Poor Lois Feldman - The Speaker, Not the Bathroom Party Time Lady »
Posted on December 2nd, 2008 by Justin Seibert in Paid Search, SEM, SEO, Search Engine Reputation Management, Social Media, Web Credibility | Leave A Comment

By now you’ve probably heard the story about Lois Feldman.  If not, here’s a quick recap:

Lois was arrested for doing her Humpty Hump (of Digital Underground fame) Burger King bathroom impression in the stall of a public bathroom at a college football game recently.  That’s pretty embarrasing, especially in today’s internet age.

But you know what’s really embarrassing?

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TAGS: bad business bureau, branding, Digital Underground, kitten hijacking, Lois Feldman, online reputation management, Plaxico Burress, reputation management for attorneys, Scott Boras

Blogs are Crap - More Fallout from the WVU eMBA Scandal »
Posted on August 12th, 2008 by Justin Seibert in Business Blogging, DOM News, Government Marketing, Internet, Local News, Local Search, Search Engine Reputation Management, Web Credibility | 5 Comments

Rarely do I literally stop everything I’m doing to read an article.  Or post a comment.  Or write a blog.  I hit the trifecta today.

Just when I thought I had said all I could say about the WVU eMBA scandal from an online reputation management perspective, I was sent a link to this article:

Interim WVU president has big goals — but don’t count on him blogging

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TAGS: banging head on desk, blogs vs. main stream media, charleston daily mail, Heather Bresch, Mike Garrison, naked supermodels, next generation marketing, online reputation management, peter magrath, sabremetrics, twitter, unicorns, WVU emba degree, wvu president, wvu scandal

Federal Government Blogs & the Myth of Control »
Posted on July 1st, 2008 by Justin Seibert in Business Blogging, Government Marketing, Political Marketing, Search Engine Reputation Management | 5 Comments

Blog discussions with marketing friends of mine like Skip Lineberg often end up with us trading war stories about potential clients.  They’re intrigued with blogging, but don’t want to allow comments and “lose control.”  There are many reasons not to start a blog (having a time constraint comes immediately to mind), but that fear is not one of them.

Friends, you’ve already lost control.

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TAGS: commenting policies, government blogs, join the conversation, myth of control, negative comments, online reputation management, TSA, two chances to make a first impression

Marketing a State - Online Reputation Management for West Virginia »
Posted on June 20th, 2008 by Justin Seibert in Business Blogging, Local News, Marketing, Online Marketing, Search Engine Reputation Management, Web Credibility | 24 Comments

Fans of the old Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon will remember when they told you to tune in next week. They would always end “Don’t miss tomorrow’s exciting episode…[Bullwinkle's Ride or Goodbye, Dollink].” Always two titles. The alternative title for this post would be “Growing Young Professional Class in WV…Now How do We Let Folks Know about It?”

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TAGS: abetterwestvirginia, Generation West Virginia, marketing West Virginia, online reputation management, ovconnect, West Virginia Day

Finally an Example of being Proactive in Online Reputation Management Courtesy of Obama »
Posted on June 13th, 2008 by Justin Seibert in Online Marketing, Paid Search, Political Marketing, Search Engine Reputation Management, Web Credibility | 2 Comments

I spend a lot of time talking with folks about online reputation management and how crucial it is in today’s world. Sometimes that’s to the press, sometimes at conferences, sometimes to my dog JJ after my wife goes to “sleep” to avoid listening to me anymore. (Honey, I know you’re just playing opossum; it’s okay.)

I can’t help it. Most organizations are just so bad at it and don’t seem to recognize that the internet has fundamentally changed the way the game is played. And yes, I’m looking at you, David Stern. I know you’re a smart guy, but do you seriously think you can just shout down claims by Tim Donaghy - no matter how false and self-serving they may be - when your league already has an image problem in today’s world? Really? </condescending sarcasm to David Stern>

Often times, my talking of online reputation management turns to government. We seem to like talking politics a lot around this here blog. I’m proud, though, that neither Paul nor I show our cards and our readers don’t know whom we support. Except of course that we obviously don’t like Barrack Obama since we’re a bunch of racist, redneck West Virginians. </condescending sarcasm to national media and The Daily Show> Yes, Paul, I’m including you - you live here now.

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TAGS: david stern, fightthesmears.com, nba, obama, online reputation management, Paid Search, tim donaghy

Governor Manchin Emails State RE: Daughter’s WVU MBA Scandal »
Posted on May 19th, 2008 by Justin Seibert in Business Blogging, DOM News, Email Marketing, Local News, Search Engine Reputation Management, Social Media, Web Credibility | 3 Comments

Alright,

Now I’m convinced the higher ups at WVU and in West Virginia State government are reading my blog and attending our Next Generation Marketing conferences.

I’m not going to go through the whole spiel again, but be aware that this article is written in a non-biased fashion meant to take a deeper look at the Heather Bresch pr crisis from an academic standpoint. Careful readers should be able to learn several ways to combat their own bad press.

For organizations with robust search engine reputation management and online pr crisis response needs, please contact us to discuss your options and develop a plan. We accept checks and all major credit cards and operators are standing by. Plus, call within the next 15 minutes and receive a free genuine ginsu link building plan.

You must understand two things:

1. You cannot bury your head in the sand. The conversation will happen. The question is: do you want to join it?

2. It is a million times easier to respond to pr crises with a proper plan in place before the dynamite goes boom.

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TAGS: Email Marketing, Governor Joe Manchin, Heather Bresch, MBA scandal, online reputation management, richrod, WVU

Extreme Online Reputation Management: WVU, Mylan, & Governor’s Office Edition »
Posted on April 28th, 2008 by Justin Seibert in Business Blogging, Local News, Local Search, Paid Search, SEO, Search Engine Reputation Management, Social Media, Web Credibility | 5 Comments

In getting ready for the Next Generation Marketing series across West Virginia this spring, I began thinking about my presentation on Engagement and Dialogue. In it, I will go over the premise and some recommendations for online reputation management. The last time I spoke about that publicly was at the Online Marketing: Innovations that Work marketing conference in Southpointe, PA when I delivered They Said What? Protect Your Reputation with Search Engine Marketing.

I really want to do a post on the subject - if only there were some really big public scandal involving reputations being changed on the internet that involved West Virginia and the Pittsburgh, PA area. Hmmm. Let’s see. [shuffles through piles of old newspapers by desk - who needs the internet?]

Oh that’s right - how about Heather Bresch? Do a search on her name, particularly a news search, and see what you come up with. For those readers either too lazy to do the search or too enthralled with my hypnotic musings (read: put you in a catatonic state), it comes down to the following:

Ms. Bresch was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Mylan, Incorporated in October 2007. In doing some fact checking for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a reporter named Patricia Sabatini called West Virginia University to verify that Ms. Bresch had received her Masters of Business Administration there. WVU could not find any record of it.

The pieces of information that have the makings of a good scandal, but may or may not actually mean anything include: Ms. Bresch is the daughter of Governor Joe Manchin; she has previous dealings with WVU President Mike Garrison; and Mylan’s head is WVU’s largest benefactor.

Fast forward two seasons.

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TAGS: Heather Bresch, Joe Manchin, MBA scandal, Mike Garrison, Mylan, online reputation management, Patricia Sabatini, pr crisis, Search Engine Reputation Management, WVU