Over at Mashable, I wrote a pretty comprehensive guest post about online reputation management for businesses. It's not as comprehensive as my new book, but hopefully it will whet your appetite.
Here are the first two steps:
1. Know your achilles heel
Do you know your weaknesses? No, seriously! I don't mean the "we try too hard to please our customers" bunk. Do you know the flaws in your products, the areas of your service that suck, or the member of your management team most likely to stick his foot firmly in his mouth?
If Kryptonite had known their locks could be picked with Bic pen, they might have been able to react faster to the meme that spread like a virus. You might not be able to correct your company's flaws but, by being honest about them now, you can better prepare should they become the topic of a reputation attack.
2. Assume everything will make it's way to the web
You should assume that every phone conversation will be taped, every internal memo leaked, and every hallway conversation shared with a blogger. No matter what policies you put in place, not matter how many times you tell a journalist something is "off the record" you should utter only the words you'd want to see on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
This is at the essence of being radically transparent-the message you share behind closed doors should match the one you share with employees, customers, and investors.
Want to read tips 3 to 10? Head over to Mashable.
Pilgrim's Update: Save 34% off Andy's new book - Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online
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