Sticks & Stones: How Digital Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click - Hardcover

Weber, Larry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470457384 ISBN 13: 9780470457382

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2009

Synopsis

"Larry Weber has made an important contribution to helping any leader understand how to manage and protect reputation in a digital world. The influences on reputation have spun out of control, and this book is a highly actionable approach to move from reacting to managing one of every organization's most important assets."
—Michael E. Porter, Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, Harvard Business School

"In Sticks and Stones, Larry Weber presents a compelling look at the challenges of protecting corporate reputation in a world where company information can cross borders and gain momentum in an instant via the Internet. Drawing on his keen eye for communications trends, Larry offers practical advice for navigating this ever-changing environment. Corporate leaders would be wise to embrace his counsel."
—Ron Sargent, Chairman and CEO, Staples, Inc.

"Businesses no longer control their brands. At best, they can influence the communities of constituents who debate, shape, and refine their definition of what the brand means to them. Marketers and business executives can tap into these conversations to form incredibly rich and lasting bonds or allow themselves to be rolled by them. Larry Weber understood this dynamic long before most commu-nications thought leaders. In Sticks and Stones, he delivers not only bountiful examples of the best and worst practices in reputation management, but also practical advice that any leader can use to understand and shape reputation in this complex new world. This is a must-read book for the modern marketer."
—Paul Gillin, author, The New Influencers and Secrets of Social Media Marketing

"In today's interconnected world of social networking, 24/7 blogging and Twitter, a company's livelihood relies, in large measure, on its ability to build a reputable online presence. Sticks and Stones is a must-read for any leader in business, academia, or politics who wants to achieve and maintain a 21st-century, online competitive advantage."
—Deborah Wince-Smith, President, Council on Competitiveness

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Words really can hurt you; here's how to influence the conversation and counter the attacks.

In today's wired world, business reputations are built and destroyed online. Blogs, citizen journalism, and instant information have made the consequences of a bad reputation more devastating than ever. Though it may be intangible, a good reputation online is your company's most valuable corporate asset. It builds customer loyalty, helps attract talent, and earns shareholder confidence—and that leads to better bottom lines and bigger profits.

Until now, there's been no straightforward guidebook on building your online reputation and keeping your brand message intact. In Sticks and Stones, PR guru Larry Weber gives you the rules and tools you need to build and safeguard your company's online presence.

Weber explains the important concept of online equity—the sum total of the positive impressions that your company or product makes on customers, communities, and stakeholders. The bigger your supply of online equity, the easier it will be for you to overcome negative impressions—whether theycome from news sources, bloggers, or anyone else online. Sticks and Stones shows you how to build reputation equity through online publicity, organizational moral purpose, and strong business relationships.

Inside, you'll learn how to:

• Monitor and measure your reputation
  
• Set priorities and objectives for building and protecting your reputation
  
• Engage, involve, and influence your stakeholders
  
• Set responsibilities and internal policy formanaging the online conversation
  
• Develop your online reputation and build equity
  
• Master YouTube—whether you're a small business or a mega-business
  
• Successfully counter innuendo, rumors, or lies about your products, services, or policies
  
• Minimize the damage from mistakes and crises

This book gives you an effective framework for managing your online reputation by discovering who your key stakeholders are and what issues they care most about—and how to keep them happy.

About the Author

Larry Weber leads W2 Group, a next-generation ecosystem of marketing service companies that help CMOs in their new roles of content aggregators and community builders. W2 Group companies include Racepoint Group, a global public relations firm with special expertise in digital media relations; Digital Influence Group, a social media marketing agency; and Two Martinis, a branding firm that aligns brand vision and customer experience in a social media world. Earlier in his career, Weber founded Weber Shandwick, the largest public relations agency in the world. He is also cofounder and chairman of MITX, the world's largest online advocacy organization,and the author of Marketing to the Social Web.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0470457384
• ISBN 13: 9780470457382
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 226