Offshore Merchant Account's Guide for Guarding your Online Reputation - A Sequel

<p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"> </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"> </font></p><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">The sum of all fears has happened. A negative buzz about your business brand has spread all over the cyber community. Even if it was true or not, it&#39;s out there, so, are you gonna wave the white flag? Hold your horses, you can get through this. My previous article talked about what you can do to keep your <strong>online reputation</strong>,how to keep things in a good place This time, we&#39;ll deal with the worst-case scenario, when your business has been put into a bad light. Hey, these are for what-ifs and those who are experiencing the heat.<br /><br /></font></p><h1><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Assesing the damage</font></h1><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">It can&#39;t be all that bad, can it? You may wonder that it&#39;s only in the internet, as if everyone alive has online access or a computer for that matter. You have a point, but the thing is, everyone who can get online is a potential customer. And they can spread the news to the physical realm. You should never underestimate the influence of the internet on your business. Doing business online is just as equally serious as running a physical business with cemented walls. <br /><br />In order to get an outlook if the negative impression should just be shrugged off or not, observe. Monitor the online business community, and most importantly, your business&#39; numbers. If the stats are still on track, then, business as usual. But, if they&#39;re way below the target, that&#39;s the time to get serious and sit in front of your computer and straighten up issues.<br /><br /></font></p><h2><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">If there&#39;s smoke, there&#39;s fire &ndash; or is there, really?</font></h2><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">What if the rumors are just not true? How can you clear your name? Here&#39;s what you can do to ease the rumors:<br />● Conduct an discreet investigation. See if the rumor came from a blog, forum or news site or a group. Check if it&#39;s a competitor, a dissatisfied customer, or a frustrated staff.<br />● Determine their influence. Is the blogger a respected persona in the blogosphere? How far is the reach? Are the people behind the rumors powerful enough to draw a lot of attention?<br />● Humbly and politely make a request to the blog, forum or news site webmaster to remove the story or make a retraction, or at least publish your response.<br />● Make contact to other reputable blogs, forums, or news sites and give them the correct information<br />● Publish a statement in your own website. Seek a SEO specialist to ensure optimization and achieve rankings so that it can be easily viewed.<br />● Schedule offline discussions. If applicable, talk in person. Practice diplomacy.<br />● If the situation has crossed legal boundaries, consult a lawyer.<br /><br /></font></p><h3><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Damage control</font></h3><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Alright, the rumors are true. So, are you going to take the fall? You made a mistake, and a mistake cannot be corrected by another one, so, make the right moves and get back on your feet. The ways are almost the same as clearing the false stories, so seriously consider what I&#39;ve listed on the previous paragraph. The difference is the rumors are substantiated. Listed are the ways you can do to make up for the mistake:<br />● Be honest. Admit the truth and send your apologies to the blog, forum, or news site. <br />● Express your intentions to correct the situation. Enumerate the steps that you&#39;re going to take to rectify the situation. <br />● Be the bigger person. If the insults are so over the top already, just be calm and handle things professionally.<br /> <br /></font></p><h4><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Hope is always there</font></h4><p align="justify"><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">At the end of the day, you have to determine whether to act on the negative publicity on your brand. A bad reputation can have both a positive and negative effect. Your customers can shy away from your brand or your business will draw more attention inspite a bad image, admittedly, people love controversies. But, as much as possible, it&#39;s better to have e clean slate, especially if you have high risk business, your high risk brand already has a pre-conceived controversial image. Ultimately aim for a good reputation because that&#39;s where the profits will be coming from.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </font></p>