This blog is about online reputation. The underlying idea about online reputation is that – whether you like it or not – people will talk about you; and what people say about you will inform prospects decisions to buy or not to buy. And this will, increasingly, be outside of your control.

So there are comments here about Bartercard. Some passionately in favour of it, some dead against.

Interesting.

The people who are dead against are out there persuading prospects not to join Bartercard. Those all for it are out there acting as advocates for Bartercard.

The fact that people have arrived here and commented means that they are (whatever their motivation) looking to see what other people are saying about Bartercard.

If they’re Bartercard employees, they’re checking their online reputation to gauge how their customers feel.

If they’re not Bartercard people, they’re either Bartercard customers or Bartercard prospects.

Here’s the bit that interests us – and why we blogged about this in the first place: if this site is top of Google for the search phrases “is bartercard any good?” and “bartercard reputation” and P1 for “bartercard” then Bartercard are missing an online reputation opportunity.

What opportunity? The opportunity to be seen (at the top of Google) to be inviting and responding to the same kinds of comments that we’re inviting and responding to.

That’s a pro-active approach to online reputation. It’s not about leaving it to regional Bartercard brokers to defend Bartercard. It could be about strategically owning this feedback online and being seen to listen and respond to it from a corporate perspective.