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What The Bill Cosby Scandal Has To With The Viability Of Your Business

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By Lindsey Tolino

Would the allegations against Bill Cosby be less shocking if he were a football player? Or a rich businessman? Or a playboy-type actor? Would it be less shocking if they were against Charlie Sheen or Dustin Diamond?

Yes, it would. The alleged acts wouldn’t be any less deplorable, but the shock would be less. Bill Cosby may not be guilty. However, the allegations alone are enough to incite public outrage.

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I watched Bill Cosby as a kid and loved him. His TV show character was inherently trustable. He did Jell-O commercials with children. He wore those sweaters. His public image was a funny family man.

He never branded himself as a bad boy. He created an image of a lovable, trustable man. Though the Cosby show was fictional, Bill’s public image was largely his Mr. Huxtable character. When I read the allegations I was sickened.

I still don’t know what’s true. Regardless, I had to deal with the shattering of a character I loved and enjoyed.

Whether or not the allegations prove true, there will always be some level in which Bill Cosby has become tainted.

In fact, TV Land has already pulled Cosby show reruns and NBC stopped the development of a Bill Cosby comedy show.

Netflix delayed his comedy special.

More recently, one of his upcoming live shows in Canada is to be protested by a women’s group.

Cosby’s image is being utterly crushed under these allegations.

And so, what can we learn from the Bill Cosby scandal?

1. You can single-handedly destroy an entire entity with a counter-character action.
2. Nothing is hidden that will not come to light.

If you do something against your business branding, as a customer, I will end our relationship. There are so many other businesses out there competing for me and I want to make sure my money and loyalty goes an entity that I can trust to be consistent.

We hate even a whiff of inconsistency. We have expectations of businesses based on what they said they are about. If a business fails the expectations they’ve created, people will walk.

If your business is about serving quality food, then serve the best quality food every single day.

If your business is about fast service, then deliver the fastest service every single time.

You don’t have to be perfect at everything. You just have to consistently deliver what you said you’re all about.

There’s something else that’s bothersome about this Bill Cosby scandal – how Mr. Cosby has dealt with it so far. When someone is accused of something they didn’t do, it is expected that they would be outraged and vehemently deny it. That has not occurred, which has created chasms of doubt as to his innocence and has further degraded the perception of his character.

So how do you avoid bringing your business down?

First, know the image you’re presenting of your business.

Second, maintain the image you’ve created.

Third, if you fail at maintaining your image, bring it to light yourself, apologize and get back to who you are.

Alternatively, apologize for the lack of consistency, be honest and redirect about who you are. Don’t make maintaining money streams that are based on a facade more important than your integrity. It will catch up with you and crush your brand when it does.

You create your business entity. You decide what you will portray. However, you must maintain the character of that which you create. If you do not maintain it, you can ensure you will lose customers. There are just too many other businesses out there vying for them.

When you feel the sting of a celebrity, a business or a friend letting you down, let that be a reminder of the responsibility that you carry. You must maintain the brand you create. Consistency is vital. Your viability depends on it.

Author’s Bio: Lindsey Tolino is a young creative who helps make businesses better. She serves business owners with her words at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

Image info: Royalty-free image by Brano Hudak from http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1006530.

How do you label yourself?

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When I was in 8th grade, my math teacher had a tradition of writing down little pithy comments about each student for the yearbook. She read them out loud at the end of the year, in front of the whole class. Her quote about me was: “pretty, pert little lady with an unexpected smile.”

It’s been 35 years since she gifted me with that observation, and it has stuck with me all this time. The power of labels runs deep.

But labels can either empower you or disable you—it’s your choice. How you identify yourself to the world, and how others publicly identify you, makes a big impact on your success. If you commit to a label strongly enough, behavioral science tells us that others will reinforce that label as well.

Labeling behavior happens applies to you as a business person, as well as your website or blog. Don’t forget to clarify your website’s purpose while you’re considering your own “tagline.”

How you label yourself

When you tell someone about your business, or your job, do you use the word “just” (e.g.,, “I’m just a blogger”) or do you minimize your accomplishments (e.g., “I run a small marketing agency—you’ve probably never heard of us”)? Stop doing that.

Be ready with a memorable response when someone asks you what you do for a living. “I’m the creative force behind ABC Agency,” or “I dish out innovative PR advice on a daily basis at the ABC Blog” or “I’m a wild and crazy guy!”

How others label you

Are you paying attention to how others describe you in conversation or online when they introduce you? Do other people know what your secret sauce is, well enough to relay it to others?

Try this experiment today: go ask a few people how they would introduce you at a networking event. Get a nice sampling from your family, a friend, a colleague, and an online acquaintance. I’ll bet the results are revealing!

Use your new “personal tagline” in your online profiles, bios for your guest posts, and corporate marketing materials. Use it when anyone asks you what you do. Remember, it’s perfectly acceptable to evolve your tagline over time.

And don’t forget to smile.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Can You Put a Price on Your Reputation?

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What would you do if your business reputation was suddenly turned upside down?

Many small business owners are lucky that they never have to answer that question, yet others are confronted with that very scenario more often than they would like.

Whether it is dealing with something they manufactured, perhaps an event that was initiated by an unhappy customer or employee, those who own businesses should always have one eye on how they and their business are viewed by others.

With that being said, how can you best position your online reputation and that of your company before problems arise?

Some tricks of the trade include:

* Positive promotion – Use the different tools at your disposal to promote all the good things you and your business can do. This can be done via press releases, blog posts, social media, online forums, and more.

* Community involvement – As a small business owner, you hopefully have already established yourself in your community. If not, get active in your community, this through things like sponsoring local events, attending local events, working with other area businesses to promote them etc.

* Knowing what is being said about you – While your daily business tasks undoubtedly take up much of your time, you can’t turn a blind eye to what folks are saying about you and your company, especially online. Have your ears to the ground as to what the chatter says about you and your business, how you treat customers, what products and/or services work and which don’t etc. If you don’t listen, your customers may deliver a message that ultimately you will hear.

In the end, there is no price you can put on your reputation other than it is priceless.

As a small business owner, have you ever had your reputation called into question?

If so, how did you go about letting current and potential customers know that they should do business with you?

Photo credit: webseoanalytics.com

About the Author: With 23 years writing experience, Dave Thomas covers a variety of small business topics, including looking at how I need online reputation protection.

 

Make Your Reputation Count When Searching for a Job

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With millions of Americans still searching for work, the stars in many cases have to align perfectly to land that coveted job.

While you can have years of experience, a desire to get the job done yesterday and not tomorrow, and the ability to work well with others, what could possibly be holding you back? Perhaps your reputation?

In today’s 24/7 Internet age, it just takes one unenviable image or statement to get online and cost you a potential job. As more and more companies turn to researching prospective applicants online, job seekers need to make sure their history is not something that will come back to bite them in the end.

Estimates indicate that more than 40 percent of resumes include false or altered information when they arrive on the desk or computer of an employer. Given that figure, is it any wonder more businesses are spending extra time checking out just who their next employee may be?

For the prospective employee, turning to services such as Reputation.com allows them to acquire personal information discovered on different blogs, photo sites, news outlets and social networking venues like Facebook and Twitter. Remember, it just takes one bad comment or image to kill a potential job.

As an example, say you are college grad entering the workforce for the first time. Your grades were super, you did a variety of charitable functions during your four years in school, and you come highly recommended by your professors and even an employer or two where you may have interned or worked part-time. Think that the coast is clear?

Wait a minute…. remember that silly comment you made on Twitter a couple of years ago where you admitted to shoplifting something from a store? Remember the photo you had taken at a frat party that was more than just a tad compromising? Lastly, remember that innocent comment you made on Facebook last year about someone’s ethnicity? Any or all of these scenarios could doom you if a potential employer discovers them through a  simple background check.

To start the process of better understanding your online image, do a simple Google search of your name and see what comes up.

In the event there are issues to be dealt with, using a reputation service company will allow you to put out more positive information about yourself and how you can help a prospective employer. By doing so, such information will move to the front of search-engine results, while pushing the negative details down.

In a world where your reputation can mean the difference between a job and unemployment, don’t bank on assuming your online reputation is squeaky clean.

Photo credit: scoop.it

Dave Thomas has more than 20 years’ experience as a writer, covering news, sports marketing, SEO, press releases, social media and more. 

 

 

How to Manage Your Business Reputation After the Google Penguin Update

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Steve Albright

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Online Reputation Management in the Penguin Update Aftermath

Whether you have an online or offline small business Google’s latest algorithm update, innocuously named Penguin, is something you should be paying attention to. One unintended consequence of this update is the wide open path it cleared for businesses to take control of their online reputation.

If you’re unfamiliar with this latest algorithm change, the Penguin update’s main target was sites manipulating search engine results to improve rankings. Most hit were sites that used large amounts of low quality inbound links with keyword rich anchor texts to rank for desired search terms. Another aspect to this update is the over “SEO’d” penalty that slapped sites with pages that were clearly created for SEO benefits and not users. The combined effect of these updates has been serious upheaval in Google’s search results.

So what does this mean for you and your Online business?

The benefit for your ethical business is that no matter what niche you’re in Google has most likely laid waste to a good portion of your competition.

Most obviously in the arena of branded search terms; it’s very difficult to rank for competitors’ branded terms without using some form of search engine manipulation. This means all those pesky sites siphoning off traffic from your brand name, product line, niche, etc were most likely penalized.

Another effect of the update is a great opportunity to take control of your business’s online reputation.

Here’s how …

How to Manage Your Business Reputation After the Google Penguin Update

If you’ve run a business for any amount of time you know that no matter how hard you try there’s always going to be that one person who’s not pleased with your service/product. Despite your best efforts at customer service an event like this seems inevitable.

While many small business owners disregard these rare occasions as a standard cost of doing business, it becomes a problem when complainers take their complaints online. And plenty of sites are ready and willing to post their grievances.

This becomes an even bigger problem when review sites start ranking alongside, or even above, your site. This is why you absolutely must take advantage of this window that Google has provided.
Now is the time to go on the attack and take over your niche and brand.

Meet your potential critics head on.

Here’s what to do:

  • Create pages on your site that address any impending problems your customers may have. Use Google Analytics and other search tools to dial in on specific terms that people are searching online i.e., brand name + reviews, complaints, refunds, how to cancel, support, and so on.
  • Write blog posts and feature articles about your commitment to service that intercept your customers before they start looking for these answers elsewhere, not only is that good customer service but it allows you to control the online narrative for your business.
  • Be proactive about solving problems. Instead of saying that we’re a company that doesn’t care about bad press or providing help to our customers it says we’re a tech savvy business that has taken preemptive care to make sure the customer has easy access to resources for all their pre/post purchase needs.
  • Create a feedback channel. It’s better to create an immediate channel for dialogue and resolution than being forced to address negative reviews publicly after they’ve already been posted.

This is also the best way to cleanup or prevent unfavorable first page search results. You can see that Google is on board, as most brand name search results are dominated by the companies own web properties, news mentions, and profiles. Simply put, if you have the right content on your site Google is more likely to show it first over 3rd party sites.

Ultimately, while you may not be able to purge the internet of unfavorable posts you can certainly control a large portion of your branded online real-estate just by having the right content.

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Author’s Bio:
Steve Albright is the editor of Reviewopedia.com, a product review site that helps online shoppers make smarter choices everyday.

Thank you, Steve. Online reputation is so important!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Influence: 7 Keys to a Trust Network that Will Grow Your Business

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IRRESISTIBLE BUSINESS: A Trust Network

The Strongest Networks Thrive on Trust and the Truth

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Last September, a man I admire and respect gave me what is possibly the highest compliment of my business life. We were speaking of filters and sharing information, when he said …

Even those who see the world differently, trust you to tell them the truth.

Good news, bad news, exciting developments, dire warnings — Data is simply information.

Information is nothing if we can’t trust it.

Without information we trust, we can’t move without risk.

7 Keys to Trust that Will Establish Your Business, Your Brand and Your Reputation

One of my most popular interactive presentations is called “Who’s Telling Your Story?” It outlines a clear strategy to enlist and inspire a deeply active community of fiercely loyal fans who spread your story and protect your brand. The first key point in that presentation is to know your story and to build your network before you need it.

But not all networks are equal. The network that builds a business, a brand and a reputation is connected by deep trust and consistent behavior.

That trust network is not simply a contact list, a customer base, or even a team of people who love the company and it’s customers. That trust network is people who tell our best true story, move to action when we ask, and protect us from threats. A network like that doesn’t happen by happy accident. It takes deep commitment, consistent trustworthy behavior, and relentless focus.

Here are the 7 Keys that attract the people who will join your truest trust network and bring their fiercely loyal friends.

  1. Identify and hold true your deal-breaker values — the qualities that define you.
  2. Communicate your goals and intentions. Let people know the why behind the what you’re doing.
  3. Make and keep promises and commitments to yourself, your team, and your larger community.
  4. Anticipate needs. Don’t assume others’ needs are what yours would be.
  5. Be aware if you offer treat people differently and know why you do. Those of us who care know, do you?
  6. Own your actions and their impact. Apologize quickly, well, and concisely for bad judgment, bad behavior, and bad math.
  7. Tell the truth … as gently or as firmly as the people and situation suggests you should.

Think of your best bosses, your best teachers, the best team you ever were on, your best friends and coworkers, how many of these seven did / do they have? How much better would they have been / be, if your answer was all seven?

To build a community network that brings you information you can trust, do all 7 for the people who love you now and the word will get out faster, easier, and more meaningfully than any story you might tell.

Start by doing the first with a vengeance. Then get moving on the second. As you do them, notice how the way you see your business changes and the they way people respond. Move sure and slowly. Keep all 7 Keys in the decisions you make and notice how your decisions become more focused and how those decisions attract people you trust.

The value of information is in how much you trust the source.
The essence of influence is trust.

A reputation of trustworthiness is a barrier to entry that’s hard to cross.
A trust network of people who share that trust and act on it — employees, volunteers, vendors, partners, customers, shareholders, advisors, friends, family — amps that barrier up exponentially to irresistible.

How will your own trust network that will grow your business and your brand?
Get started.

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!