Radically Transparent: Monitoring And Managing Reputations Online

What are they saying? How do you find out? How do you respond? And how can you use the conversation to your benefit?

The explosion of social media--blogs, social networking sites, video sharing sites--has ushered in a new era of digital transparency that puts the power to enhance or destroy a reputation in the hands of the consumer. This timely and practical book shows you how to harness the power of social media with crucial, proven tactics and strategies for every phase of online reputation management.

Using step-by-step instruction and tested techniques, the expert authors unveil a detailed blueprint for building, managing, monitoring, and repairing your reputation. They detail important public relations, search engine optimization, research, and online content creation strategies and provide a seven-step action plan so that you can develop the skills necessary to monitor and manage your reputation. You'll learn how to:

Navigate the new rules of engagement in a transparent world

Define who you are and develop your personal or corporate brand

Create positive PR buzz with your online content

Gain visibility in web search results and harness SEO tools

Understand the pros and cons of e-mail before you hit "Send"

Use the latest Internet tracking methods and understand how information spreads online

Apply solid strategies for reputation repair when things go wrong

This is sure to become the definitive guide for members of any company or group who want to join and shape the often brutally honest conversation across social media about their brands, products, and people."
--Tom Giles, Editor, Technology &Science, "BusinessWeek.com"

This is an indispensable guide to managing your reputation online. With compelling case studies and tools to use right now, it's a must-read and a surefire wake-up call!"
--Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, Chief Reputation Strategist, Weber Shandwick

Radically Transparent illuminates a path that leads to an engaging conversation with your customers. Read this book so that you can participate, measure, and influence what others are saying about you."
--Bryan Eisenberg, "Wall Street Journal" bestselling author of "Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?"

Branding has evolved from a one-way monologue to a two-way conversation. It's vital you know the strategies needed to join the conversation and build your radically transparent reputation."
--John Battelle, national bestselling author of "The Search"

One of the best written books I've seen on a vitally important topic: the underbelly of transparency in the age of Google. How do you control your digital identity when everything is findable online? Read this engaging book for practical, persuasive answers."
--Debbie Weil, author of "The Corporate Blogging Book"

In this new world of instant connection and networked customers, understanding what people are saying about your company, your products, and your competitors is vital for business success. Reputations, like trust, are built over time, but can be destroyed in an instant. Follow carefully what this book says--the career you save might be your own!"
--David L. Sifry, founder and Chairman, Technorati, Inc.

"Radically Transparent" is the complete resource for monitoring, managing, building, and repairing online reputations. The comprehensive guide provides a full-featured reputation monitoring and management system. It includes practical, step-by-step instruction in four skills for personal reputation construction: public relations, search engine optimization, research, and online content creation. It explains how to apply these skills to create online content for blogs, social networking sites, and text communication (e-mail, text messaging, and so forth). The book provides background information, research results, anecdotal evidence, case studies, and practical strategies. It also emphasizes Internet research techniques for identifying and monitoring online identities and features exercises that reinforce key discussions.

Part I explores this new era of transparency and its implications for companies and individuals. Part II reveals the best online reputation management tools and techniques. It explains the what, when, and how of reputation monitoring and explores how to leverage social media to build positive buzz, use search engines to your advantage, and communicate effectively using everything from emails and IMs to blogs and social networks. Part III shows how to track, manage, and repair your online reputation. It explores various tracking methods, provides strategies and techniques when reputation repair is in order, and concludes with a concrete, seven-step action plan for successful and ongoing online reputation management.