Introduction

Nothing is more valuable than your good name . . . online! Think about it. You’ve worked hard all your life to build a reputation for yourself so that you can:

Get a good job

Keep that good job

Make your family proud

Feel good about yourself

Make a good impression

Leave a legacy your loved ones can be proud of

At some point way back in the last millennium, you could establish a name for yourself or your business based on the long-term relationships you cultivated within a localized geographic area, and you never needed to care about the things people halfway around the world were saying about you. And when people slandered or libeled your good name, you had legal protection.

Back then, nearly all channels of communication from the customer back to the brand were stiffly controlled by the brand. It was a largely one-way communication model. Brands would broadcast ads via mass media but wouldn’t listen to the things people said about their brands. They relied on bottom-line numbers, which can be deceptive and can ill-prepare management for future market shocks.

Today, the Internet has changed everything. It’s changed the playing field for the legal system, and it’s changed the way people communicate as individuals and en masse. Two-way communication dominates over one-way communication, and ordinary people can have engaged audiences of thousands online. The benefits are great, but so are the risks. The easier it is for customers to disseminate information to an increasingly large audience, the greater the threat to a brand’s reputation. Nowadays people’s reputations get damaged often and easily. There’s little anybody can do about it, except to be prepared. That’s why I’m here.