Category Archives: Reputation Management

Disney, DUI and Reputation Management

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Many celebrities get into trouble with the law.  It seems like there is a constant parade of young, and not so young stars getting their mugshots taken and then appearing in all the entertainment news reports.  This creates headaches for the star’s PR handlers.

Recently 20 year old Mitchell Mussa a star of the Hannah Montana series alongside Miley Cyrus was arrested in California on suspicion of DUI.  He failed to stop when initially pulled over.  He had a field sobriety test along with a breathalyzer.  Now this was a massive headache for the Disney Channel as he was underage and his blood alcohol level was over 0.08% the legal limit.  So he was according to the law – drunk.

His bail was set at $5,000 – but was released as he had no outstanding warrants.  If convicted he could face 6 months of jail time along with a hefty fine.

Disney has had quite a few of its celebrities fighting drink and drugs recently so one would think their PR department is getting use to dealing with this.  This is a good opportunity for the PR people to communicate clearly with the fans so that they understand what is happening.  Its also an opportunity for Musso to do some damage control and perhaps help out his fans by telling them of his experience and what he went through.  This will result in positive feedback for the actor and help him put this experience behind him.  Many actors have faced drinking and DUI challenges in the past and went on to restore their careers.

Disney will be doing their reputation good if they are seen to support their young stars when they are in trouble.  They can still put down his actions and point out that the result could have been loss of life.  Perhaps they can put together a special on underage drinking or DUI?

Information provided by Essex County DUI Attorney helping drivers with legal issues

Choosing the right type of Advertising for your Business

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As a business owner you may be wondering if you need to advertise. Or, what type and how much advertising might be optimal for you. Choosing the right type of Advertising for your Business can be a confusing and overwhelming process, but if done correctly it can be a key factor in your business’ success or failure. Whether owners realize it or not, all businesses use some sort of advertising, because even word of mouth is a form of advertising. If it gets your name out there then it is advertising. The whole point is to give your business exposure in hopes of bringing in new leads for business. So, what type of advertising should you be using?

When choosing the right type of advertising agency for your business, you need to look at the size of your business, how large a territory you are capable of servicing, what kind of advertising budget you can afford, and the demographics of your target customer. These details are important factors in the type and size of advertising that is best for your company.

The most common and sometimes completely unrecognized source of free advertising that every business has to some extent is “Word of Mouth”. Negative word of mouth can be just as harmful as positive word of mouth can be beneficial. Provide good customer service and customers will say good things about you.

Other types of advertising are mailings, billboards, radio advertising, television commercials, magazine and newspaper advertisements, contests, phone book ads and the internet. Those are only a few advertising options. Let’s not forget the sandwich sign people standing in the malls and on the corners in their costumes attracting attention. Use your imagination and come up with your own inventive advertising solutions.

If you are a smaller one person owner operator business that only services your local community, you should focus more on your actual market, instead of broad multi-region ads, opting for local mailers, a phone book ad or even the sandwich sign guy, and not spend the money on TV and radio ads, or vast internet advertisement. If you are a larger company that needs to get your information out coast to coast or worldwide, TV, Radio or the Internet might be your best bet. When choosing the right type of advertising for your business, choose the one that best focuses on your needs while giving you the most bang for your buck.

Reputation, Marriage, and Vegas Law

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For many years now, the phrase “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas,” has moved along from an advertising slogan to allure tourists to a cliche for situation comedies in Hollywood. There have been more than enough celebrities who have found their way into this famed desert city, married, then unmarried, to attest there is actually little truth to the phrase. If not careful with your own reputation, even here, you might find yourself in need of a Las Vegas lawyer.

In the case of quick marriages, most people are aware of Britney Spears’ fast and furious arrangement to tie the knot to Jason Allen Alexander (admittedly fewer people may recall the groom) at the Little White Wedding Chapel on the Strip, just about a half mile past the Stratosphere Hotel.

Not only does what happen here not stay in Vegas, this little chapel offers the opportunity for those not invited to your wedding to watch it on Internet through the chapel’s webcam!

As one of Vegas’ most famous sites, it has drawn in celebrities left and right, from Hollywood legends such as Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in the 1950s, Judy Garland and Mark Herron, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow in the 1960s, to more recent celebrities such as British Journalist Charlie Brooker and British television presenter Konnie Huq in 2010.

The chapel with its own Drive-Thru Tunnel of Vows began in 1951, and has since married close to 800,000 couples, which keeps its staff of around ten ministers busy. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, there were 133,000 U.S. marriages in February of 2006, and 269 of those were held on a single day at the Little White Wedding Chapel -Valentine’s Day. There’s no quick way to determine how many of these weddings lasted; however, a glance at Nevada statistics, approximately 120,000 people get married each year there, and about 12,000 are divorced each year.

Of course, there’s a reason Nevada has one of the highest rates of marriage in the United States: It’s easy to do.

In Nevada, people older than 16 may get married (however, if the parties are 16 and 17 years old, they still need permission from their parents); the Nevada law doesn’t require a blood test nor a waiting period for a license, and the fee is relatively cheap. It’s possible to get a marriage license in about ten minutes and to have a wedding ceremony in about 15 minutes. The offices for marriage licenses have longer hours than most states, too (some as long as 8 a.m. to Midnight, Monday through Sunday, and that includes holidays).

Combining marriage with gambling and entertainment can create some interesting situations, such as the Britney Spears wedding; with any luck, though, most marriages will add to your reputation instead of diminish it, and you won’t have to be searching for books on Vegas Law in order to seek an equally quick divorce or annulment.

The Importance of a Good Lawyer

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When handling any sort of legal issues it is important that you hire the best possible lawyer available.  A good lawyer will be able to properly represent you and should be able to help you reach the outcome you are looking for. Legal problems or dilemmas are not something you want to handle on your own or without representation.

When looking to hire a lawyer, you will want to look for reputable law firms in your area. Finding a firm that is hard working, diligent and one that cares about you as a client is very important to your success in court. You want to find a firm that is known to have a good work ethic because you want to make sure that your lawyer is researching every law and every angle to be able to win your case. A lawyer that cares about you as a client is going to be willing to put in the extra work to win your case as opposed to someone who has taken on too many clients and too many cases.

It is also important to know your lawyer’s track record, if they have won a very small amount of cases, then they might not be your first choice. On the other hand, you want someone who is going to be effective but not immoral. A lawyer’s track record is important to understand but it should not be the only determining factor. You want a person who is of good moral character because essentially this person is representing you in a court of law.

Location is also a big factor when choosing a lawyer; you are going to want to find a firm that is in your area so that visiting the office isn’t too far of a drive. It is also important that you find a lawyer who is very knowledgeable about the laws in your area, as laws differ from state to state and from county to county.

Choosing a great lawyer to represent you in court can be quite a task, but once you find someone that you trust to represent you, your legal problems will quickly be resolved.

Enhancing Your Business with Online Reputation Management

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Simply turn on the news and you can see that most businesses right now are suffering. With the economy still somewhat shaky and the light not quite visible at the end of the tunnel, now is the time to enhance your business. Every day the web becomes a greater part of how we live. We use it daily to search for information, products and services, and entertainment. In an effort to make your business stand apart from the rest, the web needs to be a bigger part of your business.

Anytime a customer is looking for a product or service, they are going to begin on the web. They are looking to see if you offer the services they require, what prices you charge, and any other information that can help them make a decision. This is why it is important to have a solid, easy to locate website. If you really want exposure for your business consider setting up a page on one of the social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Something else that potential clients will be looking for that could make or break their decision are user reviews. If, in their search for your company, they find a string of bad comments or reviews, they will probably start looking for someone else. This is where Online Reputation Management comes in.

Online Reputation Management is a process of monitoring the information provided by search engines such as Yahoo or Google. If there are negative comments or reviews then companies like Elixir Interactive can begin the process of moving those sites out and replacing them with positive ones. The key is vigilance. By staying on top of competitors, clients, and former employees are saying, you can catch issues before they become a problem. For more >> information on the importance of online reputation management and what you can do for your business, visit elixirinteractive.com.

Online Reputation Management and Blogs

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Crisis communications or reputation management is one of the most important and highly visible areas in the entire public relations profession. The lack of crisis communications skills can inflict great damage on a company of any size. e,g. Arthur Andersen, Tylenol, Union Carbide, FEMA.

How has reputation management changed with the development of blogs?

The blogosphere adds speed, complexity and size to reputation and crisis management. Don’t underestimate the ability of a blogger to turn your world upside down. Expect it, plan for it, and plan your response. Online Reputation Management should be a key focus for all orgnanizations unfortunately, in the PR world it is still over looked.

The blogosphere’s record is permanent, its half-life is far longer, and big mistakes are punished more quickly and ruthlessly. The existence of some 17 million blogs today has made the blogosphere the world’s largest and most influential form of interactive media.

Small, unknown blogs can link or syndicate to larger, more influential blogs, which in turn can rapidly supply researched story leads to the 24-hour, traditional media. Those stories, once legitimized by the mainstream press, are then spun back out into the blogosphere, where tens of thousands of bloggers rebroadcast mainstream news with their own comments, which then begets more comments and perhaps more revelations, and the cycle begins again.

The Internet has made a permanent record of all media since the mid-90s. The Blogosphere now makes a permanent and highly searchable vehicle for all commentary since roughly 2003. Research it, respond to it, and take proactive charge of your reputation. Don’t let others write the history books without sizeable input from those who lived it.

Knowledge of the tools is as important as knowledge of the players. It is imperative that PR practitioners, as well as any company spokesperson empowered to communicate in a crisis, is knowledgeable about the blog technology.

In the permanent record department, one must keep track of an ever-changing toolset of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) methods, blog syndication resources and other tools designed to bring the best and most timely information in front of the most well-informed reader.

Knowledge of the tools of blogging is utterly necessary to understand and inform your strategy for what the blogosphere represents.

Know the difference between a crisis and a nuisance. Know if you are in the right and defensibly so. Know the capabilities of your opponents, including their ability to organize opposition and to distribute. Consider separate crisis blogs for investors, buyers and other constituents.

Finally, use common sense. The blogosphere dramatically expands the reach of your audience, which means the potential for more supporters, as well as more detractors. Its immediacy and permanence also means that it will have lasting importance.

Know when you’re in a crisis and respond accordingly. Don’t abuse the tools of the blogosphere or you can find yourself in a crisis defending your crisis management.

http://www.globalprblogweek.com/2005/09/23/terpin-crisis-blogging

Money Laundering and the Bank Secrecy Act

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Money laundering is indicative of past and future criminal activity, as well as being a crime in and of itself in the present tense.  The laundering of money is an attempt to separate the monies from the criminal act from which it was gained or to which it will be used.  The source of the funds becomes muddled and disguised until it resembles the funds of honest gains.  Trails of deposits and withdrawals are eliminated and the funds appear legitimate all the while while evading incomes taxes.

The reputation of a country’s financial systems relies on the dismantling of such crime rings.  The integrity of the financial institutions becomes eroding through the occurrence of criminal activities, which in turn affects the honest and legitimate competition between businesses, and the survival of those who are conducting legitimate transactions.  This can have disastrous effects on the economy and the well being of the citizens of the society.

Money laundering not only the country in which it takes place, but ultimately affects every nation, as part and parcel of the entire process involve the constant shifting of assets in the international markets and institutions as well.  In 1970 the United States Congress enacted the Bank Secrecy Act in response to what had already at that time become a serious concern and threat.  This is a set of policies and procedures that are designed to maintain the validity and accuracy of an institutions records of the transactions that take place.

Not only is this intended to ensure that the banks are not involved in the corruption, but serves to protect those who are not involved.  If accurate records are kept it is easy to defend one’s innocence if it is called into question.  The accuracy of a financial institutions records is of utmost importance, as the records are always admitted into the evidence of cases involving money laundering and financial corruption.