The other night I was watching the Morgan Spurlock show “Inside Man”. This episode discussed “Big Data” and how everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is collected whenever you log onto the internet. Most often it is used for marketing purposes, but Mr. Spurlock does talk about the dark side of all of this data collection as well.
As the episode continues, Mr. Spurlock tries to determine everything that is on the internet about his life. Without getting into a debate about on-line privacy, I ask this question: Do you know what is being said about you on the internet?
Maybe it’s time to do a “vanity search.”
A vanity search, also known as “ego surfing”, is when you search your name and any variations, nicknames, etc.
(image courtesy of Ambro/Freedigitalphotos.net)
Unfortunately, you may find things online with which you will not be happy. There are people in this world that will get a thrill out of saying negative things about you or your practice – you may have heard the term “Troll”. Additionally, beacause in the legal field there is always a “winner or loser” in a case, the person on the losing end may not be happy and may take to the internet to say something negative about you, your practice or your firm.
When you read something that is negative, determine whether there is any truth about this information and whether you can do anything to rectify the review. (In a future blog we will discuss reputation management.) Regardless, there are many ways to counteract any negative reviews or comments – for example, asking your happy clients for reviews (be wary of ethical considerations), or adding more and more content which causes any negative reviews to move further down in a search.
Read all of the information on the internet to make sure that what is being said about you is consistent with the brand you want to create. Remember, as was said in Rainmaking Recommendation #96, YOU are a brand in your own right and you need to be cognizant about what is being said about you, both good and bad.
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