Bite Your Tongue If you're afraid of what people will find if they do an online search of your name or company, follow this tips to clean up your image.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
If a potential client were to plug my name into a search engineto get the scoop on the real me, he or she would find:
questions and advice I posted to freelance writers'discussion boards; articles I've written for online magazines, plus my ownWeb site; and
a really, really (and I mean really) smutty joke called"Blowing Chunks" that I posted to a moderated humore-mail list in 1995.
The good news is, the Internet lets you keep in contact withyour customers and potential customers quickly, easily and cheaply.The bad news, according to John R. Levine, co-author of The Internet for Dummies (IDG BooksWorldwide), is that everything you've ever posted, sent orcreated online is probably still out there somewhere, waiting forthe chance to blindside you and your business.
What will your current and prospective customers find when theyplug your name or business name into a search engine? Ifyou're afraid to find out, read on to learn how to cultivate aninvincible Internet image.
Remember, you can't take it back. If youpost an expletive-laced flame and later come to regret it, youcan have it removed from the Deja News archives;unfortunately, however, "Deja News is merely the most popularof a bazillion news archives," says Levine. Since there'sno opportunity for damage control, you need to concentrate onprevention (avoiding online faux pas in the first place) andcover-up (doing enough good stuff online that all bad informationgets pushed to the back of search results).
Keep it professional. Remind your employeesthat when they send an e-mail from a company account,"it's just as much a correspondence from the company as ifthey'd written it on letterhead," says Levine.
Don't feed the trolls. If you've everhad a dissatisfied customer, you may someday happen upon a sitecalled "thiscompanysucks.com." What can you do to softenthis blow? Like the bully in grammar school, ignore it, and it willgo away. If you try to make the perpetrator take the site down,"47 mirror copies will go up," says Levine.
Participate in industry forums. Aside fromkeeping you up-to-date on your industry, posting to forums willhelp you impress customers and create a paper trail of your gooddeeds in the industry. Do this enough, and the giant mistake youposted will fall off search engines' radar.
Hit your target. You may be amazed by the newsreports of people hitting the wrong button and sending aconfidential e-mail to an entire address book of employees andcustomers. "Sometimes there's an alias called'all' or 'everyone' that's for everyone in theentire address book," explains Levine. "If someone typesthe subject line in the 'To' field and the subject happensto contain the word that is the alias for everyone, the e-mail goesout to everyone on the list."
Don't flame. If someone says somethingonline that makes you sizzle, go ahead and write a note full ofcuss words. Then put it aside for a few days to cool down. Afterall, as much as you want to get back at that jerk, do you reallywant customers to get a glimpse of your dark side?
Keep your guard up. Heed this advice even whenparticipating in private groups or sending personal e-mails. Younever know where your writings will turn up-as some of us learnedthe hard way.
Linda Formichelli has written for Redbook, Writer'sDigest and Nation's Business. She also writesmarketing columns for HomeOfficeMag.com. You can reach Lindaatlinda-eric@lserv.com.
