protecting your professional reputation online
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Protecting Your Professional Reputation Online
Geri L. Dreiling
Beth Lewandowski
Presentation materials may be found at:
http://www.slideshare.net/GeriDreiling/newsfeed
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation
and five minutes to ruin it.” -- Warren Buffett
Session Overview
•Who is online and using social media?
•Why should you protect your online reputation?
•What are the types of harm to online reputation?
•How do you protect your online reputation before it is harmed?
•What should you do if negative information is posted?
Who is online and using social media?
According to the Pew Research Center, as of January 2014,
87 percent of Americans used the Internet.
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/data-trend/internet-use/latest-stats/
Who are these social media users?
Who are these social media users?
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/
71 percent used Facebook
22 percent used LinkedIn
21 percent used Pinterest
18 percent used Twitter
17 percent used Instagram
According to the Pew Research Center, as of September 2013, 73 percent of Internet users
also used social media sites.
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/
Top 15 Most Popular Networking Sites, June 2014
Who are these social media users?
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms/
Who are these social media users?
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms/
Who are these social media users?
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms/
Who are these social media users?
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms/
Who are these social media users?
Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms/
In late 2012, the law firm of Moses & Rooth created a
Google Consumer Survey to help them make legal marketing
decisions.
They received 1,183 online responses.
Source: http://www.mosesandrooth.com/blog/2012/12/-i-cannot-tell-you.shtml
Clients use the Internet to search for lawyers look at websites & online reviews
99% of households with income of $75K or more use the Internet, 75% are on social media
Internet use for those 18-64 nears or tops 90%
87% of Americans are online
Key takeaways:
Why should you protect your online reputation?
1. Professional Identity Theft
2. Damage to Professional Reputation
3. Hurts Profit
4. Copyright Infringement
5. Physical or Emotional Harm
What are the types of harm to online reputation?
1. Internet Fraud
2. Online Defamation
3. False Online Reports
4. Intellectual Property Rights Violations
5. Domain Name Disputes
6. Cyberbullying
7. Cybersquatting
How do you protect your online reputation before
it is damaged?
Assess your online reputation:
Perform a Google search of your name and your law firm’s name.
Set up a Google Alerts with your name and law firm name so
you are notified if the names appear online.
What if someone is cybersquatting and holding your name?
A victim of cybersquatting two options:
Sue under the provisions of the Anticybersquatting
Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), or
Use an international arbitration system created by the
Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
How do you protect your online reputation?
Assess your online reputation:
If someone creates a social media profile using your identity or your law firm’s
identity, no specific cause of action exists. However, you can:
• Check the terms of service on the site for a violation.
• Consider a defamation, fraud or false light lawsuit.
Source: BlawgIT, Brett Trout, http://blawgit.com/2008/12/13/social-media-accountjacking/comment-page-1
How do you protect your online reputation?
Is your law firm’s domain name
reserved?
• Is it reserved on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+
Have you reserved your own name as a domain name?
• Also reserve name on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google +
Does your law firm have a website?
• Do you have a personal blog or website?
Online Channels for Lawyers
Blogs and Online News:
Online Channels for Lawyers
Professional Networks:
Local Bar Association
Online Channels for Lawyers
Social Networks:
How do you protect your online reputation?
Facebook Firm Page and Twitter:
Best practices basics:
•Create a banner photo that includes the law firm name and logo for branding.
•“Humanize” the firm. Upload photos from law firm birthday lunches and holiday
gatherings.
•Publicize community outreach and charitable work.
•Recognize lawyers and staff for their contributions.
•Provide general educational material.
•Post infographics, graphics commemorating holidays, important birthdays and marking
the passing of notable people.
Offensive posts can have serious consequences, to wit:
How do you protect your online reputation?
LinkedIn:
A recent article in PCMag summed up the pros and cons of LinkedIn as follows:
•Pro: Best online professional network.
•Con: Excessive email by default.
•Bottom Line: “LinkedIn is the most important cross-industry professional network.”
Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2120736,00.asp
How do you protect your online reputation?
LinkedIn:
Best practices basics:
•Write a one or two sentence “elevator” introduction.
•Upload a professional photo.
•Identify your educational experience.
•Connect with other users.
•Join groups and add to discussions.
•Consider whether to add Missouri Supreme Court Rule 4-7.2(f) “choice of a lawyer”
language.
How do you protect your online reputation?
YouTube:
Best practices basics:
•Be sure to include the law firm name and logo for branding.
•Write subtitles.
•Include tags.
•Engage with the YouTube community.
How do you protect your online reputation?
Google+:
If Google search results are important to you, then Google+ should be important as well.
•Google has developed a step-by-step guide to help businesses
How do you protect your online reputation before?
Devise a PR plan.
1. Develop an editorial calendar. Plan your posts at least four weeks in
advance. Note important holidays or novel dates. Plan posts and assign
responsibility for writing.
2. Consider a press release service such as BusinessWire, PRWeb or
PRNewswire.
3. You can try out PR Scorecard to measure your effectiveness.
4. Consider using a PR professional to assist your efforts.
5. Develop a law firm social media policy. Review it periodically with lawyers
and staff. A lack of a policy can lead to HR, PR and Bar issues.
How do you protect your online reputation before?
Best practices summary:
•Listen to what others are saying about you through Google Alerts and
monitoring Twitter.
•Establish a presence on the Internet and social media networks.
•Update your online presence on a regular basis.
•Remember that your online presence is a virtual handshake and opportunity for
collaboration.
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
Online reputation management doesn’t just include
reacting when people post favorable comments.
It also includes deciding what -- or if -- to do anything in
the wake of criticism.
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
Bring critics DIRECTLY to you – IN PRIVATE.
Have a highly visible place on your own site where clients can leave private
feedback directly for you. It might deter some from posting negative comments
on consumer sites or their own blogs.
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
Address every online complaint promptly.
Try honey before a hammer. The client might feel deceived twice:
first, when the lawyer didn’t deliver as promised, and secondly,
when the issue was not addressed after the complaint. Most people
just want to be heard – and apologized to.
Review sites such as Yelp and Angie's list allow the professional to
respond to reviews. React positively and professionally
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
Determine whether the criticism is an opinion or whether it contains defamatory
or false information. Does the post involve copyright or trademark
infringement?
Consider the possible negative repercussions of threatening legal action. Be
aware of the Streisand effect . Any attempt to censor information can cause
it to be more widely distributed.
In an excellent blog post on Popehat, lawyer Ken White reminds readers of the
importance of taking the “do no harm” approach.
“How to write a takedown request without running afoul of the Streisand effect.”
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
SLAPP - A strategic lawsuit against public participation (a lawsuit intended to
censor, intimidate and silence critics, by burdening them with legal costs, until
they abandon their criticism).
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
Anti-SLAPP Statutes
SLAPP suits are typically claims for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional
distress, invasion of privacy, or tortious interference with contract filed against a
party who has criticized or spoken out against the plaintiff in some public
context.
The paradigm case is a real estate developer filing a defamation or tortious
interference suit against a citizen who has spoken out publicly against a
proposed development project.
By filing suit, no matter how weak its claim might actually be, a plaintiff forces the
citizen to spend money responding to the claim and, in the process, to think twice
about speaking out publicly again.
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
Washington became the first state to pass anti-SLAPP statutes that offer some
procedural protection to defendants in these actions. Twenty-seven states have
followed (including Missouri).
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
MO. REV. STAT. § 537.528(2004)
Speech or conduct undertaken at, or made in connection with, a public hearing
or public meeting, or in a quasi-judicial proceeding before tribunal or decision
making body, is protected.
If a customer or former employee has posted a damaging comment about your
business, it would be wise to consider all the costs of pursuing that individual for
defamation or libel. Remember that if you sue in a jurisdiction which has Anti-
SLAPP motions and you lose, you could be on the hook for the defendant’s
attorney’s fees.
Keep in mind, that among the various defenses to libel and slander, truth is a
defense.
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
“Question: Where do you hide a dead body?
Answer: On the third page of Google results.”
– Lori Randall Stradtman,
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
Assess the impact of the criticism.
Is it showing up on page one or two of a Google search?
If you need to hire an online reputation management professional, what do you
need to know before you do?
1. Look at track record. (“Before” or baseline Google ranking and “after”
results.) Negative comments should be moved down on search
results, with positive mentions at the top.
2. Ask what tactics will be used to improve your reputation, including
SEO.
3. How does this translate to mobile devices, and apps, since many
more people access the internet through their phones and tablets.
What do you do when faced with online criticism?
The Online Reputation Management (ORM) industry divides its clients into two
categories:
Proactive – those who are actively seeking reputation protection, and
Reactive – those who have just been attacked online
Sampling of ORM providers
Reputation.com
Big Blue Robot
Akado.com
Most ORMs deal with content suppression
Protecting Your Professional Reputation Online
Geri L. Dreiling
Beth Lewandowski
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