Bizsuccess

There are a lot of companies that will happily relieve you of your dollars, in exchange for buzz monitoring services. While many large companies will enjoy the peace of mind that comes from having a company track their reputation for them, the rest of us need something a little less expensive–or better yet, free!

We’ve compiled a list of twenty six buzz monitoring tools that are free of charge. Use these tools to keep track of your company reputation or even spy on your competition! Take a look at Trackur.com if you need an all-in-one buzz monitoring tool.

1. Your Industry

If you simply don’t have time to track everything that specifically relates to your company–or your competition–you can still track news that relates to your industry. Moreover and Yahoo are just a couple of resources that offer RSS feeds for aggregated industry news. More »

Google is no longer just a search engine. With your potential customers, future employers, and members of the media turning to Google for information about your business, Google has become a reputation engine.

In helping clients with their online reputation, I’m consistently asked how they can push out negative content that appears on the first page of Google for a search for their name. Whether they were fined by the SEC, ridiculed by an ex-employee, or investigated by their local newspaper, they share one common goal: get that negative result off of the first page! More »

Not sure of the best way to ask your customers for reviews?  Here are some tips from other Kudzu.com merchants.

• Print a request for a customer review on invoices or bill stuffers.
• Send a follow-up email after servicing a customer about their experience with your company and inviting them to post a review on Kudzu.com.
• Offer an incentive to customers if they post a review, such as 10% off next service from your company.
• Add a “rate and review me” logo to your web site with a link to your Kudzu profile. More »

Every single day, someone, somewhere is discussing something important to your business; your brand, your executives, your competitors, your industry. Are they hyping-up your company, building buzz for your products? Or, are they criticizing your service, complaining to others about your new product launch?

A great brand can take months, if not years, and millions of dollars to build. It should be the thing you hold most precious.

It can be destroyed in hours by a blogger upset with your company.

A new product launch could take hundreds of TV commercials, dozens of newspaper ads, and an expensive ad agency. More »

In today’s word of push button publishing, any company can become the victim of an online attack from disgruntled customers or competitors with a computer and an internet connection. Because of the nature of online search, negative blog posts, comments, and press can quickly tarnish a company’s reputation if potential customers find harsh criticisms when conducting a search for your company’s name.

These types of attacks can be extremely damaging to your reputation and profitability – especially when they appear on the first page of search results. However, there are ways to counter them using the same techniques applied by top Internet reputation management experts.

#1 Monitor Your Online Presence More »

Don’t underestimate the online impact – take control and save your reputation with these tips.

1. Know your achilles heel

Do you know your weaknesses? No, seriously! I don’t mean the “we try too hard to please our customers” bunk. Do you know the flaws in your products, the areas of your service that suck, or the member of your management team most likely to stick his foot firmly in his mouth? More »

If you’re not yet convinced why you need to worry about your online reputation, here are some stats that will help wake you up.

Sparked by a new Pollara study, I decided to dig into the many startling stats we share in Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online.

Here’s a selection of reputation management stats for you to dwell on.

• ~80% of adults are “very” or “somewhat” more likely to consider buying products recommended by real-world friends and family. (source: Pollara) More »

It might seem counter-intuitive, but if you want to build a stellar reputation for your business, you should embrace negative reviews.

Sure, the more positive reviews you have for your business, the better it looks, but there are some benefits to having some negative ones too.
Andrew Goodman, guest writing for HomeStars, hits the nail on the head:
I was recently a little disconcerted when I visited the American Apparel site, because of the presence of too many glowing, cheerleading reviews of its products. Some simply said “I haven’t tried this yet but I’ll be getting one really soon!” Poring over the various reviews, I actually felt like I’d be more likely to buy the product that had at least one negative or moderate review. Why? Because I wouldn’t be as likely to suspect that the reviews are fake. More »

72% of consumers are researching company reputations online; 59% of customers are happy to share gripes with them

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008;

– Andy Beal

Do you use the web to complain about poor customer service? (Maybe I should say “thanks,” because you keep me busy with reputation management clients).
More »

If you’re a small business–or one that operates only in a particular geographic region–you might be forgiven for seeing “online reputation management” and think it doesn’t apply to you. Think again.

You’re not a big brand, you don’t have to worry about the Wall Street Journal or Newsweek writing about your business, so why worry?

While managing a national reputation may not be of concern, I’ll guarantee that there’s a local web portal or trade journal that keeps tabs on what your customers think about your business. No better example of this than the hospitality industry. Most hotel managers look upon online reviews as a thorn in their flesh–there’s just no pleasing some guests, so why even try? More »