聘请他人管理你的网上声誉

    This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

    A reputation -- what people think of you, good or bad -- is built one message at a time. The difference today is that people can get their messages out to lots of other people at lightning speed through websites and social media. So, not surprisingly, an industry is fast developing around managing online reputations for individuals and businesses.
    人们对你印象的好坏,也就是所谓的声誉是由某条偶然的信息形成。当今的不同在于,人们可以通过网站和社会媒体,将信息飞快地传播给大众。因此,毫不奇怪,一个为个人或企业管理网上声誉的行业正快速发展。

    KEN WISNEFSKI: "Up to eighty percent of people have been influenced in a purchasing decision by what they've read or seen online."
    KEN WISNEFSKI:“高达80%的人们在采购决策中,会受到自己在网上看过的信息的影响。”

    Ken Wisnefski is chief executive of WebiMax, a company he started in two thousand eight. WebiMax is a search engine optimization, or SEO, company. Search engine optimization involves different ways to improve the results of online searches.
    KEN WISNEFSKI是WebiMax公司首席执行官,他于2008年创办了该公司。这是一家搜索引擎优化,即常说的SEO公司。搜索引擎优化包括各种提高搜索结果排名的方法。

    WebiMax offers several different services, but Ken Wisnefski says reputation management is growing the fastest.
    WebiMax提供几种不同的业务,但Ken Wisnefski表示,声誉管理业务增长最快。

    Some of his customers need help with urgent publicity problems. Others are seeking long-term management of their online image. Mr. Wisnefski says about one-fifth of his business is with companies and individuals outside the United States.
    一些客户在紧急公关问题上需要帮助,还有些客户寻求长期的网上形象管理。Wisnefski先生表示,公司1/5左右的业务来自国外的公司和个人。

    How does reputation management work?
    声誉管理是如何工作的呢?

    WebiMax has two sides to its business. The company can organize online publicity campaigns to try to limit the harm done by negative comments or bad news. Mr. Wisnefski says when a client gets in the news for the wrong reasons, his company does not try to hide what happened. Instead, it develops a campaign to show that the client is dealing with the problem in a productive and positive way, he says.
    WebiMax的声誉管理业务包括两个方面。该公司可以组织一些网上宣传活动,以减少负面评论或坏消息造成的影响。Wisnefski先生称,当一位客户陷入丑闻时,他们公司不会试图掩盖真想,而是开展一次活动表明该客户正以一种积极有效的方式在处理这个问题。

    In that sense, the work seems a lot like old-fashioned public relations, but in cyberspace.
    从这种意义上来说,这项工作看上去非常像传统的公关,区别只是它是一种网络公关。

    But what if clients are the target of lies or maybe an organized effort to harm their reputation? Then WebiMax would use its legal team to try to have the comments removed.
    但如果客户是谎言攻击或有组织中伤的对象,WebiMax就会动用它的法律团队来删除这些评论。

    KEN WISNEFSKI: "We realized pretty early on that it wasn't going to just be a marketing function, that there also needed to be a legal function involved with it. And marrying the two together is what really has impact and makes this successful."
    KEN WISNEFSKI:“我们很早就认识到,声誉管理不仅要具备营销功能,它也需要法律功能参与其中。将两者有机结合才是它真正的影响,也造就了它的成功。”

    In the United States, not all speech is protected by the Constitution. And even if the comments are true, the threat of a costly legal fight may be enough to get them removed.
    在美国,并不是所有言论都受宪法保护。即使这些评论是真实的,对薄公堂的昂贵代价就足以使这些评论消失(即发表评论者担心法律纠纷同意删除评论)。

    Ken Wisnefski thinks the legal side of reputation management is only going to grow. He says WebiMax is profitable and expects ten to fifteen million dollars in revenue this year.
    Ken Wisnefski认为,声誉管理法律的一面只会继续增长。他称WebiMax目前盈利,预计今年的利润将有1000万到1500万美元。

    Clients of companies that manage reputations can pay thousands of dollars a month or as little as a hundred dollars a year. But here is some free advice.
    委托公司进行声誉管理的客户每月可能支付数万美元,也可能少到每年才支付1百美元。以下是一些建议。

    KEN WISNEFSKI: "If you're not paying attention or at least monitoring what's being said about you online, you're making a mistake because other people are paying attention to that."
    KEN WISNEFSKI:“如果你不重视,或至少监控你在网上的声誉。你就犯了一个大错,因为其他人都很关注网上声誉。”