Fight, Flight or Flood – How to Respond to a Negative Online Buzz about You or Your Business

People talk about things that are meaningful to them. They’ve been talking about products, brands, businesses and people offline since the first means of communication were created. Therefore, it’s not surprising that people today talk on the social Web. The global conversation is loud and powerful, and it can positively or negatively affect your, your brand, and your business.

But what should you do when someone says something negative about you or your business online?

This is one of the most common fears of individuals and businesses considering leveraging the social Web conversation to build their reputations, brands and businesses, and unfortunately, it’s one of the main reasons that people and companies are not getting the results they want and need from their social media efforts.

Don’t be afraid to let the audience take control of the conversation. That’s where the power of the social Web comes from in terms of building brands and businesses. And if someone publishes something negative about you or your business online, don’t try to squash the conversation. Overtly trying to control the conversation can do far more harm to your reputation than good. Instead, follow one of the three paths described below to effectively respond to a negative online buzz about you, your brand, or your business.

1. Fight

While you don’t want to appear controlling nor do you want to stop the online conversation (even if it’s negative), you can fight without looking like a bully. Join the conversation and nudge it in the right direction (i.e., the direction that is best for you and your business) by addressing misconceptions, admitting mistakes, and demonstrating your desire to fix them and put customers first. The more time you spend building your audience of brand advocates across the social Web, the more you’ll start to see those people standing up for you. Therefore, the fight path offers two effective options — nudging conversations yourself and allowing your band of brand advocates to nudge it for you. [Read more]

5 Guaranteed Ways to Establish Your Reputation as an Expert via Social Media

My newest article on Forbes.com is called 5 Guaranteed Ways to Establish Your Reputation as an Expert in Your Field via Social Media and explains the 5 simple steps you need to take to build your online brand.

Those five steps are:

1. Publish shareworthy content.
2. Go multimedia.
3. Leverage the features of social media tools.
4. Join organizations and groups that actively seek experts for media opportunities.
5. Integrate and cross promote your efforts.

You can get all the details by following the above link to read the full article.  Also, don’t forget to inject your personality into your online communications!

Apple’s iPhone – It’s an Instrument, Too!

Who knew when Apple released the iPhone to much fanfare that it would be where it is today?  Sure, it seemed obvious that it would change the cell phone market.  The touch screen is great, and everything with that little Apple logo immediately seems cooler than any other similar product, but who new the term “iPhone app” would permeate our culture to rival Twitter in terms of being buzzworthy? 

And who would have thought that the iPhone can also be used as an instrument?  But alas, there’s an app for that.  It’s like the Swiss Army Knife of telephonic gadgetry!

According to an article from The Register, musician Gary Go has a new stage show the likes of which have never been seen before.  He’s heading out on tour with just one instrument — his iPhone.  He’ll be performing at Wembley in London in July — just a guy and his iPhone.   Whatever happens while Gary Go and his iPhone are on tour, it’s great publicity for Apple.

Your thoughts?

Image: Flickr