Business: We don’t want to blog because people might say bad things about us.
Response: They already are. (courtesy of http://davefleet.com)

Better to listen to the hard truth and do something about it as opposed to hoping it will just go away. The Internet debt sharks are a hard thing to shake off.

Generally.

“- Situation 1 – Conversations where it’s best you stay out of it.
Example: A public complaint about your company on an environment where you have big advocates and they are coming to your defense.”

If only concerned about your reputation as seen in the eyes of fellow marketers, this is true. Although this is not so if your intent is to please consumers.

An article by Jeremiah Owyang supplies us with stats that I’ve been talking about for some time, as popular marketers have pushed it under the carpet in disagreement, while they steadily convince others that what they preach is golden and cant be ignored. The whole guru thing. A farse to increase their cash flow and leave us with nothing more than the position of their advertising slaves.

http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/12/09/onsumers-say-your-corporate-blog-is-not-trusted

16% of consumers polled, say they trust company blogs. only 16. One of the reasons for that is no transparency, no display of human weakness, mistakes, apologies..None of that. And we all know everyone makes mistakes.

Avoiding problematic situations only shows that they do not care to make ammends, do not care to set it straight, make it right. They are in essence proving that their dollars mean more to them than the consumers.

These are just a couple of reasons why..there are many more.

“- Situation 3 – Lies about you
If someone says something negative about you and this doesn’t reflect the reality, then you should look for a way to engage in order to get this content under control, or at least replied with your version.”

This is the perfect platform for this one..

Not too long ago, Kim Krause Berg, Li Evans, Lisa Barone, and other well known marketers lied about a girl, and used this girls mental illness against her in an effort to destroy this girls reputation. Why? This girl was truthful, open and transparent about issues that reflected poorly on them.

Instead of setting it straight they brushed her under the rug, so she brought the situation to the attention of others on her blog.

This incidence nearly cost the girl her life, as she is severely Bipolar and their attacks against her was damaging to an already fragile constitution. There was NO WAY for this girl to prevent the attacks and loss that they brought upon her. There was no waiting..

Was she to crawl in a whole and hide from them because she was bullied and abused? Nope. She persisted where most people would not. but the fact of the matter is..these are all reasons why there is no comfortable way to handle lies in the marketplace except to PROVE by talk as well as actions that you are believable..yes, tell the truth about it..hold them accountable, but be prepared to face drama over it before it gets better.

Fortunately this girl is walks her talk, and her new associates are more fulfilling than the pop ones that tried to take her out. It took persistence, but she is one of the people that the 16% of people will trust, because her actions meet her words.

In essence, the best advice is to be open, transparent, and a giver. Everyone likes a giver. It’s a no brainer. And we want the consumers attention, not the marketers. And for real..all that takes is being you.