Reputation is everything - recommendation engines
It’s not often that I read one blog entry and say, “Golly, this is REALLY important to think about.”
Today is one of those days. If you read only one business article or blog today, check out The Art, Science and Business of Recommendation Engines by Alex Iskold on Read/Write Web.
At the moment, it’s a given that user generated content on the Internet is what’s hot. What’s emerging as we speak is the popularity of easy access to recommendations about people, products, and services. Whether you as a person, your business, or your product have a prominent presence on the Internet or not, there will be claims, statements, comments, and assessments made by others about these topics that are very dear to you.
The concept of an online reputation - and what is displayed by the recommendation engines (such as product review sites) - can make or break a deal, a product launch, or a sales target. Entrepreneurs and consultants need to be especially sensitive to the value of their reputation… and taking the time to monitor its status. What you don’t know, can sink a deal.
You can get a good idea about recommendation engines (and reputations) by looking at how Amazon.com captures and displays product recommendations. Beyond having a very easy to use site for this purpose, Amazon has a critical mass of users who are willing to submit product reviews. Even though Amazon does not play in the business or people review space, per se, you can imagine how their technology and user base could be applied to this purpose.
For an actual site that already looks at personal reputations, look at Rapleaf. LinkedIn is also entering this space through their professional recommendation process (by which you can write something like a reference for someone you know and trust).
If you’re not checking out the online reputation of you, your product, or your business now… you’ll need to over the coming year or so. Performing a Google search on something is just the tip of the iceberg to assess its reputation, credibility, value, and history. Online reputations are something we all will need to anticipate and set aside time to address. For starters, take a look at the Alex Iskold’s blog entry mentioned earlier.
All is well.
