To be honest, it's not just about you. It could be about your industry as a whole. The reality is, if people don't like you or your industry, they'll talk about it online, and that negative talk can be bad for business.

Case in point: there's some software I use that's pretty good at many things. It has flaws, but the support staff has been working hard to fix it. It hasn't always been that way. At this time last year, there were many people who felt the software sucked, and they talked about it a lot online.

During the year, there were a lot of improvements made to the software. So many improvements were made that the reasons people gave for the software sucking were gone. And yet those old posts remain near the top of the heap in the search engines giving people who don't know the software the impression that it still sucks.

Fortunately, there are a lot of people who have jumped to the software's defense on that page. This is good - and bad.

It's good because if someone takes the time to read the responses to the original article, they'll see an impassioned defense of the software by its power users.

It's bad because a) few people read EVERYTHING on a page and b) those logical, impassioned defenses are down the page a ways and c) because so many people have chimed in on the topic, the page is very active and therefore HIGHLY RANKED IN GOOGLE for many search terms related to that software.

This is a lovely case study of Online Reputation Management (ORM). Yes - there's now another acronym for you to be concerned about online. Think because you're just a small fish you're safe? Think again. Anyone can be targeted online by people who don't like them. Sole proprietorships to multi-national corporations can be affected. Here are a few examples of what bigger companies experience.

• www.walmartsucks.org and www.walmart-blows.com
• www.homedepotsucks.com
• www.whyaircanadasucks.com
• www.leafs-suck.com and www.habssuck.com
• ...and thousands more - you get the picture.

So, what can you do to make sure your online reputation isn't in tatters? Check up on it every now and then. That's what.

Search for your company name online. Search for your name online. See what comes up and see if anything worries you. If you find someone who's griping about you, consider whether they have a legitimate beef or just an axe to grind and take action.

Finding something bad about you online gives you an opportunity to turn around a bad situation. Or, if that's not possible, then at least you can tell your side of the story if it's appropriate.

You can also get busy putting more good news about yourself online. Over time, that can help push bad reviews further down the search results so people will be more likely to see good news about you than bad. Some ORM companies call this "innoculation". Unfavourable content may be online, but it will be overwhelmed by the good so the effect on you or your business should be minimal.

Welcome to 2012. I'm glad you've made it this far. What's going to be new for you in 2012?

Here are my predictions about the changes most small business owners will make in 2012 to their online marketing efforts.

If you don't see anything listed above, well, I hope you get my point.

It is my prediction that MOST small business owners will continue to market themselves online more or less the same as they've been doing.

I think there are many reasons for this, and they're remarkably similar to the reasons most other new years resolutions fail.

• It's too much work.
• I don't have time.
• It won't make a big difference.
• I don't know how I can do things better.
• I don't have time to learn how to do things better.
• I don't want to learn something new.

And so forth.

Most want results without the investment required to achieve them. That's nothing new.

What I'm hoping is new this year is for more people to choose to prove my predictions wrong.

I wish you peace, health, happiness and prosperity in 2012.

With my Best Regards,

Mark Kawabe

I've gotten requests from people to join every conceivable social media platform. One person I know is probably involved in at least a dozen of them. When you're a person, that's fine, but if you're in business, is this the best approach?

The one thing many businesses have neglected in their rush to join social media sites is the one thing they have full control over: their own websites.

Think about this for a moment. Your business has its own brand, its own message, its own story. When you focus almost exclusively on Facebook, LinkedIn or any other platform, are you driving people back to your website?

Take the time to look at your website with fresh eyes. How many people are visiting? How many leads is it generating? How is it converting? 

Being involved in social media's a good thing, but it should be a part of your overall online strategy. Prospective clients are going to look beyond social media to learn about your business, and that means their next stop is your website.

Make sure your website's still doing its job. If your primary social media outlet shut down tomorrow, would you have created enough meaningful relationships through it that you would still be thriving? Perhaps this could be a resolution for the new year: make your website the center of your online world.

"It's very important for human beings to feel they are popular and well-liked amongst a large group of people that we don't care for."

Watch the clip - it's genius : )

http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2011/12/15/woah-jerry-seinfeld-perfectly-explained-the-success-of-facebook-in-1992/

We've all heard this before.

I use it a lot when I need to accept things I can't personally change.

When it comes to me, I try NOT to use it.

After all, just because something is the way it is doesn't mean that it can/will/should stay that way forever. Especially when it comes to behaviours or attitudes that could use adjusting.

I think a lot of people have an "it is what it is" attitude about their websites and online presence. If they looked carefully, they'd find things that could be improved. No improvement takes place though, because "it is what it is" - it's "good enough" for now.

I remember hearing someone say that "good enough" is a synonym for "I have no reason to do better".

Do you have a reason to do better? Then "It is what it is" probably isn't good enough for you.

Everybody loves the weekend, or at least the concept of it. I don't have stats to prove it, but I have a gut feeling that the majority of people work at least one day on a weekend.

If you're an entrepreneur, weekends and weekdays often blur together.

I know I get some of my best work done on weekends, but I also enjoy taking the time off. My family also likes having me around. What's an entrepreneur to do?

My suggestion to entrepreneurs who are online: think about scheduling your email marketing campaigns to run on weekends..

Email marketing research shows higher clickthrough rates on Saturdays and Sundays. The theory behind this statistic is that people are more relaxed on weekends and tend to actually read instead of skim their emails and have more disposable time to learn more about the subject of the message - so they click the links and visit the website.

So, what are you doing this weekend? Enjoy!

If you're one of those people (like me) who has a couple of external hard drives for "backup", that's good. It's a good first step. But what happens if your office is destroyed?

Off-site backup's your best bet.

This is pretty easy stuff folks. Install software on your computer that automatically backs up the parts of the computer you specify. Back up installation software, email messages, documents etc., without having to think about it.

There really is no excuse to do this, because the services are becoming increasingly less expensive.

More importantly, there are now many local companies that offer off-site backup. When you consider where your data is stored, you may find it reassuring to know that it's in Niagara instead of a data center in West Virginia, for example.

When's the best time to make your backup?

Before you need it!

Now get to it : )

Writing - whether it's every day or once a week - is daunting for people.

"I have nothing to write about" is the common reason.

News Flash: You have more to write about than you think (Slogan shamelessly adapted from Scotiabank...)

The last time I checked, you were an expert in your field.

Your clients probably aren't experts in YOUR field, so pretty much anything you say will be new to them. I'm generalizing, but you get the point. Things that are MUNDANE to you are FRESH to them.

I remember talking with a restauranteur about developments at their business when they mentioned they opened their patio two weekends earlier. "Did you mention it on Facebook or to your customer email list" I asked. "Nope - we never thought of it" was the reply. They missed a golden opportunity to pack their patio by letting their customers know it was open. Why? Because opening the patio wasn't "special" to the restaurant staff or owner.

Take note of "special" things inside your business. Pay attention to industry news that might be relevant to your audience. Make it a habit to write about these things. Once you're used to the habit, you'll find it becomes easier. Probably inside one month.

If you're looking for something that sets you apart from your competition, it'll be the fact that you write and share knowledge all the time. You'll be creating value, building relationships and enhancing trust instead of just spewing advertising.

Would you remember what I talked about yesterday?

How would you use your writing to build relationships, enhance trust or create value?

Could you do it?

Of course you could.

So, since you can, when will you start your daily writing?

Today sounds good . . .

If you're in business, here's a question for you to ponder before your next Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter post:

In what way will your post build relationships, enhance trust and create value in your readers' lives?

The litmus test: If it won't, don't post. Think of something that will. Then post.

Repeat every time you post : )

Have a happy Tuesday!