Protect Your Company’s Reputation From Global Attacks on the Internet

In the past year, a series of Internet-based corporate public relations crises have sent companies scrambling to control extensive damage to their reputations. From AT&T to pet food manufacturers, it seems that no one is immune to attacks that can originate with a single negative blog posting or a YouTube video that spreads like wildfire throughout the Internet within hours.

Dear Marketer,

Is your company prepared for an Internet-based communications crisis? Just as important, do you know how to prevent one?

My new audio program, “How to Become an Internet Counter-Intelligence Expert: Managing Crisis Communications that Begin on the Internet,” enables you to prepare for -- and head off -- an Internet-based marketing or public relations crisis.

In this audio program, I interview Jonathan Bernstein, an internationally-recognized crisis management consultant and President of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., a consultancy providing a full spectrum of crisis management services: crisis prevention, response, planning, training and simulations.

In his work, Jonathan reports that 25% of the crises he’s responded to in the last year were entirely Internet-based – and in fact, the Internet has played a role in 90% of the crises he’s worked on in the last five years.

That’s why today’s marketing and PR professionals must be adept at what Jonathan calls Internet Counter-Intelligence – neutralizing or minimizing damage from online attacks on a global scale.

Gone are the days when it was simply enough to have your company spokesperson issue a press release or sound bite to the local media outlets.

Now, a customer complaint posted on a blog can be read by people all over the globe . . . in 24 hours or less.

How a company responds to the crisis, and whether the company had a crisis management plan in place before the attack, often determines whether the problem is resolved quickly and with minimal impact, or whether it has disastrous consequences.

Experience has shown that within a matter of hours, one obscure blog post can become a blog storm, spiraling out of control, and negatively impacting the company’s reputation – and its bottom line.

Are You Ready for This New World?

In this 60-minute audio program, Jonathan and I discuss how professional communicators must integrate these new realities into their strategic marketing and PR planning tactics. You’ll learn how to:

• Conduct your own Internet vulnerability audit.
• Develop strategies for identifying your foes – activists, disgruntled employees, or unhappy customers – and tracking Internet “chatter.”
• Build your case within your organization for ensuring someone is monitoring the blogosphere, news, and Internet forums every day (and no, Google Alerts is not enough, although it’s a good start).
• Plan for an Internet crisis and when one hits, assess the situation to determine an appropriate response and implement it immediately.
• Take steps to neutralize attacks, including starting your own blog and developing collateral such as brochures, video, podcasts, and Web links to other reputable and informative sites.
• Effectively use search engine optimization tactics – not just because you want customers to find your products – but to beat these guys at their own game.
• Ride out the storm and plan for further intervention with a calm head.

Who Should Listen to this Program?

• Marketing and PR professionals in any size or type of company.
• Small business owners.
• Consultants and Individuals who want to be proactive about protecting their good name and reputations online.
• Anyone still thinking, “This can’t happen to us.”

Protect your company’s reputation on the Internet by ordering this exclusive audio program “How to Become an Internet Counter-Intelligence Expert: Managing crisis communications that begin on the Internet.”

For just $95 dollars, you get a studio-quality recording and a word-for-word transcript of this important program with Jonathan Bernstein.

Sincerely,

Dianna Huff