Online Reputation Management Book review: “Me and my web shadow” by Antony Mayfield

Marketers are hungry for information on how best to manage the reputation of their organisations online as shown by the popularity of our review of buzz monitoring software and services.

So, when I saw Antony Mayfield of iCrossing was publishing a book on reputation management with an intriguing title, I was keen to see his recommendations. I know Antony from his visionary advice on social media marketing at Econsultancy  masterclasses and via his blog.

What I like about the book

I think it"€™s...

A book for to enhance your career

As the title shows, this book is mainly intended to help you manage your own online footprint which had become vital to an individual professional success - particularly if you work "in digital media". This point was brought home to me from hearing Dell describe how all new senior recruits are now reviewed across all the main social networks as part of the filtering process. No surprise maybe, but it brought the point home.

A manual to help you manage your reputation online

Antony gives practical steps and checklists to review and improve your online presence. So it will give you a process and a checklist to think through and manage over the first few months and then making it part of your routine.

Helpful in defining  your social media strategy

The book helps you prioritise what you need to do for success. The ones I took away are:

"€œBe useful. The best way to grow your web shadow is to do useful things to improve your network"€. This is my mantra, which he acknowledges is tricky saying: "€œthe best way to attract attention is by graft, by being genuinely useful"€.

"€œBe the first and best source of information about yourself on the web"€

"€œUnderstand networks and which ones are important to you"€. In my books since we have to give definitions, the Internet is defined simply as a "€œnetwork of networks"€.

The straightforward way he explains the implications of this in the new world of social networks changed my perspective on web topologies and how companies should manage networks.

What don"€™t I like

And my criticisms? Well, as Antony acknowledges in his intro, this isn"€™t a book for digital specialists who have a well-established personal presence. It"€™s actually quite basic and brief - it"€™s a book you could hand to the HiPPO in your organisation who doesn"€™t get "it" and they will thank you for that.

You should know it's focus is deliberately not managing company reputation, although you can read it and apply the techniques to a company, particularly an SME.

I thought at first, that there wasn"€™t specific advice on setting up a presence, on individual networks or as a site. But Antony has "€œsaved the best "€˜till last"€ and there are useful mini-chapters on setting up your presence on Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, or your own blog.

There is a useful listing of other tools to help you manage your reputation at the end of the book.

Perhaps surprisingly given the agency he works with there"€™s limited advice on SEO principles, but I don"€™t think this book is the place for that.

But overall, it"€™s a useful, enjoyable read and I throughly recommend it, particularly if you"€™re concerned you"€™re falling behind in establishing your personal presence online.