Managing Your Digital Footprint: What Business Owners Need To Know

Afraid Old Social Media Posts Will Come Back To Haunt You? You’re Not Alone.

As a business owner, your personal and professional brands must mesh well. That being said, we all have a past.

Many types of social media posts can negatively affect business, including:

• Posts from wild college days
• Old posts that don’t mesh with your current political views
• Posts that make fun of others
• Posts that use language that is incongruent with your brand

While everyone grows and changes, your past is under public scrutiny when you own a business. An old post or photo can do irreparable harm to your brand.

It can be tough — even impossible — for you to dig deep enough into your social media to find and delete potentially damaging posts. That being said, you must have control of your digital footprint.

social media reputation isn’t the only internet issue when it comes to protecting your brand. Old texts can also be screenshotted and printed on social media sites. As we’ve all seen with celebrities, private photos can be posted as well.

Even if you’ve forgotten about and deleted posts and photos, they may still be out there. You need to constantly be aware of your changing digital footprint to protect your business.

monitor your digital footprint for what people are saying about you. Doing so is a full-time job, especially if you’re a prominent business owner. Trying to manage your digital footprint on your own can lead to anxiety. It can also take up hours of your time that could be better spent on your business.

You may be tempted to ask an employee to monitor the internet for you. Unless your employee is a social media and reputation management expert, this probably isn’t a good idea. They’ll need to know what they’re looking for. You likely don’t want to share embarrassing parts of your past with someone on your payroll.

Don’t Try To Go It Alone — Experts Can Help.

If you have social media, you need to be concerned about your digital footprint. When you work with online reputation management services, you’re working with professionals who understand how to scour the internet. If something surfaces about you, it will be taken care of. There’s no need to Google yourself or search for that picture you hope constantly doesn’t get leaked.

Ease your mind — and spend more time on your business — by hiring professionals to manage your digital footprint.