5 Online Reputation Management Tips for Green Business

16 April 2013

Unless you happen to be running Solyndra, chances are your green business doesn’t have a reputation so terrible that it is beyond repair. And yet, in this era of unprecedented connectivity, when anyone can post anything online, you may find that your company has developed something of a bad rap in cyberspace. This could be due to customer complaints, you may have received negative reviews from media outlets, or your competitors could be assaulting you through the anonymous platforms available on the internet. No matter what has caused you to develop a negative reputation online, though, you need to nip it in the bud. A huge number of consumers now use the internet to suss out the relative appeal of a company before they buy. So if you want your eco-efforts to succeed you absolutely must do everything you can to ensure a good online reputation. Here are just a few management tips that should help you to clean up your image online.

1. Pay attention. The first step to managing your reputation is to become aware of what people are saying about you in the online arena. If you ignore negative commentary and reviews you can’t hope to combat them. You might find, for example, that there are areas of your business operations you can improve in order to address consumer complaints. If customers are upset about faulty products or lackluster service, you’re in luck, because these are problems you have the ability to fix. You’re bound to have criticism that is vague and unfounded, as well, and there’s little you can do to combat this (although you can always request that it be removed, it’s ultimately up to the hosting site to decide). So becoming aware of complaints and addressing the ones you can is a good place to start when it comes to managing your online reputation.
2. Stake your claim. One of the best ways to manage a reputation online is to claim ownership of branded space. This means purchasing domain names so that squatters (or competitors) don’t snap them up. And you should also make an effort to create profiles on social networking sites as a way to stop others from doing it for you.
3. Optimize. Part of managing an online reputation successfully involves taking steps to control content and create a positive message. In order to do this you need to ensure that your efforts are doing double duty. Rather than simply creating web pages or penning a blog, you need to optimize content. If you do it right you can make sure that when people come looking for you online they find just what you want them to.
4. Participate in social media. Unless you hire an army of ghost-tweeters you can’t hope to achieve adequate coverage on every social media outlet. But you can make targeted efforts to control your online reputation by focusing on a couple of social networking sites that are bound to provide you with the greatest benefits. As a professional, you might want to hit up LinkedIn, and where customers are concerned, options like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube (just to name a few) may provide you with the outreach options and vast audience you seek. But since you’re operating a green business, you should also look into social media platforms geared towards your genre.
5. Get help. You’ll no doubt discover that online reputation management requires more time and effort than you can afford, especially if someone seems to have it out for you. In this case an online service could give you the results you want. Although the process can be pricy, it might be worth it if your business improves as a result.

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Is Cloud Computing Really Green?

22 March 2013

One of the main benefits of cloud computing – well, aside from convenience – is the fact that it has been touted as an eco-friendly way to store and access all kinds of files and media. And when you think about consumers downloading content rather than purchasing discs with media, not to mention all the manufacturing, packaging, and shipping that comes with them, it does seem like a green alternative to standard consumer goods. What about the people who store entire digital libraries in this manner? Just think about how many trees could have been cut down for paper copies of those books. But before you go shouting about how environmentally responsible cloud storage is, you may want to hold the phone for just a minute. It might not be quite as green as you’ve been led to believe. Let’s see if we can crack the code and separate the fact from the fiction.

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Best Practices for Green Business Travel

27 November 2012

There’s a great deal of potential for fun when you go traveling, but those who travel for business are usually a bit less on the fun side of things–generally speaking. When you go traveling for business, you might lose hours of sleep, skip meals, and do any number of other things to get the job done. However, this is no time to forget about your environmental consciousness. Going green is more than just an at-home pursuit. You should be doing your best to be eco-friendly at all times, and this includes your business travels. So how can you stay green on your business travels?

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