasons our clients reach out to us include online legal notices and media coverage that might be years old, or pertain to a personal or professional crisis. Often the material that shows up at the top of Google results isn’t necessarily negative, just out of date. It doesn’t reflect our client’s current brand. We can fix that. Other clients come to us looking for different outcomes. Some are concerned with protecting their personal lives. They are closely watched, and their private lives are drawn into the public sphere—regardless of whether they want that. We help them create a digital defense so third-party reportage about their lives doesn’t take control over their image. Or, their personal data is published on several “people search” databases. We remove it.
What are common issues businesses face?
Businesses are now grappling with consumer and employee reviews and how to best manage them. We often consult on that issue and recommend the best review management systems for their type of issue. Companies also seek help updating or editing Wikipedia entries. Several businesses we have worked with used public relations or crisis management strategies to try and improve an online reputation issue, but it didn’t work. ORM utilizes optimization and SEO techniques that such programs often lack.
What is the most common mistake that causes online reputation issues?
Not being proactive in taking ownership of your name on the Internet. Closely following that is the related problem of waiting too long to address an issue. Three years is the average amount of time many of our clients have waited before taking action.
How does Reputation Communications’ approach differ from other providers?
We are different from the ORM providers that market themselves online to individuals. We don’t advertise and don’t have an 800 number. Our approach would not be appropriate for the customers those providers are pursuing—most often people that are looking for a fast and inexpensive way to “suppress” unwanted online content. That is usually a low-priced, low-quality solution that Google and other search engines frown upon. For that reason, we don’t use the word “suppress.” Nor do we use mass-market suppression techniques. We replace online content.
We also don’t promise a quick fix. ORM can take weeks or months. Our clients are generally very careful with their brand, both online and off. Our strategies don’t involve any actions that dilute a client’s online image with generic or low-quality content. Many of our clients are as concerned with building a stronger brand as they are with repairing reputation damage, if they have any. Often we do restructure search results and displace content from page one of Google search results. This requires creating new material and optimizing it to ensure it replaces the old. Our clientele base needs high-quality content that is appropriate to their brands and adds value. That scenario is our specialty. Except for some social media content creation services, we don’t work offshore. Privacy is the main reason. We are accustomed to working offline and meeting confidential needs.
What is your pricing structure?
Our most accessible service is our consultations, which cost $1000. That is a four-hour service in which we assess a situation and advise the client on the most effective ways to mitigate it or reach their goals. We created this service to help new clients make the right decisions regarding best approaches, strategies and—sometimes—providers. Our next level is our consulting service, which encompasses 20 hours of counsel. It can be utilized over a three-month period, costs $5,000 and is most often used by clients who can implement a program independently but need a strategic plan and our guidance.
Our other services average $3,500 to $5,000 monthly for content creation and media representation, and can be higher for enterprise-level organizations or VIPs. Pricing is higher for clients that have a large amount of online content and need a more comprehensive program. Design and IT services are additional and are billed by the hour and the project. Our team creates extensive digital content and we have a large network to draw from for special projects. We also have an extensive public relations background which is summarized in Our Story.
An ORM campaign often requires six to twelve months to substantially change the structure of search results. So we aim to provide our clients with the best range of approaches to choose from. That includes our Reputation Reboot advice column, Essential FAQ overview and related help at You(Online) They can tell a lot about our approach by reading that material.
Shannon Wilkinson is the founder and CEO of Reputation Communications. She is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal’s “Crisis of the Week” column and is often interviewed in the media about reputation management issues and practices. She is a presenter at Coptics: Policing in the Digital Age, a consulting and workshop program for law enforcement professionals.
This is the fourth in a series of interviews with experts whose work relates to online reputation management.
High-profile defense attorney and former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz defends his reputation in this New York Times interview. For followers of reputation management, law and public relations, it is an interesting strategic move: he is telling his side of the story on a public platform.
Mr. Dershowitz’s reputational crisis has been produced by a case against him related to sexual impropriety, which has roots in another sexual impropriety case he defended. He confirms in the Times article that it is his association with that client that has led to this crisis.
Before the digital age, it was far easier to make such allegations “go away” by destroying the credibility and reputation of their source, who is typically younger and has few resources. But this story began years ago and has only gained traction since then—and it will continue to as long as his opponent perseveres. That his opponent is represented by another legal superstar, David Boies, helps ensure that. It is a match-up that experts and laypeople alike will follow closely.
Lawsuits happen for many reasons…and can impact the best businesses. Once they occur, many types of legal notices appear on the Internet. They can stay there for years. In this week’s Reputation Reboot, we answer a COO’s question regarding how long it takes for an online reputation management campaign to lessen the prominence of such material.
