Massachusetts Lawyer Blog

What do you do when a problem arises that could harm your reputation? How do you know when it's happening?

For starters, Google alerts provides one tool to keep track of what's being said about you online. A search on twitter might help, too. This list from author, Andy Beal, provides 34 more tools to consider, 34 Online Reputation Management Tools | Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing.

Beal rightly states:

User generated media, blogs and discussion forums have changed the flow of information about your company forever.

Lee Odden in Basics of Online Reputation Management | Online Marketing Blog, proposes a three step approach: Monitor, Optimize and Engage. To start, Odden suggests monitoring:

• Brands
• Products
• Company
• Key Executives

OK, so once you have the information, now what do you do about it? Visit Odden's post describing more about optimizing and engaging.

In general, when a problem arises, one should consider both legal liability and business reputation issues when choosing the best course of action. Sometimes, however, these different approaches may not agree.

Continue reading " Web Identity Tips for Online Reputation Management " »

Think twice before hitting send. Massachusetts attorney, Robert Ambrogi at Legal Blog Watch, posts Bloggers Have BigLaw Watching Its Back, discussing how lawyers are being careful about what they post in their emails and memos. Ambrogi references an ABA Journal article written by Terry Carter reporting,

...leaking...has law firm leaders exercising caution. ... firms are well aware their private e-mails may end up in the public spotlight....

Carter Clayton an assistant managing partner at WilmerHale is quoted in the ABA article saying her firm now vets all firmwide memos, adding "It could be on a blog," she said. "It makes us careful."

Whether you're a business owner, manager, serve on a board of directors, or otherwise, you have to ask yourself, "Am I ready for this email to become public? Or posted on a blog and published for all to see forever and ever?" Exercise "send" with caution.

According to a report released by the Pew Center on the States,

Explosive growth in the number of people on probation or parole has propelled the population of the American corrections system to more than 7.3 million, or 1 in every 31 U.S. adults [.]

With respect to Massachusetts, here are some of their findings:

• 1 in 24 adults is under correctional control (probation, parole, prison, or jail.)
• 1 in 28 is on probate or parole.
• 1 in 190 is in prison or in jail.
• $1.25 billion is spent on corrections or 4.6% of 2008's general fund.
• 1 day of prison ($130.16) = 18 days of parole.
• For every dollar spent on prisons in 2008, 4 cents was spent on parole.

Anecdotal evidence suggests crime may rise in tough times, what impact will this have on strained budgets already compromised on public safety issues?