DAN BROWN SUCKS?

I just read that, since 2003, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 80 million books worldwide, making it one of the bestselling books in history.

He has a movie, Angels and Demons, coming out, and he is one of the most sought-after guests on the talk show circuit. His new book, The Lost Symbol is to be released soon. The first printing will be 6,500,000 copies. This guy is hot!

But go on-line and there it is on page three (just past all of the hype sites): a “Dan Brown Sucks” blog. Can’t anybody catch a break? It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do for a living; you can be attacked on the Internet. If the number one selling author in the universe can’t be protected from slander and malicious comments, who can? Fortunately for Dan, he isn’t losing any sleep over this type of stuff.

The whole story is that there are hundreds of online complaints sites where anyone can post a negative opinion. Doctors, teachers, businesses and even authors and actors are all susceptible to bad information and half truths being posted. If you are not sure what people see when they search for you or your company, you had better take a moment and look. And if you are not happy with what you see, go on the offense.

Protect your online reputation now or resolve to live with it for a long, long time. Unless you are going to sell five million books in the near future, negative postings can put a serious crimp in your business and personal life.

–Steven Wyer, ReputationAdvocate.com