The online world is unregulated and anyone with a keyboard can write stuff about you. If someone with a vendetta chooses to write lies and fabricate stories about you online, what do you do?  In the post below, you’ll get some specific actions and a reality check in case you’re ever faced with an online attack.  This is one of the prime reasons I always urge people to engage in social media…have a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter so that  you are in control of what you say online about yourself, what you post in your profile, and what you want as your representation in the online world.  Google searches love social media sites, and you will benefit from the search engine optimization of these mega-sites.  Nowadays, this strategic practice of being aware and in charge of what’s being said about you online is called online reputation management.

Below is a blog post written by Alex Wu that gives fantastic advice about what to do if someone attacks you online.  It would have been great to have this information 3 years ago when a deranged new client began viciously attacking me online with outrageous and inflammatory falsehoods; it might have saved me the $20K worth of legal fees I spent to have the various hosting sites remove the defamatory and damaging material that person posted! Alex’s post is practical, sound, and valuable advice that I strongly urge you to heed now so that if you ever find yourself under attack you’ll know what to do and spare yourself tremendous heartache and financial impact.

What To Do When Critics Attack

by Alex Wu

As you become increasingly successful in your business, you will likely become a target of criticism and attack. People you don’t even know may leave nasty comments on your blog, send you highly critical emails, or even post article-length personal attacks directed at you on their blogs.

You’ve worked hard building your success from the ground up. After all that you’ve been through, being the target of attacks and criticism feels like a slap in the face.

Why are You Being Attacked?

Your success could be making other people feel insecure. It challenges their beliefs about money and financial abundance, and forces them to confront their fears and dissatisfaction with their own personal situations.

Some people will accept that they have unfulfilled potential and rise to the challenge of creating their own success. They may become your followers and potential friends. Other people turn around and run the other way, preferring to stay in denial and keep their heads buried in the sand. But a third group will go on the offensive, and try to pick apart your success in an attempt to discredit you and your work. A small handful may publicly criticize or attack you.

Unfortunately, this small handful, which may be only one or two individuals, is a loud, dedicated bunch. Their goal is be to intimidate you, cause you and your business to fail, or otherwise make your life miserable. And worse, the more time and attention you give them, the more you egg them on to cause you even more grief. What should you do when all you want is to be left alone and to keep building your business in peace and harmony?

If you’ve been doing honest, legitimate work this whole time and you haven’t been misrepresenting yourself or trying to rip anyone off, the battle is going to be much easier because you have solid ground to stand on.

Don’t Panic!

When you first become aware of an attack against you, you may feel threatened, and that if you don’t take immediate action, your whole business is in jeopardy. But the only thing in jeopardy at this moment is your ego. Stay calm. The world isn’t over yet. In many cases, you don’t need to take any action at all.

Commit to your continued success in your business. Recognize the attacks for what they are – the work of people who have nothing better to do than to carry out a vendetta against you. It comes with the territory of being a successful businessperson. Everyone who’s accomplished anything big or important has had their share of outspoken critics. Your best revenge is continued and growing success.

Don’t fan the flames. Attacks will escalate in proportion to how much energy and attention you give them. I will reply once to a critic – at most. Generally, it’s not possible to convince someone who’s got an agenda against you, and trying to do so is a waste of your valuable time. If you’ve been exchanging long strings of emails or blog comments with a critic who becomes nastier with every exchange, it’s time to back off. You’re rewarding their efforts and demonstrating that they’re important enough to make you concerned.

Reduce access points for your attackers. Temporarily moderate your blog comments, blacklist your attackers’ IP addresses, and stop opening their emails. You’re not obligated to play their game on their terms.

Be willing to stand your ground. The vast majority of your attackers, no matter how loud or nasty they are, have a lot more bark than bite. They may utter threats, but it’s extremely rare that they follow through (although you should report threats against your physical safety to the authorities). In cases where attackers win, it’s usually by intimidating their victims to the point that they simply give in.

Establish your reputation with facts. Depending on the nature of the attacks, and how successful your attackers are in getting attention, it may be necessary for you to set the record straight publicly. Publish hard evidence supporting your legitimacy. Address their criticisms with evidence and facts that show the opposite. Point to your positive contributions, and demonstrate how you conduct business in a conscientious and responsible manner. Stay upbeat, and don’t directly address or name your attackers, as that will draw more attention to them. Your goal is to reassure your followers and reaffirm that you believe in the work that you do.

Your customers and followers believe in you. They’re on your side for a reason – you’ve built goodwill and rapport with them through your work. They’re not likely to be swayed by someone shouting baseless criticism against you. By running a clean, legitimate business and maintaining good relationships with your followers, you’re in good shape.

Remember, your attackers are relying on you to self-destruct. They generally don’t have the power to take down your website or shut down your physical place of business. Nor are they likely to convince your hundreds or thousands of customers and followers to leave you. They’re hoping you’ll concede defeat by intimidating and discouraging you. Now wouldn’t that be a case of a flea taking down an elephant by causing it to trip?

What Should You Do When Faced with Critics?

One of the best things to do is to simply shrug and move on. You win by surviving and continuing to shine. You lose when others convince you to put out your own light out.

Think about your many customers and followers who rely not only on your products or services, but who are also inspired by your advice and your example. The world needs more people who buck the trend of the ordinary and achieve fantastic success running businesses they love.

It’s not easy being the target of attacks. But you, your customers and your business are worth fighting for.

Alex Wu helps people re-discover their unique talents and gifts so they can enjoy a more fulfilling career, earn more money, and build loving, supportive relationships. Definitely check out and subscribe to his blog at www.IntuitiveWu.com.

Steven Johnson is an author and speaker and I just love this rendering of his talk on innovation.  (Thanks, Maryl, for sending it to me!) Check out this 4-minute video, and I recommend watching it on your full screen, because it moves fast and there’s alot to take in as Steven describes how slow hunches become breakthroughs! Perfect stuff for us coaches.

What sparks the flash of brilliance? How does groundbreaking innovation happen? Answering in his infectious, culturally omnivorous style, using his fluency in fields from neurobiology to popular culture, Johnson provides the complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, our society, and our culture forward. Check it out:

JOIN US TOMORROW!

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inspiring and immediately-applicable support
in building your coaching business?

Participate in the Thriving Coaches F*R*E*E
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supports you and your clients in freeing yourselves
from the self-imprisonment of out-dated beliefs
that no longer serve you!

Don’t miss our next roundtable:
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ROUNDTABLE DETAILS

Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Time:  1 to 1:45 pm ET (Noon CT, 11am MT, 10am PT)

Topic:

SOCIAL MEDIA BEST PRACTICES FOR COACHES

Join us to learn what social media can and can’t do
for our coaching businesses, how to leverage the tools
and how to not waste time in various technological
black holes.

Join Ann Strong, instigator and founder of Thriving
Coaches, as she interviews guest expert, Suzi Pomerantz,
CEO and author. (http://www.suzipomerantz.com)

Submit your burning question about social media
(http://www.annstrong.com/roundtable-questions/)
and join us live on April 20 to hear your question
answered or listen to the recording if you’re unable
to join us live . . .

Cost: GIFT (except for any long-distance charges)

Call-in Number: 1-712-429-0700
Access Code: 385236#

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LISTEN TO PREVIOUS ROUNDTABLES IMMEDIATELY

If you would like to listen to previous calls, you
may listen immediately by visiting:
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I am excited and honored to champion Thriving Coaches
during our f*r*e*e Tuesday roundtables!

With love and enthusiasm,
Ann Strong

Questions?
Visit http://annstrong.com

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A goldmine of a site for those of us who are always looking for ways to better leverage our social media presence:

12 Social Media Secrets From World’s Top Superstars

It’s no secret that social media marketing is the most powerful business-building tool on the planet.  Now any business can directly reach customers, anytime and anyplace for free!

To take your social media marketing to the max, here are hot social media tips direct from 12 of the top industry masters. You’re going to want to model their priceless advice.

Check out these pearls!

#1: Engage Your Facebook Fans With Questions

#2: ‘Listen’ to Know What to ‘Say’

#3: Use Video to Turn Company Mistakes Into Gold

#4: Leverage YouTube’s Keyword Power

#5: Promote SMS Campaigns on Facebook and Twitter

#6: Be Your Own Secret Shopper

#7: Give Audiences the Content They Want

#8: Syndicate Your Blog Content to Big-Name Sites

#9: Engage in Non–Self-Serving Conversation

#10:  Choose a Relationship ‘Golden Thread’

#11:  Repeat Your Tweets

#12:  There Is No Silver Bullet

No need to burden yourself to do all 12, just try one and know you’re well on your way! Click through to read the whole article.

Are posts like this helpful to you?  Feedback helps me know what to post more of or less of, so login if you want to comment!

Guest post by Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.
Content Marketing Specialist

You’ve heard the buzz about content marketing. Maybe you’re not quite clear what that means for you and your business.

If you’re a small business owner, especially someone who provides services, you’re probably already writing content in order to market your professional services and products. Content marketing is just plain common sense. Or is it?

What Is Content Marketing? (And why should you care?)

Your newsletter articles, blog posts, every page on your website, photos of people in your company, what you say on Twitter & Facebook, your video clips on YouTube, podcasts, everything is considered Web content. The question is, does it do a good job of marketing for you and your business?

Some people are just hard-wired to write good content. Some hate it, but most people are resigned to the fact they must write and create content and publish on the Web if they want to get found. But what kind of content works best? What should you be writing about?

Even when a prospect has already found you, perhaps offline, most are going to research your company and your name. What will they find when they Google you?

If you’ve got any kind of business today you’re going to have to learn a few things about creating content that works for marketing on the Internet, no way around it.

I’d like to share a few principles about content marketing so you can make the right decisions for your web content, no matter what business you’re in. Your needs may be different, you may be special (I’m sure you are!) Most of the clients I sit down with for a content marketing review, are surprised by how many opportunities they’re missing for creating effective content on the Web.

Here are some general principles all professionals need to understand if they want to do business in the 21^st century. The first is this:

Content Marketing Matters

Take a few minutes to focus on these 5 reasons you must publish content on the Web to grow your business.

1. People are looking for solutions to their problems on the Internet. The #1 reason people use the Internet is for entertainment, the 2^nd reason is to find information. The question is, if they have a problem you can solve really well, will they find you?
2. The next question is, is your content both entertaining AND educational? Or is your idea of web content similar to a magazine ad? There’s a lot of information on the Internet, and unless you can make your messages real, interesting, human, dramatic, authentic, and honest… you’re not going to capture anyone’s attention, let alone their hearts and minds.

   There’s no better way to entertain people than to tell stories…your stories, your client’s stories, what’s the back story to who you are and why you do what you do? It’s human nature to be curious about others.

   It’s well known that case studies work for marketing. When you write about a typical client, and tell their stories, and show the good results they have with your products and services, you give hope to readers and they see more clearly how they can get solutions to their own problems.

3. There are over 1 billion people connected to the World Wide Web. How many of them do you need to find you in order for your business to thrive? Who’s your targeted audience, who are your ideal clients? If you go after everybody, you’ll probably miss the boat and not attract anybody.

   The more you can specifically attract a similar audience, and build a community, a tribe, the easier it will be to write content designed to meet their needs.  Segment your sites, segment your database, and create conversations that build communities. Make it clear in the blink of an eye who your products and services are for. And start a conversation.

4. Are you visible everywhere? Do you deliver content in multiple forms, audio, visual, text, graphic images? Do you appeal to a variety of learning styles, not just with written text? Do you have content on various sites, easy to find, with consistent branding and messages? You’ll have more results if you pick several sites, blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and create a consistent presence in more than one place.
5. Do you have a personality? (Or, does your content show one?) Companies, especially large ones, are finding more success with the use of personas and spokespeople because people prefer to buy from other people, not from large, anonymous brands. Small business owners can no longer afford to hide behind a fancy logo, nor should they act like a large corporation.

   Every company site should dedicate pages to the people who work there. Your written content should reflect the personality of the author, rather than being anonymous company copy. Does your content build your KLT Factor (Know, Like and Trust)?

There are probably other key principles for creating good content that markets your business, and I’m probably missing some that are important for you in your niche, in your field. Feel free to let me know, leave a comment. In today’s interactive Web-world, we can continually strive to improve thanks to audience participation.

Here’s a recap:

1. Solve a problem
2. Educate and entertain
3. Build a community
4. Be visible everywhere you can
5. Be a real person

What’s missing from this list of 5 principles to strive for with content marketing for your business?

About Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D.

Patsi Krakoff is a newsletter, blog, and content marketing expert who co-founded The Blog Squad. She provides advanced training and coaching for professionals who want to beef up their blog for marketing optimization. She was trained as a journalist with a doctorate in psychology, and ten years experience online. She lived and worked in Paris 20 years and now lives in Ajijic, Mexico, where she’s an avid tennis player. Patsi’s writing her first novel about life in Paris.

Twitter: www.PatsisonTwitter.com
Blog: www.writingontheweb.com
Website: www.contentforcoachesandconsultants.com

“Social media has reached a tipping point as a way of connecting with others, but it has also transformed the way businesses are run, and even the top-down ethos from which many organizations operate. Marketers no longer “own” brand messages, but are rather building their brand equity through relationship building; they are becoming experts in the art of giving away attention in order to attract it.

Innovation within companies is shifting to more crowdsourced models; the strongest leaders will be the curators of ideas, not the sources of them. Customer service will become a marketing function, as this is the first line of contact with consumers.

This shift in more distributed power is echoed in media. The business of gaining audience (and client) share will still be about providing quality content, but also in cultivating community and maintaining a two-way conversation with audiences. Those that can continually listen to and reflect their audience’s interests will thrive.” ~ Jory Des Jardin, media consultant and blogging phenomenon with 17 MILLION members of her BlogHer.com Community

Jory will be one of the “Conversation Starters” at a gathering in May, 2010 called Conversations Among Masters.  Leading Coach Donna Steinhorn has this to say about CAM:

“As a master leadership coach, you know that the best part of most conferences is connecting with others. These connections lead to the intimate conversations the stimulating ideas the creative collaborations the deeper relationships that you value the most. There’s nothing like being with a group of thought leaders…having conversations on coaching, leadership, connection and consciousness.  And all of that spurred on by conversation starters with cutting edge ideas to share.

Being at an event designed specifically by, and for, master-level Coaches which deeply understands that the brilliance among the participants often far outshines anyone who might be standing behind a podium…very special, very powerful…filled with possibility and, in the case of CAM: filled to the brim with joy, warmth and a plethora of fun surprises!”

You can learn more about this unique event at http://www.conversationamongmasters.com.

I’m delighted to have this post contributed by Leading Coach Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D. (aka The Blog Squad) in Ajijic, Mexico, to help us all make the most of that critical web 2.0 marketing strategy: blogging. Find out more about Patsi at www.WritingOnTheWeb.com and if you don’t already have a blog, but want to, she’s a great resource for you!

4 Keys to Solving the Biz Blog Blues

The pay-offs from persistent content marketing with a blog can be enormous, but the key is optimizing your blog for business.

Here are the four areas you need to pay attention to if you want good results:

Content – The Four E’s: You must write frequent posts with valuable information your targeted audience needs and wants. You must write to educate, entertain, engage and enrich the lives of your readers.

Outreach – The blogosphere is the community of all the blogs and blog readers. If you reach out to those in your niche, you become part of a larger community and connect with more people.

You must use social sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to drive traffic back to your blog. You’ll become well-known in your niche. Your blog gets noticed, you get more traffic, you get more potential business.

Design – First time visitors to your blog should be able to see in a blink if this blog is for them. Your banner should tell readers the benefits they will get from reading and subscribing, and who you are as the blog author.

With design, it’s the little things that count toward building trust and confidence in you as author and you as business owner. If your blog is confusing, has too many options and choices, visitors are “outta-there”: click and bye-bye.

Action – At a minimum, you should be asking your readers to get involved by commenting. The more they participate on your blog, the stronger the connection with you. When readers know, like and trust you, (KLT factor) it’s easy for them to buy from you.

Yet so many blog authors forget to ask readers for their opinions and experiences. Or they are afraid to ask a question for fear that no one will respond and the blog will look unread. Only 1-2% of readers will bother to comment; you must ask anyway.

Many forget to ask readers to subscribe using an email delivery system like Feedburner or Feedblitz. They put the RSS icon up there on the blog and forget that the majority of blog readers don’t understand what RSS is or know how to subscribe using a feed reader.

And some aren’t using Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networking sites to pull in new readers. That’s too bad because readers who come from those sites are more likely to leave a comment and participate on your blog.

Content, Outreach, Design and Action

This is my Blog Squad 4-point CODA system to optimize your blog for business. When you pay attention to critical elements in each of these areas, you’ll see improved traffic and improved results.

Comment below to begin a dialogue with Patsi and other Leading Coaches! (Be sure to Login first, otherwise you won’t see a comment box below.)

I had the opportunity to explore using Ustream TV for The Coach Exchange (tce.com) a couple of weeks ago, and this is a recording of what was at the time a live broadcast. Cool technology, really…you can broadcast a live “tv” show from your office. Anyway, this show was called Twitter for Solopreneurs, and I was interviewed by Coach Erwin from Spain, who you could see in picture-in-picture during the live broadcast, but for some reason you can only hear him on this recorded version if you turn up the volume. At any rate, if you are willing to look past the wrinkles given that this was our first time using this technology, I know you’ll find the content helpful!

If you are not using Twitter to expand your business, you are leaving money on the table!  The power of Twitter is not self-evident, nor is it an intuitive vehicle.  For example, when you first go there, it looks like a superficial and stupid waste of time. For instance, who cares what I ate for lunch? But Twitter creates REAL business results, in real time. If you have resisted getting involved on Twitter, you are not alone.  I’d like to address the top three complaints/concerns I hear most often, and I encourage you to jump in.  The water’s fine!

1.  Aren’t only teens, celebrities, and marketers on Twitter? NOPE!  You can find CEOs, authors, spiritual leaders, PR experts, marketing experts, thought leaders and subject matter experts galore, lots of Government folks (@GovTwit) and lists of coaches can be found in a couple places I’ve stumbled upon so far: http://twitterpacks.pbworks.com/COACHING

http://www.michellemacphearson.com/master-list-of-coaches-on-twitter/

2.  Isn’t it just a waste of time?  I already spend too much time dealing with my email as it is! There are lots of ways to automate various features of your twitter experience and connect it to other social networks you use so that you can establish and maintain a valuable social media presence without a huge time commitment. For starters, Twitter provides  “the opportunity to create an incredible resource of up-to-date, accurate, informative, and inspiring information” according to the Peer Resources Network Bulletin. But here are a couple of my favorite third-party apps and tools for hooking everything up in a circuit that saves you time and increases your visibility:

a) if you blog, set up Twitterfeed so that every time you post a blog post, it will automatically post a link to Twitter.

b) Go into Facebook, Linked In, and Plaxo and find in each platform where you can add Apps (applications). Set up your Twitter account in each one, so that every time you post something on Twitter it appears on all your other social networks as an update.  This is particularly handy if you have different people in each network, as you can reach everyone at once.

c) if you don’t want to set up what I described above, you always have the option of setting up a free Ping account, which allows you to select all your favorite social networks and post your update once, on your Ping dashboard, and they will post it simultaneously to all your networks for you.

3.  Isn’t it just a set of superficial connections and constant interruptions distracting me from focusing on what’s really important in my business? Not at all! A few key mindsets to embrace for success on Twitter, and (really all social media), are:

• It’s a party where I can meet interesting people, be of service, and make a difference.
• It’s a huge party…everyone is in the room, but I’m not going to talk to everyone at once.
• It’s a real-time, streaming conversation from the comfort of my home, office, or handheld smartphone device.
• It’s a river and I can watch it flow by, or I can dip as much of myself in the river as I want to for as long as I want to.
• Don’t ask “how can I make money on Twitter?”, ask instead “How can I connect with folks and make a difference?  How can I be of service?  How can I contribute?”
• Yes, it’s a constant stream of conversation, however you have the power to turn it off anytime you want to focus on other strategic endeavors.