Protecting Your Good Name ~ updated to correct link

The age of WEB 2.0 has brought with it power that can be weld in a wrong way.  If in your business endeavors you end up working with a web savvy consumer who feels you've done him wrong, he could be slinging mud at you from cyberspace. 

It is so easy these days to leave nasty comments on blogs or forums.  There are sites where a consumer can write an unsavory note about you and your company, you may never know it's out there. How many people could be looking at it before you find out?  How much lost business is it causing you?  What about your reputation?  The importance of keeping on top of your good name is obvious.

How do you know if someone is talking about you in cyberspace?

You can periodically go "google" yourself.  But if you are looking for a consistent, automated results consider setting up a RSS feed that searches for your name and your company's name.  Monitoring it this way you can find mentions of you and your business quickly.

Setting up an RSS feed to monitor is easy.  Most people have a Gmail account, if not it's easy to get one.  Once registered with Google the next step is to get Google Reader (it's FREE!). Here's the link http://www.google.com/reader/

Sign in to Google Reader and look for the "Add subscription" button.

To manage your reputation now configure the reader to send you alerts on the following keywords:

• Your business name
• Your domain name
• Your company name

The following urls are what you should modify with your website and your own names and add to the Google reader

 For your website:

Technorati   http://feeds.technorati.com/search/YOURWEBSITEHERE.com
Blogsearch   http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?q=YOURWEBSITEHERE.com
Blogpulse     http://www.blogpulse.com/rss?query=YOURWEBSITEHERE.com
RSS Sphere  http://rss.sphere.com/rss?q=YOURWEBSITEHERE.com

For configuring your name, it is necessary to add the "+" sign between each word.  Use this format:

Technorati  http://feeds.technorati.com/search/%22kristal+kraft%22
Blogsearch  http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?q=%22kristal+kraft%22
Blogpulse    http://www.blogpulse.com/rss?query=%22kristal+kraft%22
RSS Sphere http://rss.sphere.com/rss?q=%22kristal+kraft%22

Knowledge is Power

No one wants unhappy customers, but when it happens, you are entitled to know so you can hopefully correct the problem.  If the consumer tries to get even online, at least now you will know and can take the appropriate action.

Kristal Kraft, Realtor selling Denver Real Estate and celebrating 10 YEARS of Web presence! 1997+