It’s almost Spring, 2010… And it’s Open Season for online businesses.

It sounds like I am exaggerating, but I assure you that I am not. Whether you know it or not, there are competing businesses, ex employees and disgruntled customers out there looking for ways to damage your online reputation. Permanently if they have their way.

The last two are not a shocker. It should come as no surprise that ex employees will often vent their frustration by going online and slandering their former employer anywhere and everywhere they can. This in and of itself costs companies millions of dollars each and every year in lost revenues. The same can be said when it comes to angry customers that feel they did not recieve the quality of service or the products they purchased. They often look for a place to vent their feelings and post their experiences.

No, what we are talking about today is a sort of competitive cyber terrorism by colleagues and competitors. People within your industry that cannot compete with you above board. So they take their fight to the back alleys of the internet. The mean and dirty streets of the forums and review boards. Ripoff report, Yelp, Complaints Board, etc. All in an effort to undermine your business and steal some of your income. Steal some of your hard earned customers and sales from your bottom line.

Once again, it might sound like a fairy tale to you. But understand, this is now a real marketing technique and there are companies that have a budget for this type of activity, whether they claim it or not. Because the fact of the matter is that it works.

Attacks, even when unfounded and false, work. People believe what they read, which is why the review sites and complaint forums have become so popular. Many of them are now the among the highest trafficked sites on the internet. Because people have become trained to do research about a company before doing business with them. The logical next step in the dirty corporate pool was to make sure that those consumers found the dirt they were looking for when searching out the competition.

Is it just in the high end corporate world? Not a chance. This is more effective for smaller to middle sized companies. Bill the attorney or Bob the plumber attacking his local competition with an online smear campaign. A similar website owner using these slime techniques to slander you would be more of what we are seeing among our clients.

And believe me, we are seeing more and more of it every day. As complaint forums, blogs and websites become more popular, so do the obvious fake reviews generated by web trolls. We never know for sure who generated the content, because most of them hide behind anonymous listings. The site owners are never going to tell you who wrote the review, nor are they ever going to take it down.

But there is help and that’s us. Our methods are proven and we can help you. Call our office today at 800-818-6286 and let us show you how we can put together a web reputation management plan that will be affordable and really work, fast!

The nightmare can end, and the attacks can stop. You simply need to decide to take action and pick up the phone. We’re looking forward to your call.