The Reputation X Blog Deep thoughts on reputation management and SEO

President Trump thinks Google is rigged against him. It's not, but it's not necessarily "fair" either. Google's portrayal of Trump is a reflection of people's desires - all the people, not a group or an individual. While Donald Trump has mastered the art of publicity, it's a genie let out of its a bottle. Once escaped it can have unforeseen consequences. 

For example, earlier today President Trump wrote that "Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED..."

There was a man who worked for the Post Office whose job was to process mail that had illegible addresses. One day, a letter came addressed in shaky handwriting to God, but with no actual address. He thought he should open it to see what it was about.

The letter read:

There’s a reason why the National Enquirer, The Sun, Daily Star, and US Weekly publish content that is all about scandalous behavior. We all love a good fall from grace story (unless it's happening to us), a red hot gossip drop, or a celebrity rumor. And when personal reputations start blowing up like Philadelphia on the 4th of July, we are tapping and swiping our devices to get the latest, juicy tell-all details.

You may not end up on the cover of US Weekly, but you nonetheless have a reputation. And that reputation needs to be managed.

Reputation matters, whether you’re an ordinary individual, an extraordinary individual, a crook, a saint, a political figure, or an entertainer. But reputation matters for more than just individuals. In the world of business, reputation has an ever broader impact.

It’s hard to change someone’s mind. However, it’s easy to confirm one’s biases. And nowhere is this more true than in the world of political reputation management.

Corporate reputation refers to people’s collective opinion regarding a corporation or enterprise. It’s based on such features such as search engine results, news coverage, and the publicized actions of the company. There are there some corporate reputation humdingers out there. The news media loves a sizzling story of a corporation’s fall from grace and with good reason. The public is receptive, clicks ensue, money is made. This is because the human brain seems wired to generate copious amounts of curiosity when the topic is salacious or negative.

Corporate sentiment, or business sentiment, is how people feel about your brand. In more technical terms, it’s the level of confidence that shareholders have in a corporation or business—the prevailing mood or attitude about that company’s success (or lack thereof).

What is Reputation? Reputation is the subjective qualitative belief a person has regarding a brand, person, company, product, or service. To put it mildly, it is the key to success.

Reputation is third-party perception of your, or your brands, character. It is a malleable thing. Malleable by others, or by you. This is because today, people depend on Google to make decisions for them. So, by changing how Google portrays a brand one can change reputation. 

In today’s digital environment, reputation is more important, more pervasive, more unforgettable, and more meaningful than ever before. It's really difficult to build, enhance, sustain, and protect a reputation that'll last, and it’s easy to neglect, abuse, reject, or shred a reputation in just a short amount of time. A disaster can happen in minutes, and circle the globe within hours. Let's unpack what reputation really is.

A person or company’s reputation is based on information (of some kind or another). And every reputation is perceived by people (of some kind or another). Put information and perception together, and you have reputation. 

What is reputation management? Reputation management is the effort to influence what and how people think of a brand or person when viewed online.

Character is who you are. Reputation is who other people think you are.

For all the effort and attention that we give to character, it’s reputation that really matters, especially in the business world. And that is why online reputation management services exist.