Webinar Replay – Digital Everything: Forever and for All to See
Rachael Sampson:
[inaudible] and I am Rachael Sampson, Director of our Key@Work and Key4Women programs here at KeyBank. And I want to welcome you to our program. The Digital world has forever changed the way we connect, shop, and transact with almost any need assessed and delivered through a simple point and click action. In 2023 it's expected that the average person in the US will spend more than 13 hours digitally connected each day, and more than two of those hours will be spent on social media alone. And in the first quarter of 2023, the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce reports US consumers spent more than $272 billion, with a B, dollars online. That is a lot of purchasing, and although in-store purchases still lead online purchases, 81% of consumers will research a product or service online before buying. So it goes without saying, if you're in business today, you need to have a digital presence, whether you're the owner of a company or employed by one, or you'll likely be Googled by a prospective customer, employer, acquaintance, or even someone you don't even know.
99,000 Google searches happen every second of every day, and that's just Google, one of many search engines. Your personal and business reputation and reviews matter. It can help or hinder the sales of your products, services, or your ability to attract and retain talent, or secure that next big step in your career. More importantly, you need to monitor, manage and be mindful of the digital footprint your business and personal interactions leave behind.
Today I am pleased to have Catherine Bosley join us. Catherine is a two-time Emmy nominated and Associated press award-winning TV anchor and reporter. She is also the author of Forever and For All to See, how to avoid social media scandal and how to survive one, which we are giving away today to our first 50 registrants who also attend today's event. Catherine is also an adjunct professor, national speaker and online advocate who is here to share with her very own real life viral experience, how she recovered, and the actionable steps you can take to protect your personal and business online reputation. Catherine, thanks so much for joining us today. I am excited to turn it over to you to share with us your story and expertise.
Catherine Bosley:
Rachael, thank you. And what a great introduction. I sure do appreciate it. I'm just going to set my timer here to make sure I don't go over. And what I learned, that I was going to have the privilege of speaking to at Key4Women, I knew that I was going to have a house full of rock stars. Absolutely. I am talking about kind, generous, smart, strong, community-minded, success-driven, ambitious, resilient, change-making, fun, awesome leaders. Oh my gosh, that's a lot. And so what I hope I can do for you today then, is to share a little maybe insider information, you might call it, on how to stand that trajectory of rockstarism in this day of digital everything where it's no longer just about that simple saying, "Image is everything." Remember that, but it's even more so a little more complicated. It's about your online image, your social media image, your cyber image, that indeed is everything.
I posed this question to you in the pre-event survey, how important is your reputation, your online reputation, your online image to your success? And I see a whopping, it was about 80% I believe, say it's extremely important and I sure do appreciate that. Also, some are not so sure about that and that's understandable, because honestly, this online reputation thing, this online image thing that I call your Forever and For All to See, well it's relatively new, so we are just learning about it. A couple of things we know about it for sure though is number one, it can take you to new heights as far as your branding of your company, your branding of your organization and your branding of yourself. Places that we were not able to go before, we had this Forever and For All to See. On the other hand, your Forever and For All to See is super-duper vulnerable, which means it could be so easily manipulated in a virtual second by the wrong click from the wrong person with the wrong content.
So that's a lot to take in. So what I hope I can do for you is to help share information, how you can shine online as you should. Again, whether you're an individual, whether you're a company owner, a business owner, or whether you are or an organization. To do that, we're going to have some fun along the way and I sure invite you to join in on the chat. I'll be asking some questions along the way and I'll be monitoring the chat as much as I could. And this is one of those moments where I want to ask you, let's talk about hopes and dreams for the future. Think about yours. What is your dream for your future right now? What is your dream for your life? And really dreams, your hopes and dreams, they correspond almost directly with what you're Forever and For All to See is.
So I can explain that a little bit later, but hopes and dreams for the future. Anybody? I'm watching that chat. Listen, it could be maybe your dream is more on a professional level, so it is to move up the ladder in your corporate world. Yvonne, I see art business after retirement. Great. They are coming in. Taking mission trips to Ecuador and Africa. Getting your own business. And maybe it's more on the personal side, maybe you want to go back to college and earn that next degree, maybe you want to meet that special someone. But retirement is certainly one that pops up a lot. So thank you so much for participating there. And so I love to talk about hopes and dreams because they changed throughout our lifetime, don't they? Mine though, by the time I was 12 years old to now, is this to work in TV news?
Oh my goodness, you guys, fascinated by it, which meant all through high school, all through college, nose to the grindstone, hardly ever straying or doing something I shouldn't do. I was indeed a goody two shoes. During spring breaks, during weekends, I'd go knocking on the doors of TV stations and radio stations saying, "Please let me in." If I could just get behind the doors, I'd even mop the floors to learn a little bit more from behind the scenes about this profession that I'm absolutely fascinated by. And that comes down to commitment. And I know every one of you, you know what commitment is and you know it can pay off. So for me, it certainly did. Shortly after I graduated from college, I landed that first job in TV news, in little Erie, Pennsylvania. Yes, there I am, in my little yellow power suit out there, getting ready to take on the world and go capture that dream.
And then I learned, oh boy, this TV news world, it is very difficult. When you start in TV news, you move from city to city, leaving behind family and friends. You work nights, weekends, holidays, you work out in the sweltering heat and in freezing rain and snow. News never stops. And I can't tell you how many times I had to hide behind police car doors because I'm covering a standup with the bad guys. And I know bullets could start flying at any minute, the danger is real. And the money when you start in TV news is a real joke for sure. So the more all this stuff started to soak in, the more I was learning about this dream of mine, the more I said, "Bring it on." I want, what would be then, my Forever and For All to See to absolutely happen, I've come that far and I knew eventually after I did it long enough and worked hard enough, it would be easier.
About four or five years into my career, it got easier. When I landed a career back here in my home state of, O-H, I know I'm hearing you say, I-O. Finally making some money, finally working a decent schedule, not having to hide behind police car doors so much. And who knew my dream would go beyond what I expected when I found this guy hiding in little Youngstown, Ohio. I got married. My dream for my life come and true everything right on schedule in my thirties. And then Christmas morning 2003, we're expecting a house full of guests. I'm running all around taking care of all the odds and ends, when I notice there's a message on the answering machine. Maybe it's someone calling to wish us a Merry Christmas. When I hit play, my life changed.
Speaker 3:
Hey, Rick and Catherine, just want to let you know that the video has hit the Youngstown area. Everyone's seen you in your full entire. Honey, your days are over. You think you such a prissy little (beep), but your days are over. Have a very Merry Christmas.
Catherine Bosley:
And clearly that's quite the edited version. Every time I hear that message, and I hear it a lot, my heart sinks, again, all these years later. And every time I hear that message, for a moment, I hate myself all over again. I don't know who that woman was who left that message, but I knew immediately what she was talking about. She was talking about that night on vacation, in Key West, Florida with my husband. We were there to celebrate a couple of things. First of all, our one-year anniversary, but also the fact that I was still alive. You see, earlier that year I'd suffered a life-threatening lung illness. I went from running a marathon to a hospital bed, unable to speak a full sentence without breathing treatments, to lung surgery in a matter of only a few weeks, made the open heart surgery I had to correct a congenital defect a couple years before that seemed not that bad.
Especially when I asked my lung specialist, "Am I going to survive?" And he could only say, "One day at a time, dear." And oh my goodness, those were some long days of not knowing. About three months worth before it was finally determined, this experimental monstrous drug therapy I was on, my only hope, it was working. So heck yeah, we're going to celebrate. We're going to go down to Florida to some badly needed healing sunshine in Key West. And so we're walking down that main strip, some of you are maybe familiar with Duval Street. It's Spring Break, all of these young people are having so much fun, it's almost like their excitement is contagious. Great music, flooding the streets, this beautiful breeze going over the island. And I stop and I think, "Life is good."
And I turned on my husband, I say, "I've got a second chance at it. I'm going to live it to the fullest, do things I would've never done before." This goody two shoes. Well, that night, with that mindset, and still on heavy medication treating that lung illness, made for the perfect storm. I cut loose in a way I never imagined I could. I stepped out of character in a way I never imagined I could, in a way so many young people do today without even thinking about the consequences. What was I thinking? I'll never forget that walk back to our hotel room in tears, that I could let myself get so caught up in the moment. It was a moment. We all have moments. My husband felt bad too. So we made a pact, we would learn from it, never do anything like that again and leave it in Key West.
Because back then we had these things. Remember these little flip phone? They didn't take very good pictures, we were just starting to take pictures on our cell phones, and it would be really difficult to send the pictures anywhere. We didn't have social media, like we did back then, but we did have... Get ready in chat. We did have the foundation of it all, which is what? Anybody. The foundation of it all. The internet. There you go, Colleen, thank you. Yes, the internet. And little did I know there was a company there known for exploiting women. Videotaping, taking pictures of me the whole time to sell on their website. And it was selling big, apparently. So what that woman in that phone call was saying that my days were over seemed she was right. I was fired, I lost some friends, I lost any sense of self dignity, self-respect.
The video and these pictures, they're going from website to website to website going what we call today, of course, anybody? What would that be? What we call it today? Going viral. There you go. Thank you. You guys are all on the ball there. Yes, going viral, these pictures going out viral, comments pouring in by the hundreds, some saying I'm stupid, some saying ugly, some saying I had no reason to live. And I started to believe them. And before we know it, we're getting inundated with requests from media all around the country, all around the world wanting to interview me with that question. What were you thinking? And there I find myself on the set of Good Morning America, sharing my shame with my idol, Diane Sawyer and the rest of the world, trying to explain my mindset and apologizing. We're getting calls from Oprah, from Inside Edition, from the O'Reilly Factor. Even at our own home there's nowhere to hide. People are driving by honking their horn, yelling terrible things out the car windows.
In this respect, of course I'm being harassed, I'm being bullied. And online? You get it, I was being cyberbullied, cyber-harassed. And like so many who endure that today I wanted to die and I had a plan in how to make that happen. Thankfully, faith, family and friends to the rescue just in time, not only to help me survive, but to help me find an inner strength to fight back. Three federal lawsuits later I got control of my life back again. I was granted copyright ownership to all of those images from Key West giving me then legal means to stop the dissemination to get as much of it off the internet as I could. But no matter how many times you hit delete, no matter how many times you take something down, to some degree, it's going to be out there permanently. For me, that means my lawyers can't quite get to some obscure websites overseas or on the dark side of the internet. And that's something I had to come to terms with.
As I was fighting my way back though, well, my TV station in that city where I always wanted to work, much bigger from where I was fired, recognized my resolve and they gave me a chance to reclaim my career. So yes, I got back to work. And as I was climbing the ladder here, I wanted to pretend this thing never happened. Separate myself from this thing. And then I started to realize, you can't do that today. I started to realize how much it's part of me, how much I learned from it and how much I don't want something like what happened to me to happen to any of you, rockstars, any of your loved ones, any of your companies, any of your organizations. And you're probably thinking, "Wait, she's talking about some kind of crazy net in Key West. That's not going to happen to me." But the reality is, it could be something as seemingly innocuous as having a meltdown on your kids in the grocery store doesn't look something like this.
Don't you love the face the mom gives there at the very end? And what's so funny about this is that so many of us can relate to it. What if a camera captures you doing something like that? What if the camera captures you road rage? Maybe some of your road rage looks a little bit more severe than this. Here's the deal, you guys. We are all going to do things we regret. We're all human, we're all going to make mistakes, but no one is immune. So now, as we work our way toward our dreams, we need to make better choices online and off to ensure technology works for us and we can shine online as we should and not against us. So that means understanding online and off, we need to really think and understand that, what was I thinking?
Those moments could come back and attach to you forever and for all to see. And I'm not just talking about pictures and video either, I'm also talking about any kind of a social media post, an unfortunate text alike, or a share that maybe you didn't think out a little bit, might be something sharing or liking just a little insensitive and certainly even an email. So I asked you in that pre-event survey, which platform do you feel poses the most danger to your online or social media image or that of your business? And of course resounding social media and that's absolutely get that. But here's the deal, social media is more the vehicle for everything else that's digital. So if something is really easy to share, chances are it could work its way up to social media. So then text messaging and email also definitely posing a threat.
So imagine you send a text or email to someone with a strong opinion, maybe about politics, maybe about office policy, maybe about another person. And you're just sending it, again, text or email, to someone that you think will keep it confidential. Well, maybe that person strongly agrees with you, so they want to send it on to someone else, forward that to someone else. Maybe they strongly disagree with you, so they want to send it just to that one more person, and then it goes on to another person, another person. And before you know it, there is a risk that that text or that email that you thought was going to be private and just between you, ends up going into social media. So it really is good to be mindful that anything in this digital space can end up on social media, right now.
I've got some great news for you. This is fun. I got lots of great news for this whole presentation. We all have something within us to protect us, to protect our online image, to protect our companies, to protect our organizations. What is that one thing we all have within us? What is that? I love this question. What it is, is it comes down to that little voice within, that voice that tells you when you shouldn't do something. That voice that tells you, "Don't cross that road, the car is coming too fast. Don't jump in that water, you know you're not a good swimmer." Literally, you guys, a lifesaving voice. So then why the heck do we make mistakes? Number one of course, we are indeed human, but number two, because we're human, I do believe, my theory is that, we turn that voice down in those moments because we really want to pull that prank on a coworker.
We really want to see what reckless feels like, like I did in Key West. We really want to get even with that competition, we really want to have that one more drink before we get behind the wheel. But I promise you, if you keep the volume of that voice where it should be, never has it been so important to listen to that voice. And you do this, you just walk away no regrets. You'll be so glad you did that. Now let's talk about that voice a little bit. That voice needs enriched along the way as well. You got to enrich that voice to catch up with how to better, more wisely navigate this day of digital everything. That means, of course, being more mindful of the risks that are out there because sometimes we don't think about these risks. I call them my top five reputation records.
Number one, this myth that we have privacy in our digital world, or even in our real world, quite frankly, but it drives me crazy when I come across a risque post or a picture on someone's social media and I say, "Wait." And they say, "Don't worry about that. Just my Facebook friends, my small circle of Facebook friends can see it. My privacy settings are set." Tell that to this woman. Of course, I've obscured a lot of faces throughout this presentation. But this woman happens to be on the vacation of her lifetime.,This was her dream. And this is funny because she's really not normally much of a drinker, but she thought this would be funny. She's having her great time in Europe. And because she's not normally a drinker, she thought this would be a great picture to post on her Facebook page just for her friends to see, they'll get a kick out of it. And she does. She gets back to work, she's a school teacher, and she gets called down at the principal's office and he pulls this picture up. He is not a Facebook friend of hers. And her security settings don't allow for sharing. So how the heck did this happen? How did this principle end up getting this picture?
Screenshots. Screenshots, they changed the game. If we ever had anything that resembled privacy in our world of digital, we absolutely do not now. And it's so popular using screenshots, so convenient as well. What happened to her? She was fired. She took it to court even. She lost in court because this would be a clear violation of the school district's policy when it comes to promoting alcohol and drug use and social media use, even though she thought it was just private. So her dream, poof, out the door because she thought there was privacy in our digital world.
Pictures and posts we can control. Never before have we had such power to sabotage ourselves in a virtual split second than we do today. And pictures are the biggest culprit and bring it a little bit closer, we're talking about selfies being the biggest culprit for some people. Selfies, I get them, they're fun, they can be so interesting. But this is an instance where we can take control. So take control, take inventory of pictures you allow yourself to be part of. What's going on in the background? Three levels of inventory. What's going on in the background? Are there a bunch of beer bottles back there? Are there political signs that you don't want to be associated with?
Number two, what are other people doing in that picture you're letting yourself be part of. With me, I don't allow any hand gestures to be in any of the pictures that I allow myself to be a part of, I get out of the way. And number three, what are you doing in that selfie, in that picture that could be misinterpreted and come back and haunt you down the way? Like that teacher I was just telling about, pictures and posts we can control.
And speaking of that, speaking of control, why post email, text when you're not at your best, when you're in an emotional state of any kind? When emotions go up, that filter goes down and you can't always be responsible for what you're going to do. So you don't want to put out that moment and make it part of your forever and for all to see, part of your company's forever and for all to see, but of something that's representing your family. Same when you have just one too many drinks, push it out of the way, we know what alcohol can do as far as your reasoning and your sense. My husband and I, we have a pact, when we're out together having a couple of adult beverages, when the other picks up the cell phone and starts doing something, we make sure that that post or send, those buttons are not being hit at all.
You know the saying when it comes to texting and driving, it can wait. It can wait in this sense as well. And of course, you always got to remember, anything that you put out there today, since we're all operating under this big umbrella of social media, it's no longer just about you. What you put out there could be inadvertently representative of your company, could be a reflection on your business, on your family, on your community. You don't want to have to have others in your world answering to something that you might have done online. So it really comes down to using that little voice that tells you, I probably shouldn't do that, because really what good is it going to do altogether? Pictures and posts we can control. Now pictures and posts we cannot control. Real quickly, just so you're aware, we're going to talk about security cameras.
Everywhere you go there's probably a camera on you, a security camera, a surveillance camera. Great. We need those because they deter crime, they help us catch the criminals, for sure. But do you know that any picture, any video taken out in the public area can be used for anything? It is fair game by anyone else. So that means, say you're at a gas station and you're pumping gas and your skirt goes flying up like crazy, you're pulling a Maryland Monroe there and you don't even realize it. Or maybe you're up putting some air in the tire and you start to see that, "Oh boy, I think I'm showing a little bit too much back there." Now you're at the mercy of whoever is ever running that surveillance camera. And if they are looking for social media gold and they come across that, they can use it, no problem.
That's the way it is right now. So just something to be aware of. Also, with pictures and posts we cannot control. We're all walking around with our cell phones, you never know when you are in the crosshairs of someone else's cell phone camera, because they're seeing a social media gold moment for them or they're seeing something they want to call you out on. So this woman knows all about this. This is another true story. This woman is a high level executive and she's on a flight, does not like that she's placed in the back of the plane and next to a baby who's crying. So she asks the flight attendant, "Could you move me?" Flight attendant says, "Sorry." This woman gets up and has an absolute rant on the flight attendant. This is a screenshot from the video that not only went viral, but made news nationwide.
What happened to her? You better believe she lost her job. Because how could the company say to the public, "We're not going to do anything"? Is that maybe saying, "Our employees, they're loose cannons and this is how they act." They had to take a stand and she was having a moment. Again, we all have moments, so pictures and posts we cannot control. Remember to think about what's going on around you and that there could always be a camera pointed in your direction. So again, she was fired, her dream job, poof. Pictures and posts we cannot control. Now written words, we talk about pictures and video all the time, but written words can be very powerful as well, spoken words can too as well. Quick example, when the Cavaliers won 2016, big celebration in downtown Cleveland, right? A chance for Cleveland media to shine because all eyes are on Cleveland.
A chance for those of us in the media. Well, maybe Emmy award-winning potential moments for all of us with this back-to-back coverage, one producer at my station especially excited with the potential of this day, his show fell apart. Technical problems, people problems, problems, problems. His show looked terrible on the air and he was so disappointed and so emotional, just words, he decides to post this on Facebook at the end of his shift. "What was supposed to be the most amazing day of my life - and career, turned into the worst. I will never forgive those responsible #REVENGE" How would the company not let him go with that? Especially because this became viral. So what he thinks he's doing in his personal life certainly come, comes back and it affects him on his professional life too, like with so many of the other examples I have.
And also then his family has to answer to this. So you got to think about what you're putting out there, what it could mean not just for you but for others. This went viral in the news industry, he was never able to reclaim his career in TV news, his dream job, poof, out the window. Written words. And of course finally calling out or shaming anyone for anything. Oh my goodness, it is indeed bullying. And it's so easy that when we see or know of someone doing something we don't agree with, to want to call them out online, in emails, in texts, but that could so easily backfire and you can come across as looking judgmental and you just don't want that. It's not worth the risk. Bullying, it is no longer just for kids, absolutely not, it is an epidemic in the workplace. And maybe you don't even realize that you are bullying someone, but you might be wanting to tease them, make fun of them in front of others, again, online.
But you never know what might be too much for them to take. You never know when you might be putting someone in a bad light that they're just never able to shake. You know that saying, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. A lot of what we do online in our digital world, we need to think about how we act as a human and translate our good manners and our courtesy back to what is happening on those screens. You just never want to be known, of course, as vengeful uncaring or insensitive as a person or as a business, because people do believe things that they see out there online. And that's why I asked this question, how much do you trust the truth or accuracy of information you find online about others?
And look at this, we got a moderate amount. So a moderate amount. Will you trust information about others? That means a moderate amount they're trusting what they see about you as well. And this is where, let's talk about how to make sure that that information out there is information that is going to make you shine online again. Three steps, I got lots of three steps going on here. Number one, consent. Again, as we talk about common courtesy, it applies to your digital world too, and especially consent to take a picture or video of anyone, and then consent to post a picture or video of anyone. So unless you're singing someone's praises, and even then you could be a little iffy, you really want to make sure that you get consent. It is just fair. And it's about treating others the way you would want to be treated.
This one morning, I was working the morning show on my way to work, two o'clock in the morning, I drive through my regular coffee and donut shop, I'm running a little late, yes. I may place my order, I start to pull around to the window, there's never anybody there, but this time there is, the day when I'm running late, there's not anybody at the window, the car is not at the window, the car is right before the window. It's a police car and it's just sitting there. It's not going. So I use the voice that says, "Don't honk at the police officer." Instead, I cruise around him and I don't look at him. I get to the window and the woman says, "What's going on back there? His order's been here for 10 minutes." I can't see around there and I'm not allowed to leave the building. I look in my rear-view mirror, I see a man with his head slumped back and his mouth wide open.
I run back, it's summer, his car is running the window's down and I hear this big old snore, he is sleeping. I wake him up, he's embarrassed, thanks me, I move on. But I am thinking, a police officer asleep at a donut shop, social media gold moment for me, plus he probably shouldn't have been doing that. What if I would've posted that moment? What if I would've taken picture of that moment, again, without consent? Can only imagine the repercussions that would've happened, and you don't know the whole story. Was he sick? Had he been spending the last 48 hours up taking care of a sick spouse or something? You just don't know the whole story and you just don't want to take a chance that you could hurt someone. So that's why consent is so important. Another way to shine online, especially for your business, is to Google yourself.
I asked that question, how often do you Google yourself or your business? You guys are not big on that at all. You have 30 some percent saying sometimes. And that's our biggest bar here. Why not? Why are you not Googling yourselves? I got to ask that question because I know I don't Google myself sometimes not enough, because I'm thinking, "I don't want to see what could appear." But now you are flying blind, so if suddenly you're getting a whole bunch of extra business and you don't know why. If your business is dwindling, you don't know why. If you are getting all these job offers, if you're maybe not getting any job offers, if you're getting all these date requests or you can't just land a date at all, take a look at what's going on in Google that could answer some questions.
It could tell you if you need to capitalize on something great or if you need to work on something out there that's negative and start to figure out how to handle that. So Google yourself, it's a great, great tool, believe it or not. And this is my favorite populate with positive. This is the best way to shine on shine online. I'm talking about positive things you want people to know about you, see about you, say about you. Number one, as a person, if you're out there volunteering, when you're out there doing your hobby, all this stuff, great content, we all need content. That is our resume today. And on a business sense, of course, altogether, you're making sure that you want to show the world how much value you have to the world. That's why on an individual level, you're putting out a bunch of great stuff.
And on a professional level, if you're a business owner, you want to take that a step further. You want to celebrate your company's victories. You want to celebrate when you expand your business. You want the world to know all about that. You want to celebrate your people there, you want to build character, you want to build integrity. Now, although this all sounds like, that's just promoting, I'm promoting. You are, you're promoting yourself. It's even more than that. You're also protecting yourself. You're protecting your business. You're protecting everything in your world by putting a bunch of positive stuff out there because that gives you maybe a bit of a firewall, a bit of a shield for when the bad stuff works its way in. And if you are online enough, working on promoting yourself as an individual or a business, that means that yes, negative stuff is going to come out no matter what. Because you're out there and to be out there, that's just part of the game.
There's going to be people that say, "It was a bad experience with the business." There are going to be people who say, "I ran into our public," and she just was really not a nice person. So on an individual or on a business level, you're going to have those bad experiences. And sometimes it happens because you're guilty, because you brought it on yourself. Maybe an employee didn't treat a customer well, maybe you were rude to the barista. You got to think about that. How do we handle that? Maybe though it's happening because you are a random target, or maybe it's happening because you are a target of fake posters for businesses. They end up with these reviews because people are hired to go in, by the competition, to go in and to make those fake posts, that stinks. Listen, it wasn't long ago, we just had to deal with it and maybe hope it would go away and hope it wouldn't hurt so bad, not any longer.
Today we have the power. Reputation rescue I call it. Number one, here's how you can do that. Ignore the negative. You have to see what the negative is because you have to do your Google search, so see what is happening with that negative, and if it doesn't seem to get legs, let's see if it might just go away. The last thing you want to do though is respond with negative, because then when you do that, you start to turn this item into a thing that could attach to your company, that could attach to your person. Ignore the negative. Another thing with ignoring the negative is you never know when your supporters are going to come out and say, "Heck no. This is a great place to eat. This is a great business." Whatever. A lot of times the supporters will come out and defend you and then you don't have to do anything and it just moves along.
There are also times though, when you do need to respond. And you need to really put some thought into strategy on responding to anything negative out there online about your company, about yourself. Respond. Three ways you could respond. Contact the posters, through email or maybe through a direct message. Ask them why they might have put that negative information out there about you, what you can do maybe to correct things, maybe apologize and maybe sweet talk them into taking that post down. If you're not good at that, if you're going to be a little bit extra defensive and not real apologetic, how about maybe having your PR people do that or maybe having one of your friends who's really good and real diplomatic, go and contact the posters and see what you can find with that information. Another thing is you can contact the platform. Platforms like Yelp and TripAdvisor and Google, we're all watching these as business owners.
They're also very protective of the integrity of their platforms, so they want to make sure that the information out there is indeed valid. And they do then have complaint departments. Go into the complaint departments, they will listen to you. And if you have fake posters out there, they'll find them and they'll take that information down, sparing you a lot of grief. And finally, number three, address the situation publicly. If you brought it on yourself, if you are to blame, like I was, address it publicly, offer your remorse, your apology. Maybe explain your mindset and explain how you might fix the situation so you can actually turn it around a little bit. Address publicly. Here's an interesting way someone addressed the situation publicly. It was a little restaurant, apparently I got a bad review on Yelp about its meatball sandwich. "Come in and try the worst meatball sandwich that one guy on Yelp ever had in his life."
Now I want to go in and try that. So that's how this restaurant owner turned things around. I wonder though if that little thing in the corner is calling out the poster because that would not be a good idea to do. Again, you don't want to put anything negative out there, nothing negative. Even if it so deserves negative from you, you don't want to put that out there online. Another way someone turned something around brilliantly. I love this story. This sign was out at a college football game, a college student. "Busch Light supply needs replenished. Here's my Venmo account, send me money." This young man, he was in college because his dream was to help sick children. And when that money started to come in, he announced to the world, "I'm going to turn this money around and I'm going to donate it to this hospital for children. In fact, I'm going to raise my goal up to $3 million."
And he made national news. He was a hero. Everyone was cheering for this man. And then, unfortunate tweets from years ago surfaced, brought him down. The haters came to the surface, the sponsors bailed out. And he's thinking, "It's not just my loss. This is the loss of the money that I want to send to help children." So he decided, "How am I going to turn it around?" Populate with positive, take responsibility, apologize. And that's what he did. He sent out a huge letter that said in part, "I'm embarrassed and stunned to reflect on what I thought was funny when I was 16 years old. I want to sincerely apologize." And he's offering to work to improve every day to make a meaningful difference in people's lives. People listen to him. Being vulnerable, taking responsibility for your misdeeds, it is so precious today, and people notice that.
New sponsors joined on, the money started flowing in, he got that $3 million for the children's hospital and was able to go on and create his dream, his foundation to help children and families in times of need. Love that. All right, another reputation rescue strategy here. If the attack is really serious, O.R.M, Online Reputation Management, basically crisis management to a new level. There are online reputation management companies around the country that are fantastic. I've teamed up with the best one, I think, in California. But when things go really bad, they can dig in, completely reset your image, get rid of that negative stuff. It takes time and it takes money, but they do know how to do magic. Now, on a personal note, when it comes to surviving any kind of online scandal, any kind of that negative information that comes out about you, I look back at how I got through it, and I bring it back to what I call now, my P.A.C.T.
My pact for surviving challenging times. P stands for people. Turn to the people you love and trust anytime you're going through anything that's difficult, it's amazing the different perspective that they can have and the strength that they can give you. I feel so bad when kids especially are being cyber bullied and they hide in their rooms and they don't tell anybody about it because they're embarrassed. Turn to your people because if one of your people is struggling and they didn't come to you, I bet you'd feel bad and I bet you would know how to help them. Abandon the source of cruelty, the source of angst. If it's something going on online against your company, against you as a person, yes, you've got to address it, see how it's going, decide how you're going to deal with it and then step away.
Because the more you watch cruelty coming at you on that screen, the worse it's going to seem. And it can be so incredibly brainwashing. That's why we have such a high suicide rate with people who are cyber bullied. Number three, C, connect with professionals, who've been there, who know how to navigate this. Like myself, again, like online reputation management companies, like lawyers, and even law enforcement because any kind of harassment online, bullying online, it is illegal. And finally, this too shall pass, that's my T. I'm sure you've all been through something in your lives where you thought, "This is the end of me." What happened? Not only did you survive, you're stronger and wiser and more equipped to handle something like that if it happens again, and to help others if it happens again. So you guys, Forever and For All to See it's powerful and it's real.
And just as much as it can be wonderful, it can be so wrong. And although you never know and think it's going to happen to you until it does, and you never know the pain until it's yours. But just like anything that could go wrong in life, the more you know about it, the more you're vigilant about it and use this and empower this, the less likely you are to fall victim and the more likely you are to go capture your hopes and dreams uninterrupted because you guys are rock stars on all levels. Again, my name is Catherine Bosley. Thank you so much for all of your participation. I saw that chat going like crazy. So it's such a pleasure to speak to you. I'm going to turn it back over to Rachael. Rachael.
Rachael Sampson:
Catherine, thank you so much. That was fantastic. One, thank you so much for your vulnerability and your candor in sharing your story. That is incredible. I don't even know how to even think about that or where to even start, but I'd love to, you're packed in how you get through that. Because whether it's you individually, or your business, or for so many of us our children now and our grandchildren, growing up in a world that's very different and having to flex from where we've been and the impact that it can have, and again, personally and professionally. So for all of our audience, before we get into that Q&A, please keep those questions coming. I see that the chat is going, going, going. Thank you so much for all of our audience members who are not key for women members yet. Hurry up, let's get it done.
Become a Key4Women member. You can leverage the QR code, that's getting ready to come up on your screen, as well as visit our key.com/JoinK4W link to get the latest news, insights, information and resources to all of our members. We promise we won't spam you, but we will keep you informed, especially when we have opportunities for wonderful author and speakers like Catherine to take advantage and get a copy of her book today. So thanks again for that. So let's get started. Let's get into it. We got a couple of great questions and one that I think about often even for myself, and this was a really good question that came into the chat about, when you think about all the information out there, and Googling can be very scary, I have done it before, my parents have Googled me before, yes, they have.
And we think about keeping up and keeping yourself safe right now with so much happening, like listing your name on LinkedIn and some of those other things, and so we're being asked here by Jennifer, thanks so much for the question, is, how do you make it so that you can be found but also difficult for people to find you personally, so that your name shows up professionally, but not everything else that we probably don't want everyone to see?
Catherine Bosley:
And every situation is a little bit different. The content that you're putting out there, it really goes along with what you're trying to accomplish. And so I think for so many of us, especially entrepreneurs and small business owners, we want to put that content out there that is boosting our exposure and making people really want to find you. And you want to put that stuff out there like crazy, indeed. And for that, let me just recommend, do you know that there are directories out there that validate and verify your company? And those are wonderful ways to go to make sure that you're promoting yourself. They will help spread the word all over search engines. Now, on a personal level, I'm of the mindset, after being through what I've been through, don't post anything that you wouldn't post on LinkedIn. I really like to keep everything professional, but if you're going to do the personal stuff, remember to really, really keep it clean.
Remember that, again, there is no privacy. So as much as you have those privacy settings set, make sure that what you are saying out there, what you are doing out there is something that you wouldn't mind your mom seeing, you wouldn't mind your pastor seeing. And so that's really what you need to understand. What is your goal? Do you want to be known better on a personal level? Which really means you want to be known better on a professional level, because you want your persona out there for some reason, and it's probably to maybe get those job offers or to show... The whole idea with your online activity, is to show the world what value you have. So it's whether it's what value you have as a person or what value you have as a company. Just remember everything you put out there, what is it saying about you exactly? And so the more stuff you put out there, of course, the more you're going to be found, and especially as a business.
Rachael Sampson:
And that's so interesting and you bring up a good point, which I like for the crisis, reputation management and some of that work. Can businesses like that help business owners or even individuals when we think about, some information is public, so it's not even what we are actually posting, it's just general information that before you actually have to go to the courthouse and [inaudible] now.
Catherine Bosley:
[inaudible] divorce or something like that, or being accused of a crime, that's a big thing. And people are ending up innocent, but they're accused. And so not only are they facing the accusation, which often has a connotation of being guilty, but now they're also facing what's online about that. So yes, these online reputation management companies do know how to go in there and rework that stuff, find a way to get it. What you want to do is get that negative stuff off as far off into your Google search as possible. That's why I say populate with positive, because then it'll push the bad stuff out. But yes, these online reputation companies, they can create a whole new online image for you, even if it's information that's public that you really have no control over, they find ways, even when stories make the news, they find ways of making sure that those things get pushed out as far as they can, away from being connected to your business, to you as a person altogether. So they do do magic. Absolutely.
Rachael Sampson:
I love it. Real life Olivia Pope's out here. I have another question from Charmaine. She says, "How do you gauge how much to share about yourself on social media? Is there a right mix between professional projects, work and personal interests?" We're often told that we can share personal things and it might have a skew towards profession, but what does that balance look like without losing your authenticity, and one of my favorites, seeming like a narcissist?
Catherine Bosley:
Isn't that something? I know. And working in TV news, of course, we're always told, "Put stuff out there, put stuff out there, put stuff out there about how great you are and how you're covering this story and all that." And I'm like, "Oh gosh, it's just kind of painful." But it is the reality that you kind of have to do that. So what is the fine line? It depends again on what your mission is. Be careful. You don't want to overdo it for sure. If you're putting great stuff out there about maybe your company and some of the products that you have, even that can end up being a little bit narcissistic. That's why I say that stuff belongs more on your website, the other stuff about the character of your company and the character of you, all that great stuff, that is stuff that you just really want out there.
And honestly, you can't go wrong with it. When you're putting positive stuff out there, you really can't go wrong. But make sure sometimes you're putting out something that you think is a bit of a joke, understand that when they're just words out there, just written words, we don't always hear the tone of voice. So you might want to run something by someone else to make sure that you're not doing something that could be misrepresented of you. But it is hard to find a fine line between it. And I post every day. I post inspirational quotes every day because I want content out there. I want to still be making sure that I am legitimate, that my brand is legitimate and that my company is legitimate. So I'm always putting stuff out there, even if it isn't quite related to what I do. And that really keeps me relevant.
And so really trying to stay relevant is really important. So I would certainly encourage you to post as much stuff out there as you can. It's all positive. Keep it going if you can. It can be tedious for sure, but oftentimes it's very much worth it. But really all depends on your goal. Are you working to get noticed as a person? Are you working to get noticed as a business professional? And why are you working to get notices on a personal basis? Usually that goes back to, "Because I want to get hired," or, "Because I want to stand out in the community." So think about what your reasoning is behind what you're putting out there.
Rachael Sampson:
And that's great. You said something that was interesting, that you post every day and keeping that on your brand of what you want to put out there. How did you decide what you wanted your persona to be online or what type of content that you would post, what you do frequently, maybe on a routine basis versus do you have other things that you do one off? How did you come up with your strategy?
Catherine Bosley:
Well, I am lazy, so I want to put stuff out there, but I just don't have time. I'm a one man band here and if anybody want to come and help me with marketing, please let me know. I do have a social media guy that I just pay him to just find those great little quotes, run them by me first, and then he just blasts them over my social media. So I just decided that I need the longer... There have been times when I've been... Crickets chirping on my social media and I noticed then that I start to lose some followers and you lose your relevance. So as long as you keep something going out there, whether it's directly associated with your brand, which I'm often putting out there, or just something that says, "I'm still here." Like putting out inspirational quotes because just trying to put some good stuff into the world and make a difference.
Rachael Sampson:
I love that. And as you talked about too is, when you get to that point and you had been posting and now you've outsourced it, but got a question from Monique that came in that said, "With all the talks and concerns about burnout, do you see online branding and social media a lasting medium of marketing for business and professionals?"
Catherine Bosley:
Sorry, I do. We've opened that can of worms and I can't see it going back anywhere. And again, going back to TV news, a lot of the advertising now is done on our website. A lot of the marketing is done on the website. We're always sending people to the website. Because that's where the advertising is, that's where the marketing is. And so things are certainly changing and in that respect, and I just don't see how in the world it could go in reverse anymore. And burnout, yes, but maybe with the burnout we add more jobs for people to help boost whatever it is that you're trying to boost on a professional level.
Rachael Sampson:
I like that. And you mentioned the website and driving activity back there, and that goes back to whether it's social media, some of these platforms, where we're shopping, Ebony asks us, "What does digital everything actually mean to you?"
Catherine Bosley:
Just what it says, it's just digital everything. I get so excited. My father was a clock smith, and so I am surrounded by all these beautiful analog clocks, and I so love them, and I so wish we could go back to a time where we actually had more things where what happens in the moment is guaranteed to stay in the moment. So if you're having a party with some friends. It's just a party with friends. It's not a party where, today the party turns digital because everybody's taking pictures of each other and themselves having fun together. So now that takes our party away from just being a human moment for the moment and it takes it into digital. So that's where I say it is digital everything these days. I went to a conference in New York City a couple of weeks ago, everybody's taking pictures of the friends we made at this conference. We all go into digital. It's not just being there, being human, being there for the moment. The moment now becomes for the world to see digital.
Rachael Sampson:
That's so true. I think about, I went in to develop some pictures at Walgreens one day. When's the last time we actually developed pictures? We're normally swiping to see that through. So that is so true when you think about just even capturing the moments and how we just continue to change. I know we've only got a couple minutes left and we're going to have to wrap our program, but I would love to know, so we got questions in from Holly and Laura, I'm going to put them together to say, "There's some folks out there, as you mentioned, that are creating fake accounts that can target you, but then also maybe even being associated with other people who might be posting something, to your point, whether you're in that picture or not, and even though you weren't a part of it, how do you handle those situations when you have, either those attacks or you're being included in something that you don't want to be included in?
Catherine Bosley:
That comes back to what I was saying about dealing with negative. You can sit there and see what's happening with it, you can go in there and ask people to stop doing it, you can go onto those platforms where, again, your name might be brought up by fake posters and the platforms will do stuff for you. So a lot of the technical end is out of my wheelhouse, but there are ways those online reputation management companies, they'll have those answers for you even if it's a quick consult.
Rachael Sampson:
That's awesome. And we see Julie in the chat posted a great comment for organizations that host events, workshops and luncheons, also recommending that those organizations have a waiver upon registering and regarding consent to using those photos, whether they're tombstones for companies or posting on events. So great comment there. Appreciate that.
Catherine Bosley:
I think that that's a good idea. I do think that that's a good idea. And to make sure that you let the event goers know that there are going to be pictures taken and they are going to probably make it to social media. And so let us know, what do you want to do about that? Maybe you could have a section where pictures are not taken. We're always looking now, are we craving privacy? And so if you have a moment where you might be able to make that happen for event goers where they could have a little circle where they could be... There would be no pictures and so forth. I think that that would be a great idea.
Rachael Sampson:
I love that. I'm seeing it more and more at different weddings and other events of saying, "Please leave your phone at home. We'll share the photos with you." So that's great advice. Thank you, Catherine, for sharing your story, your expertise. We've learned so much. Thank you everyone for joining. I've seen some wonderful comments in the chat. Thanks for your questions and your engagement. Catherine, I'm going to turn it over to you for the final word.
Catherine Bosley:
Just remember, it is digital everything and it's all about being kind online and positive, shining online. Just promote the positive. You cannot go wrong with that. And if you want to get in touch with me, I always correspond back catherine@catherinebosley.com, so I'd love to talk to some of you further. Absolutely. So good luck. Be strong, empower.
Rachael Sampson:
Love it. Have a great day everyone. Take care.
Join Key4Women® National Director Rachael Sampson, with long-time, award-winning TV journalist Catherine Bosley, for a discussion on online image and reputation management.
Known for her “down-to-earth” style, authenticity, and versatility, Catherine is passionate about putting her talents and experience to work for others. Her captivating presentations draw on her own remarkable life journey, including invites to appear on shows like Good Morning America, Inside Edition, and Oprah. She will share her unique insight and perspective on the importance of making better everyday choices in our ever-evolving digital reality. That includes understanding how little room there is for a “what was I thinking” moment before it could become attached to you, your business, your family, etc., forever and for all to see, one mouse click away.
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