A few weeks ago I had an author call me in a blind panic - someone had reviewed her book online and it wasn't good, in fact it was downright nasty. She was horrified, and the worst part, there was very little she could do. It wasn't someone we, the publisher, or the author had ever worked with before, nor had anyone ever contacted her, how she got the book is anyone's guess, but she did, and she hated it.



The price for online exposure can sometimes be high, but this story brings back the clear truth: regardless of whether or not you market yourself on the 'Net, somewhere, somehow, you'll wind up on there. Whether it's through a review or some other posting, you'll end up on the Internet and as a vigilant marketer you'll want to know who's saying what about you. Whether it's good or bad, you can still manage it. Also, you want to keep an eye on what people are saying about your topic.

So how do you win the online reputation game? Here are some tips you might want to consider. Keep in mind that in all the years I've been online, I've not known a lot of folks to go through a negative posting, in fact, it's generally the opposite. Most of the time those who choose to review a book or comment on a service do so positively, but even positive postings need to be monitored. Why? Well, there's a lot you can do with them, and these tips will show you how.

1) First, monitoring your reputation online doesn't have to cost you anything. You can do this very simply with tools that are already available to you for free. Google and Yahoo both have monitoring tools. They're super simple to use, all you do is go to the links, sign up for them and plug in the keywords you want to monitor. Keep in mind that you're not only doing this just to monitor who's talking or writing about you, but to keep track of what's being said about your topic, so you can both keep track of new developments and engage in conversations with other bloggers. These include http://alerts.yahoo.com and http://www.google.com/alerts

2) Use RSS feeds to help keep track of conversations on the Internet that involve you, your topic, or your book. You can go to any of these sites to create these custom RSS feeds: Technorati, blogpulse, google news, spaces.live, feedster, icerocket and google's Blogsearch.

3) Using http://MonitorThis.com you can keep track of your keywords across 22 different search engines. Keep in mind that you'll need an RSS Feedreader to monitor the feeds that come in.

4) Online groups might be another place to look. If you haven't signed up for any groups related to your topic, now might be a good time. Check out the groups at yahoo, aol, msn and google.

5) It's probably not a wise move to spend your days chasing down every blogger that posts on your topic, so before you decide to connect with a blogger, head on over to http://www.alexa.com to get some site stats first. That way you can make sure that before you go the effort of contacting the blogger, he or she has a wider audience than just mom and Aunt Viola.

Now that you have your monitors in place, what's next? Let's look at how you can constructively use this information. First you'll want to have a blog. Why? You'll want to use this as a forum to address news on your topic or on you. And don't wait until you need to post something to start a blog, start one as soon as possible so you're up and running.

A blog will humanize your site and help you create a relationship with your readers, then whenever your monitors alert you to a new topic, a new review, or a new mention of you, you can respond by offering your own twist, insight or feedback. In the case of the negative review, the author decided to address the thing we all fear most: what if someone hates your book? She posted a blog and got so many positive responses they virtually canceled out whatever the reviewer said.

Next, if you find someone has commented on you, your book or your topic, I recommend connecting with them, offering your insight, or thanking him or her for any positive reviews or mentions you received.

Aside from monitoring, blogging, and online networking, another sure-fire way to protect your reputation online is to have a lot of positive feedback, reviews, features, or mentions. Why? Just like the author who blogged on her review, the good cancels out the bad. The Internet is very self-correcting that way, so get out there and get yourself some great "press," it'll pay off not just in the case of a reputation, but also when someone is searching for information on your topic.

And finally, if you're sitting on a controversial topic, it might not make sense to spend your days policing the Internet. People will say what they say and the 'Net has given many a voice even as they remain in obscurity. That said, remember the golden rule of PR: there's no such thing as bad publicity.