What do you do if a blogger writes a negative post about you?
There's no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on the situation.
But one thing I can tell you for sure:
Stop giving the blogger material!
Recently I wrote about this topic, and last week my blog was selected as one of UpCity's Top 25 Inbound Marketing Articles of the Week.
I'm sharing this for two important reasons:
- There are 24 other articles that I didn't write mentioned in that list, and they all have good information. Check them out.
- My blog would never have been written if the person mentioned in it hadn't asked me to take down a blog that I wrote last fall about SEO and reputation management.
If negative information about you or your company gets on the internet, don't pretend it isn't there. But while you should determine your course of action quickly, take enough time to think it through and be sure that whatever you decide to do (or not do) won't just add fuel to the negative fire.
Photo by Jerry D Clement
The person mentioned in my recent blog did exactly what he shouldn't have done — and he didn't just add a little fuel to the fire, he poured a couple of gallons of gasoline on it. Through electronic messages and a telephone conversation, he gave me enough material for several more blogs.
Now, I don't personally have an issue with him or his company. I was just using the situation they're in to illustrate a point I wanted to make. And because the purpose of my website is to provide information on content marketing, I'm not going to write further about this individual or situation by name. But if I wanted to attack him, I could have written several more “what not to do” articles based on the things he did after the second blog went up.
Back to the original question: What do you do if a blogger writes a negative post about you?
First, take a breath. Then take another one. Evaluate the impact of the post and consider consulting with a reputation management expert before deciding on your response — and sometimes the best response is to do nothing. But whatever you do, be sure the action you take is thoughtful, deliberate and controlled.
And remember: The best time to develop your crisis response plan is when you're not facing a crisis.
Want to share your thoughts? Join the conversation below.
Jacquelyn's latest book is Christian Business Almanac: The Ultimate Daily Guide for Kingdom-Driven Entrepreneurs and Leaders.
She is the author of the nonfiction books Simple Facts About Self-Publishing (Second Edition), Words to Work By: 31 devotions for the workplace based on the Book of Proverbs and Finding Joy in the Morning: You can make it through the night as well as the novel Choices (A Joyful Cup Story). With her husband, she is the co-creator of several coloring books for adults and the novelty My Book About series.
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Well, hello there Ms Jackie and a Happy Tuesday to you! As one who has had many great things written about me and my various companies, I’ve also had my fair share of the attackers. I love to tell people that about ‘half’ of it is true and the other half comes from un-sportsman-like competitors and much from those who have never even done business with the companies they attack.
That is just the way of the world of technology these days. In my experience, I think your words of wisdom are right on the money; and I love the way you get right to the point with sound advice. I also applaud you that you take a very classy approach and stick to the high road in not having any intention to annihilate those of whom you use as an example in your attempt to help others avoid the same mistake. Well done!
In this day and age of the internet it is critical to be transparent and pick the battles wisely. Most everyone knows these days that about 50% of the people are going to love you your business and 50% not. With over 300 million people in this country, that is just the way of the new world of information.
Half the people like the politician and half don’t. It’s an easy statistic.
People, by and large are smart and I believe in the good hearts of Americans. I think most do and most will discount the outrageous or attack-ful negative comments.
Thank you for the wise advice and for taking the time to share your solutions.
Carpe Diem!
Russ Whitney
Author – Inner Voice – Unlock Your Purpose and Passion
Pre-sales are being taken on Amazon.com – Release date, September.