If you could go back in time and talk to shopkeepers and handymen of yore about “online reputation management,” you would quickly earn a reputation of your own: as the town crazy person.

But even if you went back 10 years, people probably still wouldn’t know what you were talking about.

Until fairly recently, online reputation management was an umbrella term that could include any number of shady practices: Bribing bloggers to write about you, paying SEO companies to manipulate your website’s ranking or bury negative feedback, buying fake reviews for your Yelp page: businesses tried them all in the Wild West era of internet commerce (aka the ’00s).

But as consumers and search engine designers have gotten savvier, those questionable practices don’t work so well anymore. Today, it’s nearly impossible to hide or cover up a bad reputation.

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It’s a vulnerable thing, running a business.

Your success – your ability to pay your employees, feed your family, keep the Netflix coming – all hinges on the whims of your customers. If they don’t show up every day, willing to exchange their hard-earned money for your services, you’ve got nothing but a bunch of office supplies you don’t need.

So even when those customers are pushy, demanding and insist on texting while you’re trying to talk to them, you need them.

And while you may not personally like every person who walks through the doors (we’re talking about you, Karen), you should appreciate each and every one. Every one of those customers has something valuable to give you: feedback.

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Getting your Google reviews link is easier than you think. The real question is after you get it, how do you best use it to maximize getting more reviews? We’ve got you covered…

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Who gives the feedback in business? A consultant, maybe, or your assistant managers… people who know exactly how the business is run?

Guess again.

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In 2017, a freelance writer conned the foodies of London. He dreamed up a fake restaurant (called The Shed at Dulwich – a.k.a., the shed where he lived), photographed household objects in a way that made them look like appealing dishes and got his friends to write glowing reviews.

The Shed started out ranked as the 18,149th best restaurant in London. On the basis of those fake reviews and the intrigue surrounding the most exclusive (nonexistent) restaurant in town, The Shed ended up as the top-rated eatery in London, six months after it “opened.” The restaurant still didn’t exist.

The site where this con went down? TripAdvisor.

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Mary manages a small country inn. She carries luggage to the rooms, serves wine and cheese in the lobby each night and does turn-down service, even though the inn’s owner doesn’t require her to.

Tim is a roofer who owns his own business. Tim’s quiet and known for being reliable. Even though he doesn’t talk much, his customers say he’s always responsive to their questions and that he always does what he says he’ll do.

Sharon is the office manager for an accounting firm. She’s a task master, so not all the employees love her – but she’s earned a reputation for being competent and attentive. Clients know they can come to her with any problems and she’ll fix them.

These professionals could live in different countries, come from totally different backgrounds, have entirely different personalities and work in very different settings. But there’s one thing they all have in common – do you know what it is?

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