by Doreen Martel

Created on: February 03, 2009   Last Updated: February 05, 2012

Building a reputation is the secret ingredient to all successful businesses. When your business is not brick and mortar based, building an online business reputation may be necessary to long-term success. In fact, without a reputation, chances are that your online business will be doomed to fail.

Why reputation matters

When someone is making a decision to do business with you, they want to know about your reputation. A well built reputation will inspire confidence in you. Your service or your product is part of your reputation. Standing behind your product or service helps build a reputation for your online business. Since many online businesses depend entirely on the internet for marketing purposes, your reputation matters.

A traditional business owner often has the opportunity to meet clients face to face. If you are building an online business, chances are you will never (or seldom) meet clients face to face.

Effects of a well-built reputation

How you handle your customers is going to determine the reputation that you built. Those who are responsive to the needs of their customers always have the best reputations and those who deliver as promised may also have additional opportunities.

Effects of a poorly built reputation

While it is true that if someone is happy with your services they might refer you to between one and three persons. However, if you have a poor reputation, it will spread like wildfire across the internet.

The author of the book Corporate Reputation was asked "How long does it take a company to recover its reputation today?"

They responded: "What has been proven time and again is that reputation recovery is neither easy nor short term. As revealed in Corporate Reputation, reputation recovery is perceived to take approximately three and one-half years, with it taking 3.2 years in North America, 3.6 years in Europe and 3.5 years in Asia. In addition, executives believe that repairing reputation is six times harder than building reputation."

How to build a solid online reputation

When you are starting an online business you want to build a reputation. These quick and easy steps can help:

• Stand Behind your Promises - make sure you fulfill your promises;

• Provide Excellent Customer Service - your reputation depends on it;

• As for References/Testimonials - ask every satisfied client for a referral or testimonial;

•  Handle Complaints Immediately - do not hesitate to turn a dissatisfied client into a satisfied client;

• Excellent Communication - always be in communication with customers.

Building and expanding your online business is easier once you build a reputation. Success may be measured in dollars earned, however, a strong reputation for your online business may be necessary if you are to successfully compete.

It takes extra work to build a strong online business reputation. It takes very little to destroy a reputation and even longer to repair a blemished reputation. Make sure if you are considering an online business you take the steps that are needed to build a reputation.

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