It is very common for people to joke around about how unrecoverable your business reputation will be once it is tarnished. By starting a business under a different name, in the same industry, this is the joking wisdom that is often conveyed. While losing a good reputation may be deserved depending on why it happened, that piece of advice does have some merit.

The strategy is actually viable because of the size of the Internet itself. Instead, you really should just try to make your business reputation as good as possible. Any honest business person will not knowingly or purposely engage in behavior designed to cause harm to others. But for creating a great reputation in your niche, there's a lot you can do to further that along.

One of the best ways to build your online reputation today is with social media strategies. Twitter and Facebook are often used, along with Linkedln which is used by professionals online. People see what you have to offer, which is very easy to do when this is accomplished online. With LinkedIn and Facebook, you can join applicable groups and network with people. Contribute value to each group and the community as a whole. The smart thing to do is engage them as you talk to people on social sites. It's all about interacting with people. You can never be too busy to do this. Have feedback requests prominently displayed on your site and actively encourage any kind of feedback. Don't worry about bad responses or criticisms. There are many more good ones that will come your way. Companies like Amazon request feedback, and respond to those who give it. They explain that they can't respond to every person that gives them feedback. If you have great feedback, a personal response is almost always given. You should consider the information, and implement it, if it is useful for your business. Always tell people that you received their suggestion or comment. People believe that, through acknowledging them, you are respecting them.

Appreciate the people who are helping you. People who have dealt with you before are likely to share those experiences through social media. Take a moment to thank people for saying nice things about you and your business. Not only does this make a favorable impression on the person you've thanked but the others who see this as well. Building rapport with your audience is a very important part of the social networking that's needed in business today. This is also a way to reach out to a much broader audience because you can never really tell who's seeing these random acts. At the end of the day; it's always important to be nice with your audience - no matter where they may be.

It's possible that you're going to disagree with some of your customers and/or blog readers. But it's always important to remember that protecting your reputation is the most important thing in moments like these. Now is the time when you need to focus your attention on positive and proactive methods of resolving the conflict.