Successful Blog

Negative Reviews and Consumer Complaints: How Your Business Can Keep a Positive Image

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Rich Gorman

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How Your Business Can Keep a Positive Image

Business owners typically take a lot of pride in the goods and services they offer. Hearing a consumer offer positive feedback, then, is one of the best feelings a business owner can experience. By contrast, negative reviews and customer complaints tend to sting. They tend to hit where it hurts —- at the business owner’s own sense of pride and accomplishment.

Negative Reviews and Customer Complaints

Unfortunately, negative reviews and customer complaints don’t just hurt a business owner’s pride. They also hurt a business owner’s sales. That’s never been truer than it is today, in the Age of Google, Bing, and most importantly, perhaps Yelp.

The Trouble with Online Reviews

Yelp and consumer review sites like it have effectively become the new word of mouth. Study after study finds that consumers turn to these review sites before making big purchases, and that they trust the information they find there. What this means is that online reviews and consumer complaints can prove massively influential over consumer behavior — good news if your business’ reviews are excellent across the board, but bad news if they are not.

The trouble here is that no business owner can trust that his or her reviews will always be positive. A negative review or an online complaint can come from any number of sources, so simply ensuring that you offer excellent products and superior services is not enough. A bad review could be planted by a business rival, or even by a disgruntled ex-employee.

These reviews can be disastrous to any business. But the good news is, there are steps that you, as a business owner, can take to minimize their visibility and negate their effects.

Watch Out for Your Online Reputation

If your company has any kind of an online presence at all, then it has an online reputation. The question you need to answer is simply this: Is your online reputation a positive one or a negative one? If a consumer searches for your brand name, does that consumer find information about how wonderful your company is; or does the consumer find one-star reviews and customer complaints?

Knowing where your business stands is crucial. That’s why it’s important to search for your brand name on a regular basis. There are a couple of professional tips that will make this a little more efficient:

  1. Set up Google and Yahoo alerts, which will let you know when any new online listings appear. This will help ensure that you have up-to-date information delivered directly to your inbox.
  2. Log out of Google before you search for yourself. Google, after all, offers personalized search results. If it knows that you own the business, it may try to protect your feelings, and hide the negative stuff that’s out there. Logging out ensures that your data is more objective.

Protect Yourself from Defamation

The next step is to build a strong, defensive wall — enhancing your brand and keeping your company insulated against negative reviews. The underlying concept here is that you cannot stop bad reviews from being written, but you can keep them from being seen. If the first page of Google is filled with positive information about your brand, then the negative stuff will be relegated to page 2 or 3, where it will do little or no damage to your brand’s online reputation.

Protecting yourself starts with registering for exact-match domain names, which will rank well on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. For instance, if your company is called Braverman Industries, make sure that you’re the owner not just of bravermanindustries.com, but also .org and .net. These sites will help you fill out that first page of search results. Signing up for exact-match account names, on Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest, is also helpful.

Merely registering for these accounts is not enough. You also need to be proactive in building your brand, by using these domains and social media accounts to publish positive, brand-enhancing content. The more content you’re able to publish, the better insulated you will be against the threat of damaging online reviews.

Reviews Happen

Of course, there is no way to absolutely guarantee that negative reviews and customer complaints won’t happen, or that they won’t breach your defensive wall. The question, then, is how you, as a business owner, can respond. If the review is a positive one, of course, or even if it offers genuinely constructive feedback, then it’s important to simply be nice, grateful, and prompt with your response.

And when the review is flat-out negative, to the extent of being unreasonable or even defamatory? Don’t respond at all. Any response is only going to serve to lend that review search engine traction, which means more consumers will see it and you’ll have an even tougher time suppressing it. Avoid the response, and simply double down on your efforts at brand enhancement and Google insulation.

Author’s Bio:
Rich Gorman is a serial internet entrepreneur with an extensive background in direct marketing, affiliate marketing, and online reputation management. In addition, Rich manages the Direct Response industry’s official blog where he shares his thoughts on Direct Response Marketing. Currently, Rich leads the team at reputationchanger.com

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How to Gain Influence and Earn Trust – 3 Things to Be First

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Influence and Trust

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Two relationship words — influence and trust — can be found throughout this social business culture. Those of us who authentically enjoy the influence of high-trust relationships with a large audience are finding that to be almost a currency evidenced by the way that we are pursued.

Influence is valued because it wins attention, moves people to action, and sometimes even changes how and what people think. Trust is valued because it extends and deepens influence into a stronger bond. The power of influence and trust has become so studied, demonstrated, and valued that major corporations regularly include influencer outreach in their marketing strategic plans because a few words or a blog post from the right ones can bring thousands of potential customers to them.

How does a person gain influence and earn trust like that?

How to Gain Influence and Earn Trust – 3 Things to Be First

If you’re a person or a brand who wants to establish your own community of fiercely loyal fans, it’s natural that you’d be interested in how to gain influence and earn trust. Building a platform or making an offer as a means to attract an influence network establishes a fragile and at best. The sort of influence and trust that consistently moves people to action comes not from something that we build or offer, but who we are.

If you want to gain influence and earn trust, here are 3 things you need to be first.

  1. Be clear about your values. Be an example of your values in action. Values establish common ground. When we act from our values we attract people who share them. When we share values, it becomes easy to predict decisions you’ll make and responses you’ll have. So when you point something you believe in or recommend, we can trust that we’ll have the same experience of it.
  2. Be more than credible. Be honest. Trust is goes beyond believing to knowing. We trust people we know who are what they appear even when we’re not around. The only consistent way to live up to that is to be honest with everyone — including yourself — about your your competencies, your expectations, and your commitments. Take care not use honesty as a weapon. Trust is the hard truth spoken gently. Tell the truth with respect.
  3. Be a generous, collaborative, and open source. Bring your expertise and your beginner’s mind. Share information. Share expertise. Share your thinking — as a learner as well as a teacher. Share by introducing people who would benefit from knowing each other. Share in gratitude, without expectation of receiving back. Connecting people to good ideas and other good people with good ideas builds influence and trust. Keep your focus on valuing the people who already trust you and providing value for them. They will share you with their friends.

Take a long hard look at anyone who has a truly lasting network of influence and trust. You’ll find these three traits are attracting people to them. People who enjoy a position of influence and trust give attention, move to action, and often change how or what they think because of the people who listen to them.

Influence and trust aren’t one-way streets. No lasting grant of influence or endowment of trust will be gained or earned without an equal openness to influence and a willingness to trust. We think of influencers as teachers, but the greatest teachers never stop learning. And learning requires trust.

What have you learned about influence and trust?

Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Productivity and Focus: Avoid Relationship Detours in a Pay-It-Forward World

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Relationship Detours on the Road to Success

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Monday morning seems a good time to realign our focus, set new goals, dig in and get going on the week. How long does it take before something happens and you find you’ve been pulled off your path?

Avoid Relationship Detours?

A strong reason for deciding where we’re going and what we want to build, make happen, or become is that if we don’t chart out our own true path, other people will. Even after we decide on our destination — the mission and vision that will propel our business or our life — our own true nature can pull us away from that true path.

One of the coolest things about the internet is the community ethic that we’re here to help. I figure it comes from the fact that statistically we’re more alike than different.

  • We all have access to the internet.
  • We all can communicate in text
  • We all use the same tools to do that

Sometimes we even agree on what the tools can do for the world.

Productivity and Focus: Avoid Relationship Detours in a Pay-It-Forward World

Now we’ve started to move that social business ethic into the larger world. Whether we work at home, with a team, or for a company we love, contributing to the community is part of our own success. That community ethic makes it easy to reach out to new people who join us. We want to keep the culture that we’ve come to know and value. So why not show them how it works? Someone helped us when we got here. It’s a pay-it-forward world.

The downside of that can be relationship detours.

  • Are you so busy helping other folks that you’ve lost your own way?
  • Do ideas and projects that other folks propose take you away from your personal goals?
  • Do you spend more time on other folks’ success than your own?

Helping is good, but doing is necessary to get to where we want to go. You have to know where you’re going to know who to help. Time is a limited resource and focus is key to achieving our goals. So, when you choose to help, ask yourself if you’re extending the most help to people who are heading on a similar path. Then the help you give can be part of your learning, expertise, and growing skill sets.

And when folks expect you to set aside your own productivity to focus on theirs, remember that sometimes the most useful help is to show someone how to find the answers rather than to offer a hand.

Be generous with your time.
Share your expertise with abandon.
Help others achieve their goals without expecting something in return.
But know how to decline when what someone asks you will detour too far or too long off your true path.

How do you decide who gets your time and your help?

Knowing where you’re going in irresistible.
Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Online Surfing and Depression. Is There a Connection Between Them?

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Jack Samuelson

Depression is hard to diagnose, but the earlier symptoms are discovered, the better.

That is why a new study of Dr. Sriram Chellappan of Missouri University of Science and Technology could be a turning point in fighting depression. Dr. Chellappan and his associates found that students showing signs of depression use the Internet differently than other students.

Online Surfing and Depression. Is There a Connection Between Those Two?

According to Dr. Chellappan, his research could be a real breakthrough. That is because this is could be the first study based on actual Internet data, not surveys. Using surveys to retrieve the information about Internet usage was the main problem of previous studies. People usually forget the course of their online activity (especially if it was random), and even if they remember what they did — errors are common. Another problem is the so-called “social desirability bias” (i.e., the tendency to answer survey questions so they would be viewed positively by others). Using “real” Internet data gave researchers the advantage of analyzing empirical, undeniable, totally accurate facts.

The study itself should be considered as the first step showing new, possible ways in recognizing signs of depression (or other mental/social disorders). It was conducted on 216 Missouri students, collecting their Internet data for a month.

Students received pseudonyms so they would remain anonymous to the researchers. But first, all participants were tested for symptoms of depression. Having gathered and analyzed all the data, researchers found that the online activity of students with no signs of depression differed from that of participants with signs of mood disorders.

The differences in the two groups were significant.

Researchers managed to identify nine fine-grained patterns of online surfing that may indicate surfer’s depression. Identifying nine patterns on such a relatively small group is a remarkable finding, showing how much our mental health can influence every part of our life and change the way we perform even the most mundane activities. A longer research could help better recognize symptoms of depression.

What are these differences?

Depressed students tend to surf online much more randomly, frequently changing sites and applications. They also are more likely to use file-sharing sites and services, chat online, send messages and emails, watch online videos and play online games. Which pattern really stood out? The randomness. Dr. Chellappan connected this finding with the fact, that people suffering from depression have trouble concentrating, which would help understand reasons behind such activity patterns.

How Would Knowing This Connection Help?

According to the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) between 10 and 40% of all American students suffer from depression. It could almost be called an “epidemic”. Findings of Dr. Chellappan’s group could help deal with the pressing problem of depression among students.

This kind of study could help develop a new, effective tool to identify symptoms of depression. Software monitoring online activity could send an alert when Internet behavior patterns indicate signs of depression. It could also be installed in campus computer networks to help trained counselors detect students with mood disorders, and help them deal with their problems as soon as possible. I doubt that such software could be created before new studies are conducted on much bigger student groups. But the right idea is there, and it could only encourage further research.

If future studies confirm Chellappan’s findings, it would open the doors to analyzing Internet usage patterns of people suffering from other forms of mental disorders — for example anorexia or schizophrenia. It might also give a strong push for studies on other groups with high risk of depression such as war veterans or single elderly people.

Why Not?

The only disturbing thing about this research is concern about online privacy. If it were possible to diagnose depression through Internet usage patterns, then eventually it would be possible to create a “psychological profile” based only on an individual’s online activities.

Such profiles would be valuable for commercial companies and for public institutions. Employers could predetermine psychological profiles of future employees, and hire only those matching their expectations (or fire employees who showed undesirable psychological traits). Companies could tailor their advertisements for specific target groups (and those advertisements would work every time). To be honest – just the idea of an outside entity having my full psychological profile makes me a bit anxious. It seems Orwellian. But maybe I’m just paranoid – what do you think?

Author’s Bio:
Jack Samuelson is a contributing author who writes articles on numerous subjects. He has a wide range of interests, and a soft spot for weird news and funny stories. He has been an insightful observer of the world but always tries to balance his commitment to serious issues concentrating on some less serious, funny news. You can find him on Facebook

How Storage and Removal Helps a Business Be More Efficient

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Rony Mikal

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Every business strives to achieve competitive advantage, customer satisfaction and excellence to become more successful. Competitive advantage is required by every business in order to strengthen its position and stay ahead in competition. Satisfying customers with products and services is the primary objective of business organizations. It helps businesses advertise their products well and improves the overall image of a company.

The rapidly advancing technology has made businesses more advanced with most utilizing IT skills for increased growth. With numerous businesses looking for better growth prospects, moving to another cheaper location is the best option. By shifting company to another place, businesses can save money and come nearer to customers or vendors. Moving a house or a business is made easier with the help of household removals and storage.

At the time of shifting business, most firms could use the help of moving and storage companies, who make the task simpler. Storage is the best option for businesses and proves beneficial to them in the long run.

How Storage and Removal Helps a Business Grow and Be More Efficient

Most businesses these days utilize computers and have equipments like furniture, important files, documents and books. Each of these equipments must be stored in safe and secure locations to avoid incidents of theft. Storage and removal prove advantageous for every business, as it helps in its growth. Here are a few ideas on how storage and removal makes a business more efficient.

  • All important information is stored in files and computers. Storing computers in climate controlled units minimize loss of data and keeps them safe. The saved data can be utilized for future needs. This helps business grow further.
  • Storing goods in climate controlled units minimizes their damage and keeps them secure for longer duration. Stored goods can be used in future, particularly at a time when you fall short of inventory.
  • Removal firms offer cost-effective storage solutions to most businesses in storing items during relocation. All goods stored are insured and this helps business avoid additional costs.
  • Moving to a new location having a strong customer base proves beneficial, as it improves business, thereby increasing profits for the business.
  • Relocating to a place that has enough space and in a prominent area visited by people often, improves the overall image of the organization, as more and more people are able to access your business easily.

Storage and removal are important processes that every organization requires at some point of time. Business can emerge successful if they plan well prior to the big move and opt for cost-effective removal and storage services.

Author’s Bio:

Rony Mikal is a blogger and freelance writer. He writes extensively on topics related to environmental issues, business, moving, household removals and storage and removal services London. Apart from writing, Rony takes keen interest in traveling and photography. He is an avid traveler and spends quality time with family and friends.

Jump start your social media planning with Tony Robbins

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Rosemary O’Neill

Success in Life, Business, and Golf

Social media planning with help from Tony Robbins

Time to jump up on your chair and say “AYE!” No more messing around with a wimpy Facebook post here and a lame Youtube video there. Your social media plan should be vibrant, purposeful, and radiating crackling energy, just like live wire Tony Robbins.

How does he do it? He uses something called the “Rapid Planning Method” (or RPM). With RPM, you chunk your to do list into a few desired outcomes, and then take immediate, massive action to achieve them.

Tony Robbins is the reason I’ve been blogging here every week for almost a year. “Submit guest post to Liz Strauss” was an item in my massive action plan. At the time, I thought it was crazy on the level of “train to be an astronaut,” but guess what? When you achieve one crazy goal, it gives you the confidence to reach out for the next one. I’m thinking coffee in NYC with Seth Godin would be cool.

Jump start your social media planning with help from Tony Robbins

I thought it would be interesting to apply RPM to social media planning specifically.

Here’s your worksheet:

What specific result do I want to achieve? (For example, increase traffic to my corporate website.)

Why do I want it? (Could be to increase opportunity to convert customers.)

What is my massive action plan? (Write down two actions you can take today, right now, and then a list of action items for this week, the next 30 days, and the next 90 days.)

“Never leave the site of a decision without doing something towards its achievement.” (Tony Robbins).

Let’s go knock off a couple things from our list right now.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Thank you, Rosemary!

You’re irresistible!

ME “Liz” Strauss