Online Reputation, A World Wide Importance

If you're a business owner in the United States, you may think that your online reputation is not going to be relevant in any other country. However, this is not the type of mindset that you should have. Onlinereputation management is an approach that people across the globe are starting to take part of--they are taking the right steps before negative content harms their brand name.

Choosing a firm that will help maintain your online reputation is more of a necessity nowadays, rather than a luxury. Negative content can harm your name at any given point and it does not have any remorse in doing so. A negative online reputation will cost you customers, and you cannot run a successful business if you do not have customers. The United States are the first ones to have an impact and show how important onlinereputation management is. Other nations, such as the UK, are going towards this direction as well.

Centel Media™ is one of the most reputable companies out there for dealing with online reputation management. The experts and professionals working at this company understand the importance of your online reputation and they take the proper measures to build clients a strong and positive online reputation. These are the type of people you want building and working with you in order to achieve a positive online reputation.

Choosing an online reputation management company is not something that you should ignore. It is very easy for your competitors to harm your name by adding negative comments or any type of negative content. Many business owners have taken the steps in hiring an online reputation management company before their name is harmed by negative content. Do not wait and do not give your competitors the upper hand when it comes to your image on the internet.

The reason why online reputationmanagement is important is due to the fact that anyone can Google your name and come up with information regarding your brand. Your business should expand nationwide, or at least have the idea in doing so. That is why it is important to management your brand, or better yet, hire an online reputation management company that can help you build the reputation you want.

Trust in Corporate America

Corporations in America have developed a bad reputation in recent years. Notorious corporate failures that coincided with the country's economic collapse created more distrust between Americans and large corporations. They continue to advertise about their desire to help America grow, take care of their employees and provide Americans with unique and helpful services, but people continue to see corporate Goliaths as poorly-run, uncaring and elitist, taking away much clout from their proclaimed intentions. To regain the trust corporations have lost, they need to understand the faults of past failures and prove, through transparency, that they have learned and want to change old corporate culture.

The distrust starts at the top, with corporate leadership. CEOs and board members are seen as selfish and uncaring for their shareholders and employees. Large paychecks and cushy benefits spoil the image of top-level suits and hinder any progress in regaining the people's trust. Perceived or exposed corruption at the top of big name giants have ruined the image of all corporations and fueled America's anger. A lack of information is the main culprit in this regard, forcing the people to create their own perception of a conglomerate without being given a glimpse of how that company operates.

Further down the chain, a corporation is judged by what product or service it provides. A company without a reasonably priced, quality product will never gain favor from prospective buyers or investors. A bad product shows a lack of respect for the customer and gives the impression that the corporate giant behind the product only cares about cutting corners to save money and protecting their own interests. So, it is critical for companies to back up what they claim and sell something that represents their care for the consumer. Taking the customer's point of view into consideration is vital in recapturing American trust, but without proof that the ways of the corporate world have changed, the wound will never heal.

The people need a sign that corporations truly want to be on their side, not against them. Being truthful and admitting to the things done wrong will show a sense of responsibility and begin to bridge the divide. But, ultimately, Americans want proof. They want to know that companies truly mean what they say. If corporations really want to earn back the trust they lost, then they must give some in return. 

Common Missteps in Hotel Management

Hotels are held up to high standards, and if any guest runs into serious negligence by management, then that hotel will be hit hard with negative reviews and bad publicity. To stay in front of possible problems, hotels must be aware of the most common problems that guests come into contact with when staying overnight. After a guest invests money and the fate of their trip or vacation in a hotel, they develop a sensitive judgment of that hotel's appearance, comfort and hospitality. The success or failure of a hotel lies in guest reaction and opinion of how well their stay at the hotel went. Topping the list of complaints that ruin hotel credibility are poor customer service and environment.

A guest expects the hotel staff to treat them with warmth and maintain an obligation to fulfill any request they make. Staff must listen to their guests and give them any available service to help them stay comfortable and adjusted to their temporary home. Poorly managed hotels often have staff that seem disinterested and simply want to get their paycheck and leave. Finding staff that are friendly and can offer good insight into the area surrounding the hotel are essential, because unhelpful, rude or lazy staff automatically shatters hotel credibility and detracts from a guest's stay.

Even if the staff is friendly, a bad environment will leave guests with a spoiled view of the hotel. A room that has bugs, stains, poor design or noisy surroundings all are common problems with badly run hotels. Staff must clean the room every day that a guest stays, because negligence will be noticed. Stale design and a boring or nonexistent window view injure an initial reaction and take away from any excitement generated from arriving at the hotel. Noisy neighbors and close proximity to loud ice machines or the swimming pool may enrage guests who are trying to get some sleep.

Well-run hotels put customer service and maintenance at the forefront. Hotels need to do whatever they can to ensure that guests don't hear much outside noise, are provided with daily cleaning service and arrive with a comfortable room to stay. Good managers look for any and all ways to accommodate each of their guests and hold up the standard that all hotels should swear by. 

The Pitfalls of Facebook: How to Avoid Them

Facebook has numerous benefits that stretch from personal networking to building a business. However, Facebook also has a dark side, one that can injure your appearance and deter any progress you've made in whatever interest you're pursuing through your page. The positives that make social media sites like Facebook so popular and useful can often come back to bite you if you don't take precaution into what you do and say on your page or someone else's. An even scarier aspect of Facebook comes in the form of the things you can't control. If you want to keep ahead of any possible problems that may arise through your use of Facebook, then think your actions through and take the time to properly input privacy settings.

The most common pitfall in Facebook comes through the posts and pictures you yourself put up. One such mistake is to post something up that you only want a select group to see and end up having the whole world see it anyway. For example, if you're a rebellious teenager still living with your parents and put up an invitation on Facebook for a house party that you want to have when your parents are gone, there may be a chance you forget that one of your many Facebook friends is actually a family member who then finds out and sells you out to your parents (oops). So, make sure you check and double-check who can see what you post if you want to keep something secret.

Then, there are the things you can't control on social media, which can end up being your worst nightmare. With the astounding number of people on sites like Facebook, you're almost hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't have a page. So, through Facebook, other users can post pictures of themselves and friends at any time and any place. If a friend of yours tags you on a picture you're in, and this picture is embarrassing or something you don't want to be shown, then your humiliation is visible to everyone. Make sure to choose wisely when asked if you want to be tagged in a photo and take detrimental pictures off your page if you must.

These common problems on Facebook occur frequently, but luckily there's an easy solution. Change your Facebook settings to your liking, so that only the people you want to view your page are the ones who can.

Zeroing In

For many people it is a dream come true to own, operate and control their own business. All the hard work has led to this day and it is straight to the top from there. But, the hard work is not done yet. You have to know what audience you are targeting before you start your business. Make sure the message and products you have are clear and concise and targeted to the right audience.

Knowing the audience you are targeting starts way before you begin to operate. When you have your internal team together, from there you can brainstorm and decide what products belong to each audience. Research is going to be very important for you--it will help determine what product and services to match to your unique blend of customers. As an owner, it is important that you are able to really understand who your customers will be, what they like and how you can give it to them.

Marketing is more than just another way to promote and bring attention to your products and services. It is a deep connection to the audience in which you are trying to reach. Marketing over the years has evolved and today it can make or break a company, especially one that is just starting out. It is very important that when you market your product you don't include any messages they may be deemed offensive or culturally insensitive.

Global business has allowed you to expand into countries that have different cultural practices then the one you currently call home. That is why I mentioned research earlier in this blog, because if you are going to make a commercial or post a billboard up, it is important that you know what is appropriate to post or show on television without being offensive.

Once you have all the important tasks taken care of, you can move on and get into really operating your business. It is important that you know who you are targeting so you can give them the best product and service that will best suit their needs. When the time is right you can expand your horizons by either adding more products to your inventory or globally doing business. Whatever you choose to do just make sure you have a clear idea of who you want your products to reach.

Reaching the right audience may seem like a piece of cake, but it can get very confusing if you don't do your research beforehand. Know who you are targeting before you begin the process of offering service.

It Was All Good a Week Ago

When the mighty fall, they fall hard. I am not trying to kick a person while he is down, or poke fun, but the lack of humility that one has demonstrated while at the top is one reason there is little sympathy. You can always get back up and dust yourself off, but the journey back will be even harder than it was before and twice as hard to maintain. You have attention, all eyes on you. That is, after all, what you craved isn't it? But those eyes are anxiously waiting for you to fall again so they can stand tall over you.

I always felt humility will take you so far in life, farther than any dollar will ever take you. You could lose it all, but if you were humble and the people that supported you remembered that, you will thrive. You might not be as rich but the strength and love you are getting from your fans will more than make up for that.

Many business owners have the fortune but lack the humility. They are treading on thin ice. With regulations becoming tighter, one slip up and the gates to negative publicity will open. And you won't get one thread of sympathy from anyone.

But, I’ll lay off the big wigs for a bit and scale it down to the smaller owners. These are the smaller owners who have dreams of making it big and can. However, they lack simplicity and that will cost them. When you are in this stage of your career, it is important to know that aside from your hard work it's the customers who keep you going. They allow you to continue to operate by giving you their business in exchange for your services.

While it is only natural for you to get bigger and expand, you cannot forget those that helped you get there. More often than not you hear about small businesses that have become huge conglomerates, but they are in the press for all the wrong reasons. This included being sued by former partners and dealing with ethics violations, just to name a few. It is headlines like this that people remember. When you fall, you're going to be up against a wall and you're going to be looking for support from those same customers that you shunned.

Humility will allow you to live on forever. Even after you are gone, if your company is still around the image of it will be one of much humility.

Projection

I bet if we had the ability to see into the future we would change what we do today to ensure that we would be better off in our future. But unfortunately we don't have the power to do that so as mere mortals we are stuck trying to make today a better day for tomorrow. Projection is a heavily used word in business and sports; it is based on how others see you doing in the future and how you will fare against sudden changes and events.

Where do you see yourself five, ten or fifteen years from now? What are the projections for your business that the so called experts have forecasted for you? While it can be very good to have your company named in projections, the work you put in is going to be the real projection for growth. What people can assume your business will do is one thing, but only you can come up with the results not any expert forecast.

Who is to say that projections are correct, after all many of times people have projected a stock to rise or a team to win the championship only to see the stock fall and the team not even make the playoffs. There is little weight held in a projection in fact there is none at all. If you ask a CEO of what he thinks about his projected company quarterly earnings he would say he could care less. The same with the coach of a professional sports team, ask them if they care and the response you get back would be filled with expletives.

The point I am trying to make is when you are starting the projections that people will make for your business will be downright depressing. Let that be your inspiration to succeed rather than be intimidating. I started off this blog with the thought of all humans being able to see into the future and what that would mean. Those experts who make those projections are trying to possess that power but they fall very short. And not only do they fall short they are wrong half of the time! Some power they have they should get their money back. Projections are filled with human error but hard work is filled with blood, sweat, tears and the desire to not lose and be successful.

Hard work can't be projected or forecasted. It is only measured by how much you put into your business and the return it gives you in the form of success.