Reputation Management-Fighting The Other You Online

How I’m Fighting Off Damage To My Reputation Due To Some Sleazy Guy With My Name Being An Idiot

Have you ever done a Google search for your name? Professionals in many fields recommend that you due it for many reasons. I do it just to see what others ‘out there’ are seeing about me.

I’m always surprised with the number of searches done for my name. I’m not famous, there are no celebrities with my name, I don’t even have eleven fingers, or a 3rd nipple.

This is all good as I prefer a low profile and like my privacy and am diligent about adopting the best practices to keep my personal information private and secure.

I’ve been browsing myself online for years, always pleased see that there is practically no foot print.

< Cue foreboding music.>

Many of us have full names that are our legal names but actually go by a shorter version or even nick name. My full name is Joshua Hoopes. That is what I write, sign, and introduce myself as.

BUT most everyone I know calls me Josh.

I’ve searched this in the past and even own the domain name JoshHoopes.com that redirects to my full name http://JoshuaHoopes.com.

One day while taking a random break from pounding keys on the keyboard, I typed the search term “Josh Hoopes” into Google.

My eyes about popped out of my head when I saw almost the entire first page full of headlines about ‘Josh Hoopes is a scam’.

You can imagine feeling confused, curious, and frustrated all at the same time.

As it turns out this other guy is some sort of a cartooning con-artist that apparently has knowingly and deliberately taken advantage of people. At least that is the accusations against him.

I’ve not talked to him to get his side of the story as there’s always two sides.

However someone looking for ‘Josh Hoopes’ not knowing anything about me, like a new client or prospective partner, may see that and make an inaccurate opinion about the real me.

I even get a yucky feeling seeing it in writing all over the screen and I know me better than anyone else!

This is a problem with the World Wide Web for both companies and people.

Somewhere out there, there is a very good chance there is someone with your name and someday there will be something said about them that will reflect on you.

Your first thought might be, “Is there any way you can make them or compel them to take it down”?

This is the one of the many empowering things about the internet, it is the ultimate free speech venue.

You can ask but in my professional experience as an online reputation management expert this has only worked a couple of times for over the years for very few clients.

There’s a small change you have a slander, trademark, or copy-write legal angle.

What do you do? Here is what I am doing.

Get to know your other you. I like to search and see all the juicy stuff that is going on so I can have good understanding about the “lay of the land”.
Determined the best way to bury the ‘bad’ stuff replacing it with good stuff referring to my better half Joshua Hoopes.
I came up with a list of sites and account profiles that I could rank on the SERP page 1 for Josh Hoopes.
The fun part (being optimistic in turning lemons into lemonade) creating content over time that portrays or frames me the way I want. It takes a lot of time over a long time but it can be a fun exercise in building an avatar of yourself that hopefully spills over into reality thus making you a better person.
For example this prompted me to take action on a bucket list project that I’ve been putting off. Writing a book. As of this writing I’m getting close to publishing a book in my field of technology marketing. So proof that lemons can be good if treated right.

The real key is being proactive and consistent in addressing the problem.

If you determine you need professional help, it is important to get a professional or organization that understands technical marketing to the core, as online reputation management and damage control can be one of the most comprehensive skills in the technical marketing arena.

If you think I might be able to help you, you’re welcome to contact me but be warned I will only work on legitimate cases.
Meaning if you deserve it I won’t touch the case! No exceptions. *Please note the period.

And I’m not cheap, but I get the job done.

Here’s to our other-selves!

Joshua Hoopes

Josh Hoopes SEO experts discusses the relevance of social media for e-commerce

In an article entitled “Social Media – Is It Bank or Bust?”, Internet Marketing/SEO expert Josh Hoopes emphasizes that social media can be a killer marketing strategy and PR medium for your business if it is implemented correctly.

The value of social networking sites for e-commerce, according to Josh Hoopes SEO Expert

In an article entitled “Social Media – Is It Bank or Bust?”, Internet Marketing and SEO expert Josh Hoopes emphasizes the value of today’s social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace for e-business purposes. The top three reasons that he mentioned were: a) the ability to reach a bigger audience through these socially-driven sites, b) being able to concentrate on a specific market demographic who can relate to your products or services, and c) being able to tap on what is probably known as the best marketing tool available to man which is the word-of-mouth advertising.

Let us discuss the merit of each of the above mentioned advantages derived from these social networking sites as far as your business is concerned.

Reaching a wider audience. There are approximately 2 billion internet users today, which is a vast improvement when compared to only a few million when the internet started to take off in the late 90′s. If you couple this staggering number with the fact that recent studies have shown that internet users nowadays actually spend one of every four minutes that they spend online by logging into these various social networking sites, then it doesn’t take a marketing genius to figure out that this is actually a veritable gold mine as far as any marketer worth his salt is concerned. If you can tap into this resource then you will have a direct path to a niche market with similar wants and needs which you can seize in order to market your products and services.

Many businesses try to seize this opportunity provided by the emergence of these social networking sites by creating Facebook or Twitter accounts, with an overall objective of accumulating as many friends or followers as possible. It is critical that the marketer must be creative when it comes to this, since unlike celebrities who possess built-in fame and charisma to pull audiences, products or services need to be clearly translated to the users in order for them to identify.

If you are a good marketer and you have done your research well, then you might be surprised just how fast your product or service’s number of friends or followers on Twitter can multiply in just a short span of time.

Targeting a specific market. Since similar-minded individuals with common hobbies or passions are more likely to band with each other on Facebook or Twitter, then you will have the distinct opportunity of grasping an audience which will be receptive to you carefully conceived marketing initiatives. Nowadays, people actually prefer to go online to find information about products or services that they are looking for than going to the other more traditional ways of advertisement such as yellow pages, newspapers, or magazines. You will eventually have the top share of their mind, in marketing terms, if you will only be persistent and keep on putting the word out there.

The importance of word-of-mouth advertising. Trust is very important. This is the reason why most people would rather go for products which have been endorsed by somebody they know even if it is not that popular, rather than going for other heavily-advertised products, no matter how frequently they may appear on TV commercials. Even though, the social networking sites are a different platform when compared to our traditional circle of friends, they still act as an extended network for which there are still levels of trust shared between individuals in the network depending on their actual degrees of separation in the networking scheme of things. If you compare all the available options in the market in this modern age, the time-tested tool of word-of-mouth advertising still remains as the most effective seller in marketing. According to Internet Marketing expert Josh Hoopes, social media can be a killer marketing strategy as well as PR medium for your business if it is done right.

Is It Wise To Use Crops For Fuel Instead Of Food?

Oftentimes, when talking about green living, it is not a good idea to think of it in isolated terms.

It is tough to not evaluate the facts and not see that the climate is behaving strangely. It can’t be brushed aside that the weather has become unpredictable where cold places are unusually warm and usually rainy areas are becoming very dry. As a result, you can find places wanting to use bio-fuel as a solution to minimize the causes for these weird weather changes. For those who have no idea just what bio-fuel is, it is any material that is a solid, liquid or gas resulting from biological materials. Nearly all of the bio-fuels come from agricultural crops that undergo a procedure and fermentation to become a fuel.

The locations with the biggest consumers of fossil fuels are the ones making bio-fuels. Mostly European nations, along with the United States have the most motor vehicles and therefore use the most gasoline. Corn, sugarcane, palm oil, vegetable oil along with other plants are used to produce bio-fuel. A lot of companies are changing the way they do business because of the formidable demand for bio-fuels. In Mexico, you can find a crisis with tortillas, because corn is now being sold for five times what it was. The reason is the requirement for corn in the use of bio-fuel has made prices to jump.

We trust what you have discovered in this blog post with reference to green living, likewise additionally the particular information to do with alternative energy, is of use to you. Please keep reading even more to receive extra details for these topics.

Crops for bio-fuel are being exported from third world countries which is producing major food shortages for the people in all these countries. These third world countries have the ability to produce mass amounts of crops because the tropical weather is definitely conducive for that. These kinds of poor countries are working hard to afford the food, which has risen in price, because it is getting used for fuel. Something must be done, to be able to help these people be able to make it.

It is important for us to protect the natural environment as much as we can but not at the price of creating a whole new problem. The question is exactly how will these poorer countries will be able to feed their people if the crops are being used to support the production of bio-fuel in industrialized nations? Life shouldn’t be made harder by producing Eco- friendly energy that is geared to sustain life. It shouldn’t be that people from one country should suffer in order that another country can live pleasantly. The price of their food should not increase five times, just because firms would rather sell the crops for fuel rather than food.

It is important for the industrialized nations to find techniques to assist the people in countries that develop crops for bio-fuel. There must be a way to separate the same plants for gasoline and another for food. At the same time, nations around the world should not take all the crops for energy use if it really is causing people in the exporting country to starve. Everyone needs to have the right to eat and not fear that they won’t have any food to survive.

The importance of social media for e-commerce, according to Josh Hoopes SEO Expert

In an article entitled “Social Media – Is It Bank or Bust?”, Internet Marketing/SEO expert Josh Hoopes talks about the relevance of today’s popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace for e-businesses. The most important factors that he cited were: a) the capability to grasp a wider audience through these uber-popular social media sites, b) being able to focus on a niche market related to your products or services, and c) tapping on what is probably the most basic and effective marketing tool ever known to man which is the word-of-mouth advertisement.

Let us expound on the intricacies of each of the above mentioned factors which makes these social networking sites so important for your business.

Reaching a bigger audience. There are an estimated 2 billion people who are online today as compared to only a few million during the internet’s infancy stage in the late 90′s. If you tandem this impressive number with the results derived from recent surveys which show that a typical internet user today actually spends one in every four minutes that he stays online by logging into these social media sites, then it doesn’t take a genius to appreciate the reality that we are sitting on an unprecedented gold mine; a captive market which should be enough to make any marketer dream. If you can tap into this resource then you will have a direct path to a niche market with similar wants and needs which you can seize in order to market your products and services.

Most businesses try to take advantage of this social marketing phenomenon by creating Facebook pages for their products or services, or Twitter accounts, wherein their aim is to build a large number of friends in their network, or followers on Twitter. This is where the marketer needs to get creative because unlike most celebrities who possess the built-in fame or notoriety to pull a huge audience, products or services need to be pushed in such a way that it would be appealing or deemed of value to the users of these social networking sites.

If you happen to have implemented your marketing plan well based on solid facts and numbers, then chances are your products’ or services’ number of friends and followers will easily grow in a short span of time.

Targeting a specified niche market. Since similar-minded individuals with common hobbies or passions are more likely to band with each other on Facebook or Twitter, then you will have the distinct opportunity of grasping an audience which will be receptive to you carefully conceived marketing initiatives. In this day and age, more and more people actually go to the internet to find specific products or services that they need as opposed to the other more traditional ways of advertisement. Ultimately, you will gain the top share of mind of your target market if you just persevere and keep on putting yourself out there.

Value of word-of-mouth advertising. Trust is a commodity that is hard to come by. This is the reason why most people would rather go for products which have been endorsed by somebody they know even if it is not that popular, rather than going for other heavily-advertised products, no matter how frequently they may appear on TV commercials. Despite the fact that these social networking sites are somewhat different from the way we traded trust points in the past, it cannot be denied that there are still some amount of trust involved among people who have found themselves as friends on these unique digital platforms. When you compare it with the other available options in today’s market, social networking sites are now the most reliable resource when it comes to referral or word-of-mouth marketing. To this end, Internet Marketing expert Josh Hoopes says that social media can be a killer marketing strategy and PR medium if it is done correctly.

SEO Expert Josh Hoopes Discusses the Relevance of Social Media for e-Commerce

In an article entitled “Social Media – Is It Bank or Bust?”, Internet Marketing/SEO expert Josh Hoopes talks about the relevance of today’s popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace for e-businesses. The three most compelling reasons that he cited for doing so are: a) you can reach a wider audience from these aforementioned socially relevant sites, b) you can target the specific market demographic that your product or service most appeals to, and c) you can take advantage of the most valuable marketing tool known to man, the referral or so-called word-of-mouth advertising, which can be a massive benefit to your business.

Let us expound on the intricacies of each of the above mentioned factors which makes these social networking sites so important for your business.

Grasping a larger audience. There are an estimated 2 billion people who are online today as compared to only a few million during the internet’s infancy stage in the late 90′s. If you tandem this impressive number with the results derived from recent surveys which show that a typical internet user today actually spends one in every four minutes that he stays online by logging into these social media sites, then it doesn’t take a genius to appreciate the reality that we are sitting on an unprecedented gold mine; a captive market which should be enough to make any marketer dream. If you are able to tap into this wonderful resource then you will have direct access into a captive audience with similar needs and wants for which you can sell your products and services to.

Many businesses try to seize this opportunity provided by the emergence of these social networking sites by creating Facebook or Twitter accounts, with an overall objective of accumulating as many friends or followers as possible. This is where the marketer needs to get creative because unlike most celebrities who possess the built-in fame or notoriety to pull a huge audience, products or services need to be pushed in such a way that it would be appealing or deemed of value to the users of these social networking sites.

If you have done your research thoroughly and you have implemented your online marketing plan as it should be, you might be pleasantly surprised to discover how fast your products or services’ number of friends and followers can easily grow over a short period of time.

Targeting a specified niche market. It is very likely that people with similar hobbies, interests or passions will be joining the same groups on Facebook and Twitter, hence you will have the key advantage of reaching out to a specified group of people who will likely be extra receptive to your well-conceived marketing initiatives. Nowadays, people actually prefer to go online to find information about products or services that they are looking for than going to the other more traditional ways of advertisement such as yellow pages, newspapers, or magazines. You will eventually have the top share of their mind, in marketing terms, if you will only be persistent and keep on putting the word out there.

Value of word-of-mouth advertising. Trust is a very valuable resource when it comes to marketing. This is the reason why most people would rather go for products which have been endorsed by somebody they know even if it is not that popular, rather than going for other heavily-advertised products, no matter how frequently they may appear on TV commercials. Despite the fact that these social networking sites are somewhat different from the way we traded trust points in the past, it cannot be denied that there are still some amount of trust involved among people who have found themselves as friends on these unique digital platforms. Scanning all the other available options in the market today, trusty good old word-of-mouth advertising still remains as the most reliable tool in marketing. To this end, Internet Marketing expert Josh Hoopes says that social media can be a killer marketing strategy and PR medium if it is done correctly.

Donald Trump Threatens Utah SEO & Internet Marketing Firm

Donald Trump Forces Small Utah Family

Construction Business To Close Website

I recently received correspondence from The Donald’s legal department demanding a cease and desist on a website that I had recently put together and begun SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on.

Typically I don’t like getting legal notices, but in this case I was rather please that my work on a Utah SEO project got such quick attention.

So since this is a rather comical situation, I thought it would be worth going over as there are a number of lessons to be learned.

Here’s the situation. A good friend of mine is a 3rd generation, general contractor by the last name of Trump, which happens to also be the name of the business the has been around long before The Donald ever had a hair to comb over.

The local Trump contractor ask me to put a basic site together for him in order to promote his business and generate leads, which we did. The site jump to the top of the rankings and bumped some of The Donald’s properties off their perch.

The Donald’s Dogs noticed this quickly and sent the following notice: (I give them credit for actually catching this so quickly)

That is the situation so now for the objective breakdown before I indulge in any ranting.

Donald Trump’s organization is a register trade mark and is accusing us of cyber squatting our domain name. Due to the fact that Trump is their company’s name they technically have a point and under the guidelines for cybersquatting infringement they can demand it be taken down and ask for the URL/Domain Name to be surrendered.

Here is what Donald Trump’s organization would have to do in order to have a legitimate case according to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the governing body over domain names, as interpreted by LegalZoom.com:

Proving Cybersquatter Infringement

In order to have a domain name canceled or transferred to the trademark owner under law, the owner must prove that:

(1) the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark;
(2) the registrant has no right or legitimate interest in the domain name; and
(3) the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

I think that meeting criteria 2 & 3 will be impossible to prove and had he taken a quick look down from his comb-over-planet and used his “internationally known”, “well-known businessman”, and sharp “real estate developer” skills he would have realized this.

Therefore he and his organization were, either too inept to count to 3 or they are simply vicious and sick enough to enjoy stepping on little people just to hear the sound it makes. I tend to think its the latter.

They made further demands, requesting the content of the site and basically making us promise that we would never speak, write, or in any way communicate their name again as long we are still breathing…basically he thinks he’s entitled to anything he wants.

In the end my good friend Mr. Trump of Utah didn’t want to fight it, because as we all know, the side that throws the most money at a legal battle typically causes the most damage to the other side.

Moral of the story, trade marking your name can protect you from cyber squatters.

If you think there could potentially be a conflict with your website, make sure you are compliant with the three points above by documenting it. And if you want to keep your sight under the radar don’t hire an expert internet marketer to SEO your site.

Oh and lastly, offer a gift to your challenger that they would appreciate. I know how the Donald loves to be in the press so I made this post for him am glad to give some publicity back by issuing a press release about the story for him.

Here is to lemonade!

Please leave comments with any other ideas about how to promote this story for The Donald.

Drink Your Way To A Ripped Body – Experiment

A Glass A Day Keeps The Doc Away,

But A Glass Every Meal Keeps The Fat Away

This experiment originated from seeing how an in-law developed the habit of drinking a lot of “water” while they ate. This habit in my opinion has helped them stay very lean and mean.

Health classes have tough for years that the body has a lag when registering the amount of fuel that’s in the tank. Thus, the aftermath of a big meal leaves you feeling like you’re going to explode. At least that’s how I feel after Thanksgiving!

I am well aware of this feeling and as a typical country boy, when the grub get’s put out, I learned to finish the job because there were people starving in Ethiopia, resulting in a feeling of torso tension plus seeing the calories do their thing to my abs if you know what I mean.

My next life experiment will be to drink on large glass of water before every meal for 30 days and track my results.

The anticipated results are much better hydration, weight loss, no explosions, and more visits with Mr. Crane.

One of the main reason I publish my life experiments is due to the result of a previous experiment, where I proved to myself that I am much more successful seeing a goal through when there is a public commitment and support. So please like this post and follow up with me to see how it is going. Even better, try it with me!

Here is to a cleaner and leaner life!