Why Managing Your Name Online Is Critical

We protect our reputation because it affects perceived value. A good reputation means your clients can trust you. A good reputation means that your clients are likely to accept higher prices for your services than the competition.

Think of bottled drinking water. There countless brands yet those with a higher reputation have a higher price tag than those with a lower reputation. Reputation builds a brand. And a brand sometimes has a bigger value than the company can estimate in the balance sheet.

It is the same with mobile marketers. Your name is far more valuable than you can imagine. You need to build it, manage it and when worst comes to worst recover it when it has been damaged.

According to the Prophet'sFirst Annual U.S. Reputation Study over the past five years, "companies with leading reputations... outperformed the S&P by over 100 percent." The study further says that, "customers are twice as likely to purchase, four times more likely to pay a premium, and almost ten times more likely to recommend products and services" high reputation companies.

This underscores the importance of reputation of a company. It will be the same with individuals. If you are a marketer known for delivering high quality products, articulate, organized and focused on customer satisfaction, you are likely to charge a premium without much resistance from customers.

Here are two examples of instances where reputation can be damaged over simple small act.

Example 1.

Entity:Vancouver City

Reputation before action:Vancouver successfully hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and had built a reputation as one of the cleanest, safest, most desirable tourist destinations on earth.

Action that destroyed reputation: Riots broke after the Stanley Cup finals where Vancouver Canucks was beaten by the Boston Bruins in Game 7. The loss brought anger and in a matter of hours vandals set cars on fire, smashed windows and looted stores. Their actions were captured on camera and posted online.

Perception after action: The negative coverage brought shame to the city. Social media giants like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube had comments, videos and pictures of the barbaric acts. Newspapers like the UK's Guardian had headlines that screamed: "The pointless riots that followed the Canucks' defeat make a mockery of Vancouver's claims to be a world-class city." Suddenly a city known for tranquility was now being associated with troubled countries and lawless states just because of a game.

Example 2.

Entity: FedEx Corporation

Reputation before action: FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) has been among the most admired companies in the United States and the world, that's according to FORTUNE magazine. Indeed, their senior vice president said ''the ranking is a testament to our employees who consistently make every FedEx experience outstanding." He went on to add, "By fostering a service-oriented, high-performing culture, we know we are making a lasting impression on each customer, every day - and growing one of our most important assets worldwide - the FedEx reputation."

Action that may have destroyed reputation: A video posted on YouTube captured the delivery personal throwing the computer monitor into the compound. The owner complained that at the time of delivery, he was in the house and all that was needed was for the person to ring the bell and he would come out of the house to receive his monitor. The video went viral and before it was withdrawn had received more than two million views.

Perception after action: There is no data yet. However, the fact that more than two million people watched the bad delivery video and this incident was all over Twitter, Facebook and blogging forums tells you that this may have caused a dent on the FedEx reputation. I guess a section of people now view FedEx has an insensitive, monolithic corporate whose employees act beyond reason to ruthlessly enforce the motto: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. This perception is bad for business.

Final thought...

How you respond to a reputation attack matters. The key points to note are:

1. Be prepared - have policy and clear communication channels to handled a crisis of any nature.

2. React swiftly - understand the situation fully; get expert and professional perspective.

3. Publish an official response - give your side of the story in public with sincerity and humility.

4. Rally supporters - have employees, communities or stakeholders on your side in times of trouble.

Mary Wilhite is a Mobile Marketing Specialist, also known as the Mobile Marketing Queen. Teaching small businesses, entrepreneurs, and internet marketers how to attract better customers with mobile marketing devices. Get more of her mobile marketing tips, tricks, and strategies today. Just click here http://marywilhiteblog.com