CHAPTER
Small businesses and professionals face unique online challenges
to their reputations. In addition to facing all of the concerns shared by
private individuals, most small businesses and professionals make
their living on their reputation. One study found that reputation
damage is a bigger risk to most companies than natural disaster or
even terrorism.
1
After all, a careful backup plan can avert most harms
caused by an earthquake or fire, but damage to a reputation is long-
lasting and often permanent. A different survey found that corporate
executives thought it would take an average of 3.5 years to fully re-
cover from a damaged business reputation.
2
The risk for small businesses and professionals is even more se-
vere because their reputations are constantly being shaped by in-
Protect Your Small
Business and Your
Professional Reputation
234
235Protect Your Small Business and Your Professional Reputation
teractions with customers, the media, and others. Any customer or
client may end up being dissatisfied with your product or work—
whether fairly or unfairly—and take that dissatisfaction out online
through an online smear campaign. In short, your reputation is
your living, and every customer interaction creates a risk of ruin-
ing it.
Fortunately, there are solutions for small businesses and profes-
sionals that can minimize the risk and help them get out in front of
the dangers.
Identifying Your Online Reputation Goals
The process of identifying business reputation goals echoes the
process of identifying personal reputation goals. Think about all the
groups that interact with your business: suppliers, employees, po-
tential customers, the news media, community leaders, the govern-
ment, and others. Which of these audiences is most important to
you? A retail business will probably focus on its customers, but an in-
dustrial business may prioritize on its image in front of community
leaders and government so as to reduce the risk of getting a bad rep-
utation on environmental or labor issues.
Also consider circumstances special to your industry or business.
For example, if you are an online merchant, you will likely want to
present your best image of reliability and trustworthiness to Google-
savvy customers who will use Google to search for reviews and in-
formation about products. One trick for improving the Google
image of an online retail business is to offer coupons. A coupon—
preferably in the form of an online discount code (most e-commerce
applications are set up to handle them)—will trigger a cascade of
links and mentions from hundreds of websites that sort and distrib-
ute coupon codes to viewers. Some of these sites show up high in
Google searches and can serve as an extra way to drive traffic toward
your business.
Dealing with Criticism
Businesses and professionals frequently receive reviews and ratings
that would be unheard of for individuals; consumers think nothing
of posting a scathing review of your professional services, even if
their review also calls your personal character into doubt. These re-
view sites can be a boon or a bust for your reputation: positive re-
views will be seen as proof of the quality of your business, but
negative reviews may send consumers flocking to competitors.
For example, there are at least ten popular sites dedicated to re-
viewing businesses and services—Yelp and Citysearch lead the pack
for retail and restaurants, while Angie’s List leads for professional
services. It is incredibly easy for consumers to post a review on these
sites, and little verification is done to make sure that the consumer’s
review is accurate or complete. Because of their popularity, these sites
often show up at the top of Google search results. Google has even
begun to integrate consumer review sites directly into the search
process for retail businesses and may soon follow suit for services; if
it does so, reviews will be an even more prominent part of your on-
line résumé.
Do not panic if you receive a negative or critical review. Criticism
is a normal part of being in business, and a healthy part of a com-
petitive economy. It is inevitable that, at some point, a customer or
client will be dissatisfied. It might be your fault, or your suppliers’
fault, or nobody’s fault at all: Many times, consumer dissatisfaction
stems from some external cause over which you have no control. But,
no matter the reason, in the Internet age, a dissatisfied customer is
likely to turn to the Internet to vent his frustrations.
No matter what you do, you probably cannot remove all criticism
of your business or profession from the Internet. Even if it were pos-
sible to remove all criticism, it might not be a good idea to do so: Crit-
icism can help inspire you to improve your business by inspiring you
to alter your policies or by changing consumer expectations sur-
rounding your business. But, just as important to a practical business
Wild West 2.0236
owner, it is simply impossible to remove much criticism from the In-
ternet, and attempts to do so will often make the problem worse.
The Air Force has developed a useful flowchart that shows some
important factors for businesses and professionals to consider when
responding to online criticism (see Figure 13-1). The chart was de-
signed for use by the Air Force, but it successfully identifies many
factors that will be the same for businesses. In short, the chart rec-
ommends not responding if the criticism is a “troll” (seeking atten-
tion through extreme behavior) or a “rant” (motivated by anger and
not logic). The chart also recommends against responding unless you
can clearly show that the criticism is incorrect; otherwise, you run
the risk of drawing more attention to the troublesome content
without significantly advancing your cause.
If you choose to respond, you must maintain a calm tone and a
helpful demeanor. Be honest about who you are and why you are
writing. Always make sure that you come across as helpful and calm,
and never engage in personal attacks. If the consumer directs per-
sonal attacks at you, just ignore them and move on; responding gives
legitimacy to the attacks and draws more attention to them. Never
attempt to blame the consumer, even in cases in which the problem
really is her fault because she misused a product or had unrealistic
expectations of your services. When you respond, carefully explain
what steps you took to resolve the problem, such as offering to re-
fund the customer’s money or to provide a replacement. If the prob-
lem relates to the consumer’s expectations (e.g., if he complains that
the chainsaw he bought from you broke when he used it for demoli-
tion work), explain how the customer’s expectations should have
been set (e.g., that the chainsaw box clearly says that the tool is not
for demolition work and that you would have advised the consumer
to purchase a different tool—such as a reciprocating saw—for that
job if he had asked).
In some cases, it may make business sense to make an unusually
generous offer to resolve the problem, even if you would not do so for
most customers. For example, if you have a strict “all sales are final”
Protect Your Small Business and Your Professional Reputation 23 7
Figure 13-1. U.S. Air Force Blog Response Chart. Credit: U.S. Air Force.
238 Wild West 2.0
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