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This guest post was written by Wendy Graham, a stay at home
mother and freelancer who often writes about education for Online
College Guru, a directory of online colleges.
First impressions always linger. It makes no difference whether that
preliminary thought imprint originates from a face-to-face meeting, the
tongue of a gossip, or your online reputation; the character branding
that accompanies what people see and hear can make or break a person, a
family, a business, or even a country. Knowing where to find the tools
that will protect your online reputation is a critical part of business
success, Internet growth, and personal peace of mind.
As far as the Internet is concerned, false character branding starts
with inaccurate or character damaging online information. This can come
from your own words of admission, or through a selected extract from
honest words and content that is no longer under your control. Data
hijacking hurts you in the same manner and to the same degree as any
other form of slander and character assassination.
Here are
some ways that you can establish early check points, regain information
control, stop untruths before they take hold, and prevent truths that
are better left unsaid.
Tools To Protect You Online Reputation
Though several Internet companies specialize in online privacy and
reputation defense, these pointers will start with self-defense:
- Centralize: Be careful how you scatter information. Create
a base of online operations so that you can better control the content.
A single blog or a personal website is the best way to establish a
firm, controlled professional and personal online presences;
- Document
Your Data: Establish a basic content backup process. This includes all
written posts, clips, graphics, audio, or other content materials
whether published on your personal website or on some other blog site.
Utilize a free or paid online Internet file storage site that
incorporates a data and timestamp feature;
- Guard
Your Postings: When distributing content outside of your own domain or
blog, take time to read the policies, terms, and copyright permissions
of the targeted website;
- Search Yourself: Make a
daily habit of running your name and variations thereof though the top
search engines. If you write articles, use very specific titles so that
these too can be easily tracked through the search engines.
- Setup
alerts - Add your name or company name to Google Alerts. Anytime a blog
or website mentions them, you will recieve an email or rss update.
Finally, consider the value of professional online privacy protection tools. Look over the content and resources offered at:
Both of these companies provide a full service reputation management solution. Expect the following features:
- Automatic and customized web search tools that are designed
to help monitor and alert users to any online reference to their name,
or business, or content
- Privacy tracking and removal features
- Name branding PR tools
- Kid tracking parent safety software
Act now, without delay. An unmanaged online reputation can easily become a ruined reputation.
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