Darned if you do, darned if you don't

Managing an online presence is sometimes difficult, but not having one is fatal for anyone who wants to market products or services these days. So, any number of websites, blogs, and applications are available to help webmasters and others manage an online presence.

Perhaps the most basic way to manage an online presence is to create one. The bare minimum is a website or a blog. Some people confuse the two, but a blog is usually limited by the software and templates made available by the host, but a website can be far more creative. If I could only have one, it would be the website. However, many blogging services are free. This one is, rather obviously, Blogger, which is a Google product. I have another blog (on a totally different subject) with another service, and each one has a different look and feel because the software does differ. I have enjoyed working with both of these, and free is a really good price.

Once something good is published about me, I can put in links or quote the item in my blog or on my website. If something bad is published, usually, I can respond. How one responds to online criticism is actually a hot topic in marketing these days. Just remember the Domino's fiasco, if you want to know why it is necessary to respond to negative online publicity. One of the main tips I have for that is to remember that anything that is written, even online, can be shared. Finding the right balance between entertaining and damaging can be difficult, because bland gets no notice.

I have mentioned using Google Alerts in a previous post, and I do have a number of those set to let me know, via email, when web users access my web information. That service, although quite good, is dependent on Google's search engine, so I have been looking for something else, and I have found one that seems to do the job.

Addictomatic searches various online sources of information. If you are wondering what others are saying about you online, set one up with your online identity as the subject. Or, if you are fond of a type of literature, a band, or a gaming platform, that could be the subject instead. Do try it out. I was impressed with this app.