Online Reputation Managment

In today’s world online reputation management consists of not only fixing problems but stopping them before they start. That includes monitoring your online reputation and creating enough positive online branding for you personally that you have protection against your reputation being harmed.

Citizen Journalist : Where MSM meets bloggers, opportunities ahead!

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD. (But you should read it.)

Before we get into Citizen Journalism and what it is, first we need to see why and how Mainstream Media (specifically newspapers and bloggers are on course for meeting in the middle.) There are three main forces at work that are pushing the them together. They are:

The shrinking (disappearing?) News cycle: The news cycle, thanks to bloggers and cable news network television is now a thing of the past. By definition, it is now 24/7/365 and newpapers are truly the repositories of past events–but NOT the current source of BREAKING news.

Second: The increased opinionated content in MSM: Mainstream Media is now much more open about the fact that it has an agenda. Only in the hard core newsrooms do reporters now cling to the objectivity myth. Because they are inserting more and more opinion into their content, the transparency of a blogger is in many ways more objective than a reporter. A blogger will state that they have a view and that they have passions. A reader can then account for their bias in reading the post.

Third: Cost Structure Differential. This is the FINAL barrier that is being broken down. Newspapers have been bleeding readership and circulation for a while. Currently, many papers’ most profitable department is their online division. Paper costs more to produce (by far), but MSM is making a critical mistake if they think that is the only cost structure left that will make them non competitive.

Think about the inefficiencies of an online newspaper compared to a blog. A blogger (currently) needs no editor, fact checking, deadlines, or assignments. They presumably are writing about something with which they are FAMILIAR and PASSIONATE about. The best bloggers out there right now check their facts religiously to avoid losing credibility among other bloggers, they are FAR more prolific than a typical reporter. If they were paid to write about what they are currently blogging about, they would be in their little version of nirvana.

Meanwhile, those in control of newspaper sites are facing reduced advertising and thus budgets. They have labor issues from writers. Staff writers are finding it hard to focus because of the high turnover in and around them. Newspapers cannot outsource their writing to India, or other lower cost parts of the world as software developers have done.

Do you see where this is going? The intersection of bloggers and MSM into this thing we call citizen journalists and citizen journalism IS HAPPENING. Brian Brady noted it at the Bloodhound blog. Take a look at the local Louisville paper. Does that not LOOK and feel like a blog with a newsfeed inserted into it? National news can be syndicated where local content and flavor cannot.  Guess where the opportunities lie for experienced, media savvy bloggers who want to turn passion into career? Opportunities are also there for professionals who blog about their field of endeavor. REALTORS, FInancial services brokers, Lawyers, Doctors, CPA’s, auto mechanics…basically anyone who sells their services and (by definition) would benefit from more exposure and increased “street authority”. Forget the advertising campaigns. EARNED MEDIA is where it is going to be for the next 18 months at least as MSM turns to bloggers to reduce costs.

NOTE: This is the first in a three part series. Next up: How to use the MSM to BUILD YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION AND FATTEN YOUR WALLET. The final post of the three will be DISINTERMEDIATION IN REVERSE: CAN BLOGGERS BEAT SMALL TOWN PAPERS AT THEIR OWN GAME?….STAY TUNED.

Brabus Ventures Case Study

Just a quick note to Ben @ Brabus Ventures.

BRABUS VENTURES – Do you want to succeed or merely something to argue about?

Your online marketing ventures are being TOTALLY subverted by your legal efforts to SUBDUE free speech and silence a blogger. While I find this distasteful at best, the real issue here is that you are messing up your online marketing efforts and delivering a blow to your online reputation. You do not NEED honorable, well established folks like Russell Shaw publicizing your errors. You DO NEED him publicizing your apology and retraction of your filing of a lawsuit. You want step one? That is step one. Pride and arrogance do not play into this equation. Again. Do you want BRABUS VENTURES to succeed or something to argue about?

This is just some helpful online reputation management advice for BRABUS VENTURES from someone who is in the business. If you want some helpful advice read Russell’s on that post. He is correct. For further online reputation management advice for BRABUS VENTURES, contact me. I will be glad to help BRABUS VENTURES. I am not cheap, but I am worth it.

For the record. it truly does not matter the accuracy of the statements made. I do not even care. I am interested in the business of protecting online reputations. Most times right and wrong do not factor into that as much as one might think.

Greatest real estate agent in the World – Your name here!

Are you the GREATEST real estate agent in the world?

There is a contest underway on the internet to see (according to Google) who the Greatest real estate agent is…not just in your location, but the world. Their contest ends on May 1, 2008. what I offered members of my team was IMMORTALITY!

How can you be the GREATEST REAL ESTATE AGENT IN THE WORLD?

The top 10 contributors to my TEAM Project win the Title! REMEMBER-Since I do NOT sell real estate, I am only helping YOU promote yourself! WIN-WIN!

Team Eric Member #8: There are several ways to contribute and EARN your way in– just like there are MANY ways that Google determines Authority, we need to credit the many ways authority can be built!

LINKS–linking to this page is a HUGE way (grin), but Links are only ONE way of authority building. The top six link contributors to our community project (as determined by the amount of quality links contributed) are in!

PUBLICITY–The two REALTORS providing the most publicity to this project also wins! This does NOT mean that they contribute links. Raising awareness BUILDS AUTHORITY and thats what Google wants.

IDEAS / INSIGHT / CREATIVITY: This contest is for 3 months…I reserve the right to award 2 of the ten spots to REALTORS who assist me with ideas and insight–EVEN insight into what competitors are up to! Want to be devious and help me out? (grin) You can earn a spot on TEAM ERIC and be the GREATEST REAL ESTATE AGENT IN THE WORLD.

GOOD LUCK!
So here are the members of Team Eric so far. They are listed in no particular order. You are about to find out who they are and WHY they are on my team!

Team member #1:

Jennifer Karlen (and her husband Jon)–aka the Greatest Real Estate Agents in the World for Horse Farms

Known officially as the K2 Group at RE/MAX Properties East in Louisville Kentucky, Jennifer has been in the real estate business for years and they have built up a GREAT business for clients with Kentucky horse farms. While due to the rules of this Contest I cannot put a link to their site here, you can call Jennifer at 866-353-6353. They are the best.

Team Eric member #2:

Greg Swann –aka–The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World of Arizona.

Greg runs Bloodhound Realty and the Bloodhound Blog (Google that–then read it). He is a great guy and a writer in a league of his own. The Bloodhound Blog is hosting a conference in May called Unchained. Go to his blog and sign up! Best $199 you will EVER spend. The greatest real estate agents in the world understand their markets, the real estate business and technology and he is the quintessential example of all of that rolled into one package.

Team Eric member #3:

Ken Smith–aka–The Greatest Real Estate Agent in Arlington Heights.

Ken owns Suburban House Hunters, a team of real estate professionals that specializes in the suburbs that surround Chicago Illinois. He is a veteran broker with tons of experience who understands online lead generation like few others. I am honored to have him on the team and call him a friend. Thanks Ken …

Team Eric member #4:

Wayne Long–aka–The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the world of Columbus Georgia.

(We won’t tell anyone, but the Greatest is actually his wife Donna!) Wayne’s a great REALTOR who has seen a lot in the market. I would without a doubt send referrals to Wayne because I KNOW they would be treated to a world class experience.

Team Eric Member #5:

Judy Orr –aka The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World of Cook County, Illinois!

Judy and I have moderated together on RealEstateWebmasters.com and she is one of the nicest people I know. She is experience and has been in the real estate game a long time (she must have started when she was 12!) Google Cook county real estate and you will see JudyO there…she knows her stuff and don’t let the sweet smile fool you. She means business-grin.

Team Eric member #6:

Cal Carter–aka The Greatest Real Estate Agent in Gulf Shores Alabama.

More people need to know about Cal…and the beautiful area of the country that he is from. He is incredibly smart and has the experience that comes from YEARS of online lead generation. This contest has allowed me to get to know him MUCH better. I am a better person for knowing Cal. And that’s EXACTLY how you’d define the Greatest Real Estate Agents in the World. They make you better for knowing them.

Team Eric Member #7:

Mike Dammann–aka The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the beautiful world of Costa Rica.

Mike is a search engine veteran who I bumped into a few years ago and instantly liked. We all have different levels of search knowledge and I (personally) have really benefited from his experience. We have spent a TON of time online during this contest. The banner ad below and donating the proceeds to the Eco Preservation Society was his idea and I am really enjoying hanging with him as part of the team. Get in there and Donate! grin

Team Eric Member #8:

Charles and Jacqueline Richey–aka The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the world of Las Vegas

I first met Charles at PubCon last December. I enjoyed the time that we got to kick back and learn there. Since that time, and especially as part of this contest, he has been a great source of authority for our little effort. If you are moving to Las Vegas, these guys truly are the Greatest.

Team Eric Member #9:

Matt Scoggins–aka The Greatest Real Estate Agent in the world of Atlanta

Matt is the guy behind his wife Louise’s site and he gives me the PERFECT opportunity to make a point. Even though I am great friends with Ryan Ward, one of his competitors in Atlanta (but who is competing with us in the contest), Matt has been a GREAT member of our team. Great Real Estate Agents work together with other agents, regardless of the competitive issues. They simply make them NON-issues by being great people. Thanks Matt, for being part of Team Eric and helping to demonstrate the true value in creating synergy where others would only create competition. The bottomline is that by giving, we get and Matt is a great example of that. Our friendship certainly will not end with this contest and I truly appreciate your quiet but unwavering supprt.

Finally, the Greatest Real Estate agents GIVE to causes that they support!

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: OUR “GREATEST REAL ESTATE AGENT IN THE WORLD” TEAM IS NOW PLAYING FOR A CAUSE!! JOIN US AS WE SUPPORT THE ECO PRESERVATION SOCIETY’S EFFORTS TO SAVE THE COSTA RICA ENVIRONMENT. WANT TO HELP?? HERE’S HOW.

Here is a video about them:

At the end of the contest, we will donate our winnings to this unique charity as well…

Oh yeah… there is a mystery #10 spot…Who’s gonna get it???!!
ANNOUNCEMENT:

TEAM ERIC has appointed a #10 MEMBER.

Team Eric Member #10:

Marc Rasmussen–aka The Greatest Real Estate Agent in Sarasota

Marc owns LUXURY SARASOTA REAL ESTATE .COM and he is a great guy that many of us have known for years. We have been STUNNED to see the way that the Sarasota Association of REALTORS has treated one of their own. In our view they are hypocrites and cowards. We therefore have given him an honorary membership on our team. We know how to treat “members”…

FINAL NOTE:

It is now just about 40 hours before the end of the contest, (but who’s counting-grin). One of the things that I needed to do as part of the rules was to comment on what I have learned from one of the other contestants…I am going to comment on two: Ryan Ward and Greg Boser.

Ryan is a consumate friend and professional. I would link to his post, but it is now linked to mine. I trust him and was he ahead of me coming down the home stretch, I honestly would have done the same thing. What did I learn from him? That friendship counts.

Greg is someone who I don’t know as well and yet, what I have learned from his contest piece was no less important. Greg was the un-contestant. It is a strategy that he used to great effect in the Dave Pasternak SEO contest, so I have to consider him a contestant despite his insistance to the contrary. What I learned from Greg was / is the skillful use of redirects. I am not going to go into it in public, but it was interesting to me… I admire Greg as a SEO technician and tactician. Both of those things are essential in optimizing a site.

Greg may or may not be bouncing up in these last few hours of the contest. Essentially I see three options:

a) He is too busy with company stuff. (totally understandable)
b) He is gonna come out of nowhere (possible but not likely in my book)
c) He is gonna redirect to one of the others in the contest and push them over the top. (a likely scenario as well)

The genius of Greg is–you NEVER know (grin). He plays this stuff close to the vest. So, whatever the case is, Greg, my hat is off to you. Even if you decided a few weeks back to focus on other stuff, it was fun. Even if you come out of nowhere and or push someone else over the top, let’s meet up sometime–have a few laughs and talk shop…sound good?

To all of the worthy competitors out there…(whether we win or lose), here a round of applause from Team Eric and my continued best wishes for all of you.

Search Engine Optimization Purpose of Pinging-in plain English

I get asked occasionally from Search Engine Optimization clients about my recommendation that they “ping” Google after each addition of content to their site. “Why do I need to do that after each post or page?” “How do I do it?’

With WordPress as your blogging platform or website CMS, pinging could not be simpler, but first the WHYs… Let’s start with the obvious ones. It get’s your site indexed in Google and other search engines quickly. Simple as that. Many’s the time that I have optimised a post for search engines and published it, followed by a “ping” and the page was indexed almost immediately and post ranked in Google almost that fast.

It is eery the first time you do it. Magical the second time. Downright addictive after that.

But there is a better reason. You may have heard of “scraper sites” – -sites that “scrape” your post and then put it on your blog. Here’s a test: Put a post up on your blog and wait for a couple of weeks. Go to copyscape and SEE where it has gone on the web. You will see at least a couple of copies of it floating around.

Search engines’ only way to determine WHOM to credit with the original ownership of the page is the first one that they have found (or indexed). Being first helps assure your ownership. You would be surprised how quickly other sites grab your content.

There are the WHYs…a couple of pretty doggone good Search Engine Optimization reasons to “ping” after each post. Fortunately in WordPress, the how is a piece of cake. I use a plugin called Sitemap Generator that generates a new sitemap (taking into account my latest post) AND it pings all in one step. This gives me everything I need in one click of the button. Download the plugin and install it in the usual way, with the files under Content – Plugins. Activate it and you are SET.

First, I finish the post and publish it. Then I go to the OPTIONS menu in WordPress. After activation, there will be a menu item under options called “Sitemap”. Click on that and click the “Manual Rebuild” button.

Pretty simple huh?

Posting to your blog or adding pages to your website should be a process of lather-rinse-repeat. Post great content – Publish – Ping.

For other practical insights on how to Simply and Effectively get to where you want to be on the search engines with a WordPress blog or WordPress based Website, feel free to contact us. The form on the upper right hand corner of this page will work just fine.

Thoughts from others on pinging?

Todd Kaufman Assessor – online reputation management in reverse

Todd Kaufman Loudon County Virginia just screwed up big time. I have never met Todd Kaufman. I have never been to Loudon County. I am not from Virginia. But I am in the business of online reputation management and I can tell you already, his mistake(s) could be career threatening.

That having been said, let’s learn from them. First off, Mr. Kaufman disagrees with post made by a local REALTOR on their blog. Does he engage and correct what he perceives to be the error? No. Does he call the person and ask to talk with them as he might if a reporter mis=reported something No. As reported in several real estate blogs, including here–what Todd Kaufman did was fire off a written assault on the REALTOR and threaten him with lawsuits and letters to his broker and NAR and anyone else he can name.

I hope you enjoyed your arrogant tirade as you tried to silence a blogger Todd. Now you get to pay the price. You see this thing called freedom of speech–it applies to bloggers as well as newpapers. And Todd, you now get a sideline seat to watch them take you on…yeah even ones like me who don’t know who you are, Todd Kaufman. You do not get a free pass to threaten those who disagree with you. If you try to intimidate a person from expressing their opinion, you make the problem worse. The world has changed and it is bigger than your ego.

And to think…all you had to do was comment on this blogger / REALTOR’s post and you could have actually ENHANCED your online reputation. Now you did it in REVERSE.

Let’s look at the results:

Google the following

Todd Kaufman

Todd Kaufman Assessor

..and several other choice Keywords…

This is truly how NOT to do it.

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Southern Indiana Web Works goes to PubCon 2007

We are headed to Vegas, baby!

I will be in Vegas at PubCon December 4-7th 2007!

While I am NOT what you call a party animal by ANY stretch of the imagination, I am looking forward to networking, sharing and learning with the best of the best in Search Engine Marketing.

I will be posting reports on this blog REGULARLY, so stay tuned and I will keep you posted.

I am looking forward to meeting many longtime acquaintances via the web in person. Many of my real estate industry friends will be atrending as well as a ton of my Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine marketing colleagues. I also looking forward to taking some time to strategize and plot the course for 2008 for the web work and our clients!

If you are there, look me up!

Online communities with strict laws & enough police…

There are many parallels between a great online community and a great community that you live in. One of the BEST examples of that is the fact that in a great community, there are adequate an abundance of laws to protect the citizens and there are enough police to enforce the laws.

Let me show you what I am talking by talking specifically about the real estate community. Please realize that I mean NO disrespect to any specific community. It’s just that since I am going to be LIVING there online for a long time, I might as well choose the best fit for me.

Example 1: Bloodhound Blog–This blog has moderated comments and VERY little spam. Nice work Greg. Notice that the thoughts are typically cogent and the discussion lively. Blogs are easier to do than blog farms or forums and many do not consider them a TRUE online community. I beleive that they are.

Example 2: Real Estate Webmasters–Yeah. I am a bit biased. I moderate there. But aside from that, Morgan and the REW crew put much effort into keeping the streets of REW city free from spam. Users are limited in the types of links that they can insert and self promo is not tolerated. Hmm..is there a correlation between that and their steady growth into the most active community of web savvy REALTORS? Don’t think so!

Example 3. GAREIA–This is IMO, how NOT to do it. They have a private forum, but once you pay to be a member, you can post almost ANYTHING. If you are going to grow a community, would paying a bribe to the local constable be an acceptable practice? My opinion is “No.”

Example 4: Active Rain–These guys are great. BUT they have not managed growth and their members. Link spam is getting out of hand here. Their community grew like wildfire, and like many boomtowns, soon profiteers rolled in to AR-ville to loot and pillage. In my opinion, they need a new sheriff. (see the next example) BTW-In my opinion, they have one of the

Example 5: Squidoo–While they are definately NOT just real estate 9anyone can squidoo!) they are : An online community reclaimed. Congratulations guys..IMO you are the online urban renewal project of 2007 so far. With a limited staff (reportedly 4 folks??) and a willingness to take on challenges, TeamSquidoo handled a penalty earlier this year from Google and eradicated the majority of their spam issues and have bounced back to be a vibrant community that is back to its winning ways (at least for now on Google.)

Congratulations, guys on a job well done.

Communities need a plan. They need to grow. They need to breathe and they need good rules and enforcement to keep them on track.

Just My Opinion…

Eric

Using Search Engine Optimization Eyes to Prioritize Social Media Time Spend

Ok, we’ll get back to the online newspaper thing in a minute. Something else has been bugging me and a friend in the search engine optimization field pointed it out to me. Thanks Disco. (And by the way, there’s a reason he’s on my blogroll. He knows his stuff). Inspired by his thoughts and having a few minutes on hand, I thought I’d share with you my SEO view of how to prioritize your social media time spend. (Whether your objective is Search Engine Optimization of another site or Online Reputation Management will determine which social networking platform to target.

Here are my top principles when it comes to which platforms I use for what.

For SEOing another site:

1. Does the site rank WELL in Google for the terms I am after?

2. Are they policing SPAM better than their industry competitors?

3.  Do the TOS allow me to link to my site easily and on many pages? No follows? When and how soon do I get some link love?

4. Are there opportunities for me to interlink (forum to blog, blog to profile, etc)  so that I can add strength to my links over time by participating in the community?

5.  Can I create an HONEST and long lasting relationship with the owner of the site? Do I share their views? Are they in it for the long haul?

By answering these principles directly and honestly, I can spend my online branding time most effectively. I don’t comment on or participate on sites that I have nothing in common with. I also don’t participate without some (eventual) link love coming back. I take a long term view.

Typically, I want to make sure that they are not short term players or are allowing SPAM to run rampant on their site, Why? Because that means they will not protect the value of the links I have created.

I like my online “thank you’s” to have a longer shelf life than the milk in my fridge.

How do you prioritize where you spend your online time networking with others?

Eric

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