Online reputation is like a credit report everyone can see. Whether you are a movie star or an investment banker, your online reputation determines how others perceive you. Everybody can (and should!) manage their online reputation to make sure that it is the most accurate representation of themselves.

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.

Why do you believe the things that you believe? We like to think that our beliefs are our own, formed from our unique, individual experiences, informed by our own logic, devoid of outside bias. But "confirmation bias" is one factor that quietly pushes us to one side of the fence or the other. In short, people agree with things they already agree with.

There was a time when you couldn't get a chicken soup recipe while sitting on the toilet. Strange but true! It used to be that you asked your mom, or your friends, a book, or your local librarian for information. Today, instead of picking up the phone, everyone from bearded urban millennials to grandmas and dairy farmers turn to one place above all others: the Internet. How do people search? Who gets clicked? Why does search matter so much?

Remove TheDirty.com permanently, in 30 days or less.

A good reputation is built slowly over a lifetime, but it can be lost in a single instant when a negative article is posted on TheDirty.com.

Fortunately, we're here to help. At Reputation X, we have a successful track record in doing what seems impossible - reclaiming your online reputation. Reputation X can usually remove a post on TheDirty.com within two to four weeks. If we can't do it, it's free. 

Online identity management is a subset of online reputation management in that it deals with the management of who a person appears to be online. One example of online identity management is the use of different personas for various online interactions in an attempt to mask personal identity exposure. Another is the use of a persons true persona online, but in a carefully managed way using search engine marketing, content management and public relations strategies.

Over the years we've managed the online reputations of a lot of executives. Industries have included clothing, manufacturing, hospitality, biotechnology, government (foreign and domestic) and many others. But an especially large portion have been executives in financial service related industries. This case study focuses on one of those whose problems included the New York Times, Bloomberg and Ripoff Report. Names and circumstances have been adjusted to some degree to protect the identity of our client.

Note: The illustrative examples provided in this article are of similar people and entities in order to protect the identity of our client.