Does the Internet Affect Your Home Business Reputation?
October 14, 2009 by Mary Emma Allen
The Internet has brought a new challenge to home businesses, in fact to any business. Before the widespread application of the Internet, word-of-mouth or possibly a newspaper write-up could get the word out about your business, both positively and negatively.
An article at Like Chapaa, You Need to Know About Online Reputation Management, reinforces the idea of an Internet reputation and gives you “food for thought.” You may not be able to control everything others write. However, you can consider, before you write, what you are saying and keep it professional. Your words, once written, whether on a blog, in a group, at a forum, or a site like Facebook, are there to stay. Even if you delete something later, what you initially wrote may still be out there somewhere.
So many people write on their social media pages personal information, often using questionable language, that could be a detriment to their business. Even if you aren’t in business now, or seeking a job, what you write could come back to haunt you.
Nowadays, your reputation can spread globally rather than just your local area. What you do and say…what others do and say on the Internet becomes available to everyone, unless it’s through a closed forum or group. Even then, someone might post your words elsewhere.
So consider before you write…how will this affect my home business reputation?
Interesting take on this matter: you should not only be wary of what others say of you, but also take care to review what you write. You made me see it in a slightly different light
Hi Mary Emma Allen ,
While I agree with you that a home business should keep it professional, (the best example I could think of is not posting family pictures on a business website). I also think that there are ways for a business to engage in branding and online reputation even if for some reason there is a negative result on a Google search of that business’s name.
Creating additional content such as a business profile will help the ranking of the original website and at the same time help lower any negative result that is associated with the brand. Some popular sites that rank well on Google are Linkedin and LookupPage
Creating several profiles and linking them correctly could improve search engine rankings dramatically.
Mary Emma:
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessments. The Internet is a powerful place, but that makes it all the more imperative that every person think twice before hitting “submit” or “enter”!
Thanks for the reminder!
Julie Taylor
http://www.jadcc.com