Right?

No.  Dangerously wrong.

Weber Shandwick recently released a new report called The Company Behind The Brand: In Reputation We Trust [PDF] that breaks down exactly why business owners should be concerned with the online footprint they’re leaving (or not leaving) behind.  One of the most interesting parts of the report for me was the finding that any disconnect between corporate and brand reputation triggers a sharp consumer reaction.  That means even if your product or service is excellent…if the image of your brand is less than stellar, it will still hurt you.

According to the report, when a consumer learns that a product they like is made by a company they have a negative relationship with (54 percent of consumers responded they’ve experienced this), 96 percent of consumers took some kind of action.

What kind of action?

The most frequent response was that consumers stopped purchasing the product (40 percent).  In fact, surprised consumers were twice as likely to STOP buying the product as they were to continue to buy it.  And this is a product they originally admitted to liking!  That was pretty startling to me.  Just as noteworthy – consumers who didn’t immediately stop buying the product went online to try and learn more about the company.

Both of these statements speak to the importance of creating a positive Web presence.

1. Consumers are using social word of mouth, online reviews, and other online content to form a judgment about your company. The judgment they form is then strongly tied to whether or not they decide to purchase your product.
2. When consumers are conflicted, they go to the Internet to answer the “should I trust you” question. They’re then using the information they find about your brand to help them make that decision.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not trying to target a national audience. Local consumers are using the Web to find information about local businesses. It’s up to you to make sure they’re finding the right kind of information.

What should every small business be doing to help build their Web presence?

1. Create a Web site: Your brand Facebook profile or Google+ business page is great. But your business still needs a Web site. Some place where you can talk about your product/services, establish credibility, introduce your team, offer resources, and be found for hyper-local keywords.
2. Blog: There are few better ways to build industry authority than with an active blog. Producing content on a regular basis also ensures there’s always something you can promote and be found for.
3. Get involved in social media: Maybe that means getting active on Twitter or Facebook. Or maybe it means developing a presence on a Q&A site like Quora or participating in a small business networking site like BizSugar. Either way, find out where your audience is engaging online, and set up a satellite community there. Talk to your audience and let them get to know you on a more human level. Just don’t get too human.
4. Get involved in your community: Whether it’s sponsoring your town’s little league team, speaking at local events, or putting together an industry-related group at the local high school, by getting involved in the community that you live in you help to build a positive reputation offline, which can then carry online when people write about your efforts, link to sponsors, etc.
5. Guest blog on relevant sites: Guest blogging is a great way to build goodwill, establish industry credibility, and introduce your company to people in other networks.
6. Solicit & manage online reviews: This is a biggie and it’s only becoming more important. We’re going to sites like Yelp, Google Place Pages, TripAdvisor, etc, to learn how the experiences others had with your brand. Make sure you’re not only doing what you can to encourage customers to leave reviews, but positively responding to any negative or neutral comments that may be there. You not only help save that relationship, but you show everyone else who may find that review in the search results that you’re listening, you care, and that you hear them.

Online reputation management is important for businesses of any size. It’s about creating a positive Web presence to make your brand one that people trust and want to engage with.  Because, as the report mentioned above shows, it doesn’t matter how great your product is – if people don’t trust you, they won’t be interested in it.

Does this task seem daunting to you?  GAP Consulting can help!  Contact us for a free consultation and let’s figure out together the best strategy for you to establish and maintain a great online reputation for your business!

Contact us here, or call 916.768.0265 for Gregg.

Helping Small Business is What We Do

leclick.net/click;h=v8/3c0c/0/0/%2a/u;44306;0-0;0;24684218;29174-920/170;0/0/0;u=_fmnu5010104d9f5b794b3265362f55998095_fmlc079509b39fe83ac3425a4ded060a079df_fmvc079509b39fe83ac3425a4ded060a079df;%7Eokv=;sz=920×170;fmzid=1757;;fmcls=ATF;tile=1;qcseg=D;qcseg=T;qcseg=2893;qcseg=2781;qcseg=2361;qcseg=2340;qcseg=2338;qcseg=1213;qcseg=1155;qcseg=1152;qcseg=1151;qcseg=1150;qcseg=1145;qcseg=1144;bizo=location-california,industry-business_services,functional_area-csuite,company_size-micro,seniority-executive,group-small_business_professional;fmkw=smallbusinessowner;u=_fmnu5010104d9f5b794b3265362f55998095_fmlc079509b39fe83ac3425a4ded060a079df_fmvc079509b39fe83ac3425a4ded060a079df;;%7Eaopt=2/1/5c/0;%7Esscs=%3f” target=”_top”>

Right?

No.  Dangerously wrong.

Weber Shandwick recently released a new report called The Company Behind The Brand: In Reputation We Trust [PDF] that breaks down exactly why business owners should be concerned with the online footprint they’re leaving (or not leaving) behind.  One of the most interesting parts of the report for me was the finding that any disconnect between corporate and brand reputation triggers a sharp consumer reaction.  That means even if your product or service is excellent…if the image of your brand is less than stellar, it will still hurt you.

According to the report, when a consumer learns that a product they like is made by a company they have a negative relationship with (54 percent of consumers responded they’ve experienced this), 96 percent of consumers took some kind of action.

What kind of action?

The most frequent response was that consumers stopped purchasing the product (40 percent).  In fact, surprised consumers were twice as likely to STOP buying the product as they were to continue to buy it.  And this is a product they originally admitted to liking!  That was pretty startling to me.  Just as noteworthy – consumers who didn’t immediately stop buying the product went online to try and learn more about the company.

Both of these statements speak to the importance of creating a positive Web presence.

1. Consumers are using social word of mouth, online reviews, and other online content to form a judgment about your company. The judgment they form is then strongly tied to whether or not they decide to purchase your product.
2. When consumers are conflicted, they go to the Internet to answer the “should I trust you” question. They’re then using the information they find about your brand to help them make that decision.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not trying to target a national audience. Local consumers are using the Web to find information about local businesses. It’s up to you to make sure they’re finding the right kind of information.

What should every small business be doing to help build their Web presence?

1. Create a Web site: Your brand Facebook profile or Google+ business page is great. But your business still needs a Web site. Some place where you can talk about your product/services, establish credibility, introduce your team, offer resources, and be found for hyper-local keywords.
2. Blog: There are few better ways to build industry authority than with an active blog. Producing content on a regular basis also ensures there’s always something you can promote and be found for.
3. Get involved in social media: Maybe that means getting active on Twitter or Facebook. Or maybe it means developing a presence on a Q&A site like Quora or participating in a small business networking site like BizSugar. Either way, find out where your audience is engaging online, and set up a satellite community there. Talk to your audience and let them get to know you on a more human level. Just don’t get too human.
4. Get involved in your community: Whether it’s sponsoring your town’s little league team, speaking at local events, or putting together an industry-related group at the local high school, by getting involved in the community that you live in you help to build a positive reputation offline, which can then carry online when people write about your efforts, link to sponsors, etc.
5. Guest blog on relevant sites: Guest blogging is a great way to build goodwill, establish industry credibility, and introduce your company to people in other networks.
6. Solicit & manage online reviews: This is a biggie and it’s only becoming more important. We’re going to sites like Yelp, Google Place Pages, TripAdvisor, etc, to learn how the experiences others had with your brand. Make sure you’re not only doing what you can to encourage customers to leave reviews, but positively responding to any negative or neutral comments that may be there. You not only help save that relationship, but you show everyone else who may find that review in the search results that you’re listening, you care, and that you hear them.

Online reputation management is important for businesses of any size. It’s about creating a positive Web presence to make your brand one that people trust and want to engage with.  Because, as the report mentioned above shows, it doesn’t matter how great your product is – if people don’t trust you, they won’t be interested in it.

Does this task seem daunting to you?  GAP Consulting can help!  Contact us for a free consultation and let’s figure out together the best strategy for you to establish and maintain a great online reputation for your business!

Contact us here, or call 916.768.0265 for Gregg.

Helping Small Business is What We Do

Related Blogs

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At this new site you will find a variety of the Sacramento Community’s great businesses, who have come together to help each other build their businesses, refer other to them, and to share information and grow.  The new site is full of useful information for any business, and also has the latest local event information as well.

Check it out!  You’ll find a lot of good reading here.  Please leave your comments about the site there too so that we can make improvements as we go forward.

Consider joining our group if you are a small business!  Check out our Members page and see if what you do in your business is represented in our group.  If not, or unsure, please contact us for a free lunch!  That’s right, lunch is on us if you visit our group and see if we can be a useful group to help grow your business.

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Justice: Hackers steal 40 million credit card numbers
Story Highlights
11 people indicted in largest hacking case, Department of Justice says
Defendants are from across the globe: U.S.; Estonia; Belarus; China
They allegedly hacked into the computer systems of nine major U.S. retailers
Documents say the group installed “sniffer” programs to capture card numbers
(CNN) — Eleven people were indicted Tuesday for allegedly stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers, federal authorities said.
The indictments, which alleged that at least nine major U.S. retailers were hacked, were unsealed Tuesday in Boston, Massachusetts, and San
Diego, California, prosecutors said.
It is believed to be the largest hacking case that the Justice Department has ever tried to prosecute.
Three of the defendants are from the United States; three are from Estonia; three are from Ukraine, two are from China and one is from Belarus.
The remaining individual is known only by an alias and authorities do not know where that person is.
Under the indictments, three Miami, Florida, men — Albert “Segvec” Gonzalez, Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey — are accused of hacking
into the wireless computer networks of retailers including TJX Companies, whose stores include Marshall’s and T.J. Maxx, BJ’s Wholesale Club,
OfficeMax, Barnes and Noble and Sports Authority, among others.
The three men installed “sniffer” programs designed to capture credit card numbers, passwords and account information as they moved through the
retailers’ card processing networks, said Michael Sullivan, the U.S. attorney in Boston.
“This has other personal numbers that could give them access to credit or debit cards that have already been issued and are active,” Sullivan told
CNN.
The probe began in late 2006, Sullivan said. In addition to the Justice Department, the Secret Service has been conducting an undercover investigation
for more than three years through the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego, he said.
The three then concealed the data in encrypted computer servers they controlled in the United States and eastern Europe, the Justice Department
said.
Some credit and debit card numbers were sold on the Internet, and were “cashed out” by encoding the numbers on the magnetic strips of blank cards.
“The defendants then used these cards to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars at a time from ATMs,” authorities said.
Gonzalez and the others used anonymous Internet-based currencies to conceal and launder their proceeds, as well as channeling funds through bank
accounts in Eastern Europe, the department said.
“There are ties between all three districts and ties internationally that go all the way to the Ukraine and Latvia,” Sullivan said. “The 41 million credit
and debit numbers were used internationally.”
Gonzalez was previously arrested in 2003 by the Secret Service on suspicion of access device fraud, the Department of Justice said, and was
working as a confidential informant for the agency. However, the Secret Service discovered during the investigation that Gonzalez was involved in
this case, authorities said.

The California indictment charged eight others with operating an international stolen credit and debit card distribution ring, selling stolen card
information for personal gain — millions of dollars, in at least one case, authorities said.

Three of the defendants in the most recent case, among them Gonzalez, were also charged in May in a related indictment in New York, Justice said.
Those charges allege the three were engaged in a scheme to hack into computer networks run by the Dave & Buster’s restaurant chain and steal
credit and debit card numbers from at least 11 locations.
The three installed “sniffer” programs at the cash register terminals of the locations, capturing credit and debit card numbers, authorities said. At one
location, the sniffer captured data for some 5,000 cards, causing some $600,000 in losses to the banks that issued the credit and debit cards.
Gonzalez is awaiting trial on the New York charges. The other two of the international defendants are also in custody, police said.
“Identity theft can involve a single criminal stealing the personal financial information of a single victim or, as it did here, it can involve a group of
criminals stealing the credit card numbers of millions of people, many of whom may not even learn that they were victims for months or years,” said
Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
“Identity theft victims suffer well beyond the immediate financial costs; they suffer lost confidence in their privacy and security, as well as the
emotional strain and the time it can take to repair damaged financial lives and credit histories. In many cases, the effects of these crimes can be felt
for years after they are committed.”
Mukasey and other officials said the case serves as a reminder that computer crimes can cross international borders.
“We have been working with countries around the world to identify and address technical vulnerabilities in computer networks, and to ensure that
laws and procedures are adequate to deal with these kinds of crime,” Mukasey said. “And we have been working closely with our international
partners to crack specific cases when they take us beyond our borders.”
All AboutU.S. Department of Justice • Identity Theft
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/05/card.fraud.charges/index.html

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Internet Advertising Marketing

Internet Advertising Marketing is crucial today as over 80% of people will go online to research goods or services before they buy–even though they increasingly like to do business locally.  That means that if your business isn’t online you are losing the lion’s share of the business available in your market to a competing business who is online.

Think that investing in online advertising is expensive?  Think again!

It’s actually much less than you might think.  Certainly less than most conventional methods of advertising that are losing effectiveness daily.

Ever hear of any newspapers going out of business in the US?

Ever heard any of your fellow businesspeople (maybe even you?) complain that they are just not getting the return from those yellow books anymore?  Statistically 65% of us don’t even open them anymore.

What about radio?  In this era, with vehicles having 18 presets and satellite radio growing in popularity each year, it’s harder than ever to be heard in that medium.

TV?  Do you own a DVR?  Many people do, with the number growing daily.  Why?  So we can fast forward through the commercials!  And TV is pretty pricey too.

But the internet is growing like a crazy with business numbers online nearly doubling each year.

Better yet, we can set you up to be found by targeted local customers, in zip codes that you choose.  And we can do that for you whether you have a website or not!

GAP Consulting is your online marketing partner.  We utilize a state-of-the-art advertising platform that will not only get you found when customers search for what you do (on all the major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and more) but also “push out” your business on the web to hundreds of high traffic sites especially when content on those pages suggests a match with your business.

The idea is simple.  Get the message in front of local customers who are more likely to buy from you when they are surfing, and nearly all of them when they are searching for what you can provide for them.  Google calls it the Content Network.  We call it effective.

Of course, internet advertising marketing isn’t the only thing we can do to help your business.

Take a look around this site and discover all the ways GAP can help you grow or protect your business today!

CALL Today @ 916.768.0265

or email at gponath@gapconsults.com

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