It can take years to earn a good reputation and just minutes to ruin it – and that’s even more true when talking about an online reputation.

Remember that book titled All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum? There’s a lot of truth in that statement – and here’s a four-minute cartoon from the Secret Millionaire’s Club with Warren Buffet that shares all you really need to know about the importance of a quality reputation.

According to Buffet, the best investment you can make is in yourself and he advises that you act as though everything you say and everything you do will be posted on the Internet. Thank goodness it isn’t – but that’s still a terrific benchmark to use when making decisions about what to do, and what not to do in life, including when running your business.

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If you’re looking for a professional company to oversee your organic search engine optimization services, do some spring cleaning first.

It’s that time of year – the time for spring cleaning – and that concept applies, even when you’re searching for an organic search engine optimization company. Before choosing the best company for your needs:

1. Toss out emails from any company that guarantees #1 rankings in Google. There is no company that can guarantee that prize. And, if you’ve still got some emails in your inbox offering to submit your site to thousands of search engines – or to quickly get your site thousands of inbound links – toss those ones out, too.

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Business letters of apology: a customer of yours has just written a scathing online review of your products or services. How should you respond?

The short answer is that you should write the customer a letter of apology (and, don’t worry, we’re going to include a business apology letter sample!). Regardless of the underlying issue with the complaint, when you write a letter of apology, you can:

• Rebuild a relationship with a disgruntled customer
• Repair your online reputation, which may be damaged when other site visitors read the negative review of your business

Before you write any business letters of apology, carefully read the complaint and consider what seems to be upsetting the customer.

In many cases, you will have the option to address a complaint directly in a reply or comment box on the site. Resist the urge to use those – at least, not yet! Instead, craft the letter offline and either have someone else review it or put it away for a couple of hours and review it again yourself. Is the tone appropriate? Do you sound defensive or disbelieving? If so, then you’ll need to edit the letter before posting in the reply or comment box on the site.

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Wondering which industries received the largest number of Better Business Bureau complaints in 2009?

In 2009, the Better Business Bureau received almost one million complaints, which is an increase of about 10 percent over 2008.

The largest number of Better Business Bureau complaints, according to the Wall Street Journal excerpt from Real Time Economics, was against wireless carriers; there were an astonishing 34,477 complaints against these companies in 2009 alone. This industry was also ranked first in the number of complaints in 2008.

The industry that received the second most complaints was the cable and satellite television industry; banks were number three, with the bureau receiving 42 percent more complaints about the financial industry when compared to 2008.

Here’s how to lodge your own Better Business Bureau complaints – and otherwise state complaints – to get results.

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Internet reputation protection benefits your bottom line.

Internet reputation management is a growing niche service in the world of search engine optimization. And it is no wonder. A single negative comment that appears in the top 10 positions for a search for your company name can cost you thousands, even millions, of dollars in lost sales and leads.

Saving your name and reputation online is crucial to being successful online. The benefits of protecting your reputation online can be seen in both retained customers and your bottom line.

How do I defend my reputation online?

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