Online reputation management is not a totally new industry, though it is a totally new manifestation of an old industry. Image consulting, PR work–these are the precursors and parallel industries that make online reputation management so important. Managing your reputation online is just a extension of your reputation in general. With that said, people too often neglect the online aspect of their reputations because having to worry about this aspect is a more recent development.

More and more individuals are searching cyberspace and the online reputations of those seeking employment, a romantic interest, or customers for their business. While the Google, Yahoo, Ask, AOL and Bing search engines have become the de facto public record of modern time, reputation management consultants believe you have a right to control how your name is presented online.

Bing, Google, MSN, Dogpile–these are just a couple of the search engines where you can find out information about other people. If you plug your name into these search engines, you’ll likely be greeted by nothing nefarious. However, for a select few of you readers, you’ll be met with something that is negative. For you, online reputation management just became a reality.