How To Properly Use Reputation Management

The online world cares about image. It is the sole focus of a lot of what the Internet is all about after all. Those who manage their image and reputation well are most likely to receive repeat business. Those who allow reputation management to get away from them may see a steady decline into irrelevance. 

Using Outsourced Reputation Management 

Many people want to do their own reputation management online when they first hear of the concept. They think there is no reason they should not be able to handle it. After all, it is just their own image they are trying to preserve. However, an article on the subject on Forbes.com, Michael Fertik, owner of Reputation.com stated:

“The best analogy that I can think of is anti-virus software for your computer. There are probably only 25 guys on the planet who can do good anti-virus protection on their own because it requires deep technical expertise. We have dozens of engineers who work on each of our products, which are designed expressly to fix or enhance your digital reputation and profile. That said, there are certain things that you should do on your own, like have a thoughtful, well-curated LinkedIn profile. And you should have a Twitter handle that is your name, not something like “ILovePizza,” unless your job is in pizza.” 

Well said.

Caution But Not Too Much 

Obviously, avoiding mistakes is a major part of reputation management. That being said, it is not a good idea to completely box yourself off from the entire Internet and never really try anything. You need to be marketing and at the same time avoiding major mistakes. It is a careful balance that has to be struck, but it is possible. 

Sell Yourself, Sell Your Product 

If you are able to sell yourself and your reputation to people online then you are probably in good shape to sell whatever product you need to as well. You just want to make sure that the image you are providing is a good one. No one wants to buy from someone they do not trust or have confidence in. 

Contact us today to get information on how you can get started with reputation management. 

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The Core Concepts of Effective Reputation Management

“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow.  The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” Abraham Lincoln.

Do you have the good reputation that you deserve? Bad publicity has always been a challenge, even to the good guys. In these days of social media that can instantly harm you there is a need for a sophisticated response strategy. Make sure people are aware of your character, and not looking at someone else’s shadow.

Reputation management can have many forms, and can require several different roles. In a large organization, the role would be filled by a full-time strategic communication advisor; but even then, the key employee may need consultation depending on the situation.

Perhaps the defining characteristic of effective reputation management is good judgment. Maintaining a good reputation involves planning your organizational structure so that you have a smooth flow of information as well as confronting specific issues as they appear in the business environment and in the media.

Any confusion caused by incorrect reporting must be addressed with authority in a timely manner.  Any roadblocks to communication within your organization must be located and eliminated.

Whether it is for a hospital board, an African nation, the U.S. Department of Defense, a corporate public relations department, or a small business operating a marketing strategy, a reputation management strategist coordinates clarifying your position. This important advisor will also assist in the formation and adjustment of policy.   

The higher your authority, and the broader the scope of your endeavors, the more important it is that you are in position to be able to manage the public perception of your efforts. An effective reputation management strategy is much more than “spin.” The creation and implementation of good policy needs dedicated attention and support in the unpredictable climate of popular opinion.

The Possible Roles involved in reputation advisement:

• As an educator, the advisor communicates with employees and associates to make them better conduits for a policy that has been decided upon.  In order to avoid inconsistency of services or product, all people involved in implementing your service should be schooled in the philosophy of your business or social mission. This involves coordination with human resources and training of department heads as well as direct presentation to large groups.

• As a publicist, the advisor has editing, writing and speaking skills to distribute information through appropriate networks, whether through existing corporate newsletters and email systems, or media outlets. The publicist is familiar with social media and monitors interaction on strategic sites. The publicist can produce content, as well as inform others on proper responses to online forums.  The publicist has a close relationship with any formal spokesperson or media relations department for a large organization, acting as a liaison between management, media, and policy formation.

• As an analyst, the advisor suggests what information should be given to a particular group, be it employees, associates, or volunteers. The analyst assists in the timing and proper media for press releases. The analyst provides support and assembles research opportunities when adjustment of policy is necessary.

• As a researcher, the advisor is aware of trends in the social fabric regarding your endeavors. The researcher is aware of meaningful published work, and, if necessary, attends relevant summits and discussions by experts in the field. The researcher evaluates new ideas and innovations, making recommendations to you for discussion and review of policy.

• As a coordinator, the advisor makes certain that internal and external policy is consistent with your goals, and develops measuring techniques to monitor progress in accurately portraying your efforts to the public. The coordinator will be aware of budget compliance, and will be able to provide recommendations for necessary adjustments, whether in policy or implementation of existing policy.  

Give us a call, and clarify your position.

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4 Important Email Marketing Strategies

Email newsletters are an important part of any marketing campaign, particularly as people spend increasing amounts of time online. E-newsletters go directly to customers’ inbox, giving them an advantage over other forms of social media. Like other digital media, e-newsletters are inexpensive to produce and send to customers. And fortunately, there are some simple tips for writing an email-newsletter that customers will be likely to read!

1) Start with a captivating subject line. Many readers use an email subject line to determine whether they will open the email, and it is crucial that your e-newsletter stand out among the many other emails a customer receives. Including the word ‘you’ gives the email a personal touch. Make your subject line timely and short, to catch the reader’s eye. 

2) Use visual means to convey your message. Video sites, like YouTube, and applications, like Vine, are rapidly rising in popularity. Often, readers are more likely to watch a short video than they are to read lines of text. Capitalize on this tendency by creating video (or even photo) content for your readers, whether your intent is to engage the customer, sell products, or tell a story.

3) Entice customers with a special offer. Including a special offer in your e-newsletter is one of the best ways to retain customers and keep them interested in future promotions. You will strengthen brand loyalty when you help customers feel as if they are important to your business. (They are!)

4) Utilize other forms of social media. Include social media links (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in your e-newsletter, as these digital marketing tools go hand in hand. A great way to involve customers and increase your market exposure is by rewarding customers when they share your e-newsletter (or other content) on social media. 

With these tips, you can improve your email newsletters to make the most of the opportunity you have to communicate with your customers. For the best ways to include email in your marketing strategy, contact us today!

PR Effectiveness: Handling Conflict

Understanding conflict is a key to your success for PR Effectiveness. Your PR team is the key to your business, and your coaching is the key to a great PR team. You can learn to coach your team to improve PR relationships.

Mind Tools is an excellent resource for the steps of effective coaching. They state that “people must learn to work together and understand how to relate to one another – otherwise the team’s output will be less than it could be.” If the team’s output is less, then the business will suffer. One factor that can affect output is conflict, especially when looking at PR effectiveness.

The team must understand conflict with customers and with each other. This does not mean there is never conflict. It means the team knows how to deal with conflicts. An excellent resource is a book called People Problems.

Godwin suggests your team needs to be coached in understanding when their buttons are being pushed by each other and by customers. When your team understands button pushing, they can control reactions. In controlling reactions, they will seem more professional.

Godwin also suggests you coach your team in using five “muscles.” These muscles are:

Humility: The ability to acknowledge potential personal wrongness.

Awareness: The ability to observe actual personal wrongness.

Responsibility: The ability to be bothered by personal wrongness.

Empathy: The ability to be bothered if your personal wrongness hurts others.

Reliability: The ability to correct personal wrongness.

When you have coached your team in understanding and strengthening these muscles, you will be empowering them for success by understanding conflict. 

Want more information on PR effectiveness? Contact us today.

 

Related articles

• The benefits of hiring a small PR agency (publicrelationssydney.com.au)
• Have You Ever Had Conflict In The Workplace? (pcsconsultantsinc.wordpress.com)

Executive Media Training – Eliminating the Fear, and More

It’s fairly common knowledge that public speaking is at or near the top of most people’s list of fears. Some even say they fear it more than death itself. Interestingly enough, many people who fear public speaking are high-level corporate executives. For these individuals, some form of public speaking is a critical element of what they do.

How do you suppose they handle that?

Well, a quote I heard some years ago (I don’t recall who or where) answers the question perfectly; “Feel the fear and take action anyway.” That’s all well and good, but wouldn’t it be better, and a lot more comfortable, to go into public speaking situations without the fear? Of course it would. And that’s what executive media training can do.

Here are three ways executive media training can help you and your company:

Build Confidence

A big part of what causes people to be fearful of public speaking is they don’t feel confident. This phenomenon can be found at all levels of a company, including executives.

Someone might know the company and its products backward, forward, inside and out, but when they get in front of a prospective customer, or a group, they freeze. It’s akin to a computer freezing-up. The information is in there – it just won’t come out. A big reason for this is inadequate experience in public speaking. Executive media training provides some non-threatening ways to gain this experience and develop confidence.

Improved Relationships

Human relationships are at the center of every business. Notice that I didn’t limit that statement to just successful businesses. That’s because relationships are at the center of all businesses. If business is bad, it’s undoubtedly due, in part at least, to poor relationships. If business is good, it can be largely attributed to good relationships.

If people in the company are comfortable being themselves as they talk about the company and its products, they’ll be better able to create and maintain lasting business relationships. Executive media training will help them do that.

Speak Extemporaneously

A vital part of public speaking of any kind is the ability to effectively extemporize. It’s one thing to just babble on about something and hope your listener knows little enough about the subject that what you’re saying sounds plausible. But that’s a gamble you shouldn’t be willing to take. The ability to speak off the cuff and have your presentation actually make sense is clearly more desirable. Executive media training helps develop this skill.

Some business owners and executives balk at the idea of making this kind of indirect expenditure. However, communications training in general, and executive media training in particular are more appropriately viewed as wise investments that will pay dividends for years to come.

If you’d like results-oriented help with your marketing and communications strategies, contact us online, or call 702-434-0173.

PR Effectiveness: Gauging the Many Elements Beyond Sales for Your Campaign

PR effectiveness is a wide picture to be analyzed through different avenues and not strictly by how much money is made. While making money shows a campaign was successful, it may not sustain in the ever-changing social environment. Looking at exactly what prompted those sales can help decide whether it was the result of something unexpected.

Analytics on Social Media

With Google Analytics being such a useful tool in determining web traffic, a firm can discover plenty of evidence in how people reacted to something online. If it was determined the sales were from social media influence, then the main demographics can be known. And despite social media being the place where you’d expect most of the activity to be, there may be a chance sales came significantly from somewhere else.

Analyzing Other Media

Television continues to play just as strong an impact in sales as social media. Most of the time, they work in tandem though mentions from a client on a national TV show or cable news can take sales into the stratosphere. A mention like this (or in a national newspaper) can be the result of an earlier promotion on social media without having spent a dime on a television or a newspaper ad. These interconnections tell a PR firm how the inter-connectivity of today’s media can effectively disseminate enough free information to cut costs of promotion.

Study the Advantages of Small Media

Sometimes sales can be the result of a simple word-of-mouth grassroots campaign or write-ups in small publications. While these might be graded as minor promotional places, it’s worth doing some investigation into these arenas and why they potentially do better than expected. Smaller and more peripheral avenues also typically conjoin with social media for easier methods of passing on information.

Survey the Consumers

Gauging information directly from those who bought a promoted product can help determine where those consumers heard about the product or client. There may be a surprise in store for where they heard about the product through the earlier examples. This may prove the underestimation in the power of fan campaigns by simple word-of-mouth. Determining it can be done through online surveys, telephone, or traditional mail.

Talk to the Client

PR firms need to think of their client and the effectiveness of the PR campaign. Does the client understand what the PR firm is doing and the procedures in how it’s being done? A happy client is a client that understands the entire process of an effective PR plan with a comprehensive understanding of why it was effective.

Contact us if you’re a company needing an effective local or national marketing campaign. Two Girls Consulting (2GC) is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. We also work on a national level. With a decade of experience, plus long-standing relationships with media and other venues, let us effectively take your company message to the masses.

PR Effectiveness in a Virtual World

June is Effective Communication Month—as if we could ignore effectively communicating the other eleven months of the year! However, it is an excellent opportunity to get back to the communications basics and discuss how some of the time-tested tools and strategies for PR effectiveness  might be applied to successfully communicate in the virtual world of the Internet.

According to Clifford N. Lazarus, PhD, there are a number of tools used in establishing and maintaining effective communication.

• Make Sure You Have the Other Person’s Attention. On the Internet, getting a visitor to read, or at least browse, your web page or email message is the objective. Unfortunately as early as 2007, the average person visited over 130 web pages per day, and in 2011 (according to the Nielsen Norman Group), “the average stay on those pages was just 10-20 seconds,” which means visitors are usually reading less than one-quarter of the text on any particular page.
  
• Maintain Eye Contact. In the world of the Internet, this means keeping the visitor on your page long enough to make them a potential customer. Once you have crossed that 10-20 second threshold they are more likely to stay longer and explore your site.
  
• Be Direct and Honest. Remember you have a small amount of time to capture and hold a visitor’s attention.
  
• Good Communication Involves Clear And Concise Messaging. Content and design should complement each other. People are as easily turned off by dissimilar messages. And the sheer volume of options available on the Internet, will make sure visitors move on if they do not feel comfortable on your website.
  
• Ask For Feedback and Listen To Ensure The Intended Message Was Received. There needs to be an electronic equivalent to the phrase “are you following me?” Comment opportunities on web pages and visitor/customer feedback options, will provide ways for your company to receive crucial responses and amend or clarify your content and tone.

Is your company having a hard time crafting an effective content strategy? We can help. Contact 2GC today.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Businesses: Reputation Management

You have developed your business so it delivers what people want when they want it. Not only have you established your product and services, you have also advertised and promoted your company effectively through traditional media like newspapers, radio, and television, as well the Internet. As a result your business is growing and prospering.

However, the unexpected happens. It can be a natural disaster such as a flash flood or having a defective product slip out the doors to the public. Or perhaps, an irate customer or group of customers threatening to sue your company.  Challenges to the health of your business can take a variety of forms. Nevertheless, you will need to be ready to deal with them.

When bad things happen, the media might be coming to you. They will come at a time that will not be convenient and will ask questions. This will be a time when all the good work you have done in creating and developing your business can be threatened.

It is at those times you need to be ready to deal effectively with both the media and the public. TwoGirlsConsulting can be a crucial asset for you during those times. From effective executive media training, to handling and advising on how best to deal with media and the public, 2GC can help you weather the storm intact. Reputation management during times of crisis is one of the many things we can do for you.

TwoGirlsConsulting is committed to helping you grow your business and make it successful, while helping you avoid the misfortunes a business can face. Contact 2GC for more information on how we can accomplish this for you.

 

Executive Media Training Lends Confidence in High-Pressure Media Situations

Businesses face multiple challenges on a daily basis. You may find it necessary to speak to the public via the press concerning corporate decisions and aspects of operations. These situations can sometimes place a great deal of pressure on the company spokesperson. Difficult questions come at a moment’s notice. You will need to deliver expert answers based on the knowledge you have gained. TwoGirlsConsulting executive media training prepares business executives to speak effectively in any media situation.

Sometimes Things Go Wrong

A great example of the stress media can cause for a company is the current situation Apple, Inc. is facing in its Chinese market. According to RTT News, the Chinese media has been highly critical of the company’s customer service and warranty policy for its iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.  Apple CEO Tom Cook posted this letter of apology (in Chinese text) to the Chinese consumers that states in part, “we recognize that some people may have viewed our lack of communication as arrogant, or as a sign that we didn’t care about or value their feedback.” He goes on to say, “Chinese consumers have always been our priority among priorities.” Executive media training teaches brands to respond quickly, honestly, and to apologize sincerely when i t fails to fulfill its duties to its customers, in this case Apple. Cook’s response reduces any further damage to the company’s reputation.

You Can Fix It, We Can Help

If you find your company in a negative light with media, being prepared will help you respond under pressure. Executive media training focuses on teaching spokespeople multiple ways to respond to difficult situations and how to manage media interaction, like a press conference or interview. Gain the skills to speak as an expert in your industry and successfully release news on new products and corporate innovation. Focusing on your corporate message and always presenting the company in the best light (whether through appearance, non-verbal cues, or actual words) keeps your organization in the good graces of media.

TwoGirlsConsulting understands the importance of communication skills and the impact the media can have on an organization’s image. Contact us to help you prepare and successfully meet communication goals.

 

Simple Tips for a Successful Media Interview

Whether we like it or not, the news media has a lot of influence and can have a positive or negative impact on your company’s bottom line with just one mention. When comments are constructive it is easy to love media coverage, but when it’s not positive, it’s easy to become defensive and want to engage in pointless dialogue with the journalist or media outlet which is a no win situation for you and your company. Whether you have an amazing publicist or not, knowing some basics will help you prepare for your day in the spotlight and have a successful interview.

It’s important to remember the goal when securing a media interviews: 1) Clearly convey your company’s mission and message. 2) Build awareness about you and/or your company, products and/or events. 3) Sell products and/or services. 4) Influence consumer behavior.

 To make the best impression the following are fundamental to your success and opens the possibility for the media outlet to seek your outlook in future articles or segments.

Be Authentic. If you don’t believe what you are saying neither will the audience. Consumers are smart and don’t forget you are still a consumer. Ask yourself, “Do I believe what I am saying?”

Be Present. Nothing is worse than trying to talk or listen to someone who distracted. Make sure you give the interview your utmost attention.

Be In Control of Your Message, Demeanor and Gestures.  A) Tailor your message for the specific audience of the media outlet for which you are speaking.  B) Keep your message to no more than four key points so you don’t confuse the audience. C) Don’t be the fast talking-arm throwing guest who comes across as wacky (think Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets and six other children, and her appearance on ABC’s “The View.” Click here to watch the clip.)

Use Everyday Language. Unless you are a theoretical physicist like Dr. Michio Kaku speaking about the complexities of a nuclear meltdown or the space-time continuum, keep it simple.

Do Your Homework.  Check out the media outlet before your interview to get a sense of structure and style and know positions of  your competitors.

Practice Makes Perfect. Rehearse out loud until it rolls off your tongue like second nature.

This is just the basics to help you prepare for an interview and successfully meet communication goals from per-interview to interview. If you would like more information on in-depth training send an email to Adrienne@2girlsconsulting.com