"Never knew online reputation is so important"...

Last night I found a mail in my inbox from a member of one of the mailing groups I subscribed to which was related to real estate investing. The mail had a link of a national newspaper about a high court judgement that has shown a particular real estate company in a bad light. I had been dealing with this particular real estate company since a long time and had found them very honest in their dealings. I called the MD of that company who is very well known to me and asked about that. He explained the complete case and also told me that they had contested the judgement and they have a very strong case of winning the judgement in their favor.

This particular company was a traditional company and never invested a penny on building their onsite reputation or even an online presence. I goolged their legal name and what I found was really astonishing. Eight out of top ten search results were about that court judgement. This company has huge real estate inventories to be sold and as all of us know that there is hardly anyone these days who would give their life saving without checking the credibility and the reputation of the company over the internet. The MD informed me that they are really having tough time in selling their real estate properties. I explained him the reason and then he realized the importance of having acceptable online reputation. "I never knew online reputation is so important", he said. All of us know that real estate properties are hardly bought or sold online alone, there are lots of discussions and negotiations takes place. Nevertheless, checking credibility online is the easiest, quickest and most inexpensive way for the potential buyers before parting with their hard earned monies. We have also learned that having no online presence too is equally damaging in the eyes of the potential buyers. Irrespective of the type of business online reputation goes a long way to establish you in the marketplace. And the great news is, it is not that expensive.

Please leave a comment or write privately in case you need more information on how to go about building online reputation for your own name, your business name or for any brand name.

Regards,

Khalid Abdullah Khan