By Guest Blogger, Melanie Fischer
Maintaining a good reputation is important to anybody. But upholding a respectable online reputation when you are a solo attorney is not just necessary – it’s vital. Having an excellent professional reputation is what all solo attorneys strive to achieve. A positive reputation is often what causes a potential client to seek the services of a specific law firm or solo attorney. And, unfortunately, it can be difficult for a solo attorney with a tarnished reputation to overcome the stigma attached to this type of negativity.
A Negative Online Reputation May Not be Your Fault
All it takes is one angry client, former coworker, or former employee who is willing to spend time posting his or her negative opinion on the internet, to harm a solo attorney’s good reputation. In today’s world, it’s quite easy for a person to single handedly publish negative comments online that may quickly and successfully result in a permanently damaged reputation for the person being targeted.
Oftentimes, negative comments that exist online are brought to the forefront when potential clients search the internet for information on a specific solo attorney. Despite the fact that the comments may have been published haphazardly or a long time ago, the negativity can ultimately have quite a bit of power.
Many times, a potential client will take negative information gathered via online sources very seriously – especially if the comments are persuasive. Well-written and articulate negative comments that are distributed online by a disgruntled former client, former coworker, former employee, or anyone else who has a vendetta against a solo attorney, can wreak havoc on the attorney’s reputation.
What is Online Reputation Management?
Online reputation management involves regularly monitoring the internet for negative comments, reviews and other types of information about a person or business. Additionally, online reputation management requires implementing tactics to appropriately handle negative postings. The ultimate goal of an online reputation management campaign is to be as proactive as possible when negative comments are discovered. A quick response to a negative comment is essential, and immediate damage control measures must be put into place.
Be Aware of What is Being Said About You
There are a few different ways to ensure you are made aware of information that is published online about you or your solo law firm. One way to stay on top of what is being published online is to regularly search for your own name or law firm name on the most popular search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc…). Or, if you don’t feel that you have time to monitor your online reputation, you may elect to hire a reputation management firm which will conduct online searches for you and provide you with guidance on how to handle negative comments.
A Problem With Negative Comments Published Online
One of the biggest issues with negative comments that are published online is that many of them are permanent and can continue to resurface time and time again. Negative comments that don’t seem to ever go away can be extremely frustrating for any solo attorney. While it can be tempting to ignore negative information that is published online, disregarding negative comments can prove to be quite harmful to your business. Responding quickly and appropriately to negative information is one of the best tactics to combating harmful comments that may appear online.
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