John David - How to Protect (Or Destroy) Your Reputation Online: The Essential Guide to Avoid Digital Damage, Lock Down Your Brand, and Defend Your Business

Praise for How to Protect (or Destroy) Your Reputation Online

The tools of online content and social media give everyone who wants one a (potentially loud) public voice. This profound revolution in human communications is terribly exciting, but comes with risks because anyone can say anything at any time, whether true or not. John expertly guides you through the challenges and pitfalls of online reputation so you put your best face forward when customers are looking for you or your brand on the Web.

David Meerman Scott, best-selling author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR,
now in 25 languages from Arabic to Vietnamese

Every day we read about e-mail addresses hacked here or private pictures being posted there, and we never think it will happen to us. The sad truth is that our secretsfinancial, medical, personal, and moreare just a click or two away from being stolen and exploited. Instead of being digital ostriches with your head in the sand, the best defense is to read John Davids timely book and put his techniques to work protecting your precious digital data. Do it now before its too late.

Bruce Turkel, CEO of Turkel Brands and author of
All About Them

Having known John David as a top public relations consultant for more than 20 years, I can attest to his expertise with complex communications issues. Reading this book, he immerses you in the increasingly complicated world of online reputation, explains our frightening vulnerabilities and artfully describes how we can and should defend ourselves. How to Protect (or Destroy) Your Reputation Online is a must-read for CEOs, business owners and students alike.

Scott Page, CEO of The Lifeline Program and author of
Its Never Too Late

This book explores new facets of public image, and is a must-have for every PR practitioners library.

Margot Winick, college communicator and marketer, and PR professor

With the exponential growth of the internet, one of the most important issues facing attorneys today is protecting their online reputation. It is a call I receive almost weekly: How do I deal with false, negative online reviews? John David is always my first call, and this book is a must-read for anyone who relies on the internet for business.

Brian Tannebaum, criminal/ethics defense lawyer and author of The Practice

How To Protect (or Destroy) Your Reputation Online

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO
AVOID DIGITAL DAMAGE,
LOCK DOWN YOUR BRAND,
AND DEFEND YOUR BUSINESS

JOHN P. DAVID

Copyright 2017 by John P. David

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

HOW TO PROTECT (OR DESTROY) YOUR REPUTATION ONLINE
EDITED BY PATRICIA KOT
TYPESET BY KARA KUMPEL
Cover design by Ty Nowicki
Printed in the U.S.A.

To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press.

The Career Press, Inc.
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www.careerpress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP Data Available Upon Request.

To Pamela, Emma, and Jack.

Though writing is a solitary task, this book would not have been realized without the help and encouragement of many people, particularly my family. My wife, Pamela, steadfastly supports my career in public relations and encourages my writing, whether it be for my blog or this book. She gave me valuable advice at many key moments during the process, and without her, this project would have been impossible. My children, Emma and Jack, were enthusiastic about the book and rearranged parts of their schedules so that I could carve out extra placid moments to finish the manuscript.

I also owe many thanks to my new friends and colleagues in the publishing world. Writer and editor Thomas Hauck provided excellent feedback on my first draft as well as my book proposal, and he pulled back the curtain of the publishing industry, helping me turn a fanciful thought into a reality. My agent, Jeff Herman, took a shot on a first-time author and guided me through the process, answering many questions and allaying all of my concerns. He pitched hard and advocated for me, and I couldnt have asked for more. Adam Schwartz, Lauren Manoy, and the executives at Career Press believed in my book and helped mold its contents into a more complete and useful work, and cover designer Jeff Piasky created the universally loved shield emblem.

As I worked on this, several people were very giving of their time and granted informative interviews. Darnell Holloway at Yelp, Scott Dobroski at Glassdoor, and the executives at TripAdvisor each gave me great insight into best practices at their respective sites and patiently answered my many questions. Adam Sperling of the Hotel Commonwealth and Jay Sofer of LockBusters provided incredible background on working with the review sites and allowed me to feature them as case studies. Cybersecurity expert Brook Zimmatore of Massive offered a detailed education on numerous areas of online reputation management, and famed entrepreneur Mark Cuban graciously agreed to allow republication of my prior interview with him about online privacy.

My father, Tom David, and my brother, Chris David, helped me navigate the contracts, and my friend and unofficial consigliere Jason Margulies offered advice and perspective from the outset of the project. My blogging buddies, Bruce Turkel and David Altshuler, have regularly offered meaningful advice and reassurance for my blogwithout which this book would not have happened. I also owe gratitude to the editors at the Huffington Post and PR Daily who enjoy my quirky take on public relations and marketing, enabling my posts to find a larger audience on their websites.

And lastly, Im blessed that many people throughout my life, from teachers and professors to friends and colleagues, have encouraged me and told me that Im a good writer. I often put on a haughty act about my writing, but I dont always believe it. To all of you, Im humbled and thankful.

My interest in the field of online reputation management was triggered by an event in 2013. While I was on vacation, my brother Chris, an attorney, called and asked if I would be interested in assisting one of his firms corporate clients, which was facing a public relations crisis. After Chris gave me a brief rundown, I agreed to discuss the issue with one of his law partners.

The next day, as my family and I began our ascent into the North Carolina mountains, I spoke with my brothers colleague and learned that the client was under attack by what can best be described as a rogue blogger. Through a series of sensationalized posts, the blogger was attempting to discredit an entire industry. A few of his posts about other companies had gained online traction, and the client feared irreparable damage to its overall reputation and potentially its entire business if the blogger was left unchecked.