What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

How to build, protect and defend your online reputation


by Kristen Luke


As Americans have become more technologically savvy, they have flocked to the Internet to research everything under the sun. What is the cheapest flight to Boston? Who wrote the lyrics to that song? What can I find out about the person I'm dating? The Internet provides us the tools we need to make educated purchasing decisions when it comes to products, services and even people. This includes researching prospective financial planners and investment advisers. 

Whether you like it or not, your clients and prospects are conducting their own background searches on you, using one or more of the popular search engines. You may think you are safe if you don't actively participate online; however, you may be even more susceptible to an unflattering online reputation than people who are active online on a daily basis. This is because you are letting other people control what information is published about you on the Internet, instead of taking control of your reputation.  

When it comes to your online reputation, what you don't know can hurt you. Luckily you have the power to influence what others can find out about you on Google, Bing and other search engines. In order to start building a healthy online reputation, follow these five steps:

  1. Research what's out there
  2. Remove unwanted information
  3. Prevent further unflattering information
  4. Create positive content

  5. Monitor your reputation

Research, Research, Research

The first step to building a positive online reputation is to research what information is already publicly available. The easiest way to do this is to search for your name on Google, Yahoo and Bing. When conducting your research, make note of any entries that are incorrect or unflattering. To ensure you have conducted an exhaustive search, use a variety of terms such as your business name, your name including designations, common alternatives to your name (initials, suffixes, etc.), common  misspellings of your name, and your name plus the city or state in which you reside. Becoming aware of your online reputation will help you build and manage your online reputation in the future.

Remove Undesirable Content

As you search your name using the various search engines, you will inevitably find inaccurate information about yourself or information you prefer not to reveal. Depending on the source of the information, you may be able to request its removal. There are many aggregator websites, such as ZoomInfo.com, Spoke.com and Spokeo.com, which collect personal information from public records and third-party sites to create one comprehensive profile. While all of the information on these sites is a matter of public record, it would take a prospective client many hours of research to collect this same information.

If you search for yourself on these sites, you may quickly find that you don't want some of this information easily accessible to your prospects. On some sites, you can click a link at the bottom of the page called "privacy" or "privacy policy," which will provide direction on how to remove your profile. Some sites are amenable to these requests while others are not. 

You may also find profiles that you created years ago that are no longer active. MySpace, Friendster and Classmates.com are three that come to mind. If you are no longer using these profiles, cancel your accounts immediately. If you have profiles you are currently using that you don't want your prospects to see, such as a personal Facebook page, adjust your privacy settings to the highest level of security so your page is not publicly viewable. This is still risky, so the better option would be to adapt your profile so that all the material posted is client-friendly.

Prevention Is the Best Medicine

Once information has been posted on the Internet, there is no guarantee that it will ever be removed. Even if you delete the original post or profile, the information can still be easily indexed and discovered. Whether you are posting a tweet on Twitter, commenting on an article or writing a biography for one of your online profiles, you have to assume that your message is documented in your "permanent record."

You should also think twice before making political contributions, signing a petition or publically supporting a political cause online. Even something as simple as "liking" a page on Facebook can alter the way prospective clients view you. Always ask yourself, "Would I want my client or prospective client to see this information?" If the answer is "no," don't post it.

If you wish to post comments to blogs, articles or discussion forums that are not related to your profession, consider using a pseudonym or nickname. You should also set up a free e-mail account such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail that doesn't include your name in the address for situations when you are required to use an e-mail address to leave comments. This will prevent your comments from appearing when someone searches your name in a search engine.

The Best Defense Is a Good Offense

As you will discover, you won't always have the luxury of removing unwanted entries from your permanent record. The best defense in this case is a good offense. By taking a proactive approach to creating your own online content, you'll be able to dilute unwanted information and sweep it under the proverbial carpet. The undesirable information will still be there, but much farther down the list of search results. With any luck, the information will be pushed so far down the list that a prospect will never find it.

In addition, creating your professional profiles and websites will enable you to control what your clients and prospects learn about you. Here is a list of common tools to use to start creating the online reputation you want: 

  • Company website: A must-have for any business these days.
  • Personal website: An option if you want to highlight community or civic involvement, philanthropy or hobbies that would be of interest to your prospects.
  • Blog: Use to showcase your knowledge and expertise.
  • Google Profiles (www.google.com/profiles): Allows you to create a profile that appears on the first page of search results for your name.
  • Popular social networking sites: Social networking profiles tend to show up on the first page of search results allowing you to easily control what prospects see about you. Just make sure you are carefully controlling the content. Some popular social networking sites include LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Ecademy and Naymz.
  • Adviser profiles: Numerous websites, both paid and free, are specific to financial advisers, allowing you to create profiles about yourself and your business:
    o FPA Planner Search (www.fpaforfinancialplanning.org/PlannerSearch/PlannerSearch.aspx)
    o Financial Advice Network (www.financialadvicenetwork.com)
    o NAPFA (http://findanadvisor.napfa.org)
    o FiGuide (www.figuide.com)
    o AdvisorCheck (www.advisorbackgroundcheck.com)
    o e-Luminary (http://e-luminary.com)
    o ClaroConnect (www.claroconnect.com)
    o Paladin Registry (www.paladinregistry.com)
  • Other tools: Other tools are available that can help you distribute information about yourself on the Internet and are highly ranked in search engine listings:
    o Boulevard R (www.boulevardr.com)
    o SlideShare (www.slideshare.net)
    o YouTube (www.youtube.com)

One final tip to proactively creating your online reputation is to use your name in the customized URL for as many websites, accounts and profiles as you can (for example, www.linkedin.com/in/yourname, www.yourname.com, or www.slideshare.net/yourname). This will increase the probability that your prospects will find these sites when searching your name. 

Monitor Your Reputation

Once you have cleaned up your online presence, it is essential that you continue to monitor your reputation. A common way to do this is to set up Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts). Google Alerts are e-mail updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query. With Google Alerts you can set up queries using your name and business name to stay abreast of any new information posted about you on the Internet. This will enable you to address any damaging information quickly and inform you of positive press you receive. You should also conduct a search of your name on Google, Yahoo and Bing on a regular basis to stay informed about what your prospects are seeing.

When it comes to the Internet, what you don't know can hurt you, and it could be damaging your business every day without your knowledge. By abstaining from online activities, you are giving others control of the message your prospects are hearing about you and your business.

Whether or not you want to make Internet marketing part of your business strategy, you can no longer afford to ignore your online presence. So make it a goal to take control, and make it a priority to build, manage and monitor your online reputation.

 Kristen Luke is the principal of Wealth Management Marketing (www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net), a firm dedicated to providing marketing strategies and support for RIAs. She works with individual advisers and firms to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back-office support required to implement the strategies.