In a post on the Networking Channel, I discussed building your authority and credibility as part of meeting new people. Which, really, is the essence of Marketing – meeting new people and getting them to buy your stuff. The difficulty in meeting these people is that you can’t meet all of them, and some of them are talking about you behind your back!

Where do these people meet?

Blogs, forums, message boards, Twitter – you name it, if there is a Social Media site where your customers like to gather, they will talk about your business. And when someone attacks you (or your product or service) on a blog or message board, it’s too late when that Google Alert shows up in your mailbox. If you only go to the social networking site in order to defend yourself — you’ll look like a PR flack and no one will listen.

The Best Defense is a Good Offense

You need to be pro-active about your credibility and reputation, not re-active. Start building your reputation for transparency and honesty now:

• Participate in the discussions – use your knowledge and experience to provide value for the other readers and participants.
• Comment often – Leaving comments that are thoughtful and useful (as opposed to comments like this, “Click this link to buy my solution to this problem“)
• and Become part of the community – Meet the people. Get to know them. Develop relationships with the trend-setters. Ask for their advice sometimes.

Following this plan will enable you to create trust and goodwill so you have the credibility to defend yourself if and when you need it. And just maybe you’ll have made friends who will do some defending on your behalf.

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