I recently had a minor medical issue. I snore like the start of Armagedon, at least my lovely little wife thinks so. Long story short, I tried the CPap Machine (Seems I have what’s called Sleep Apnea, a.k.a: I forget to breath and start to die so I take a big loud breath to save my life, but it scares the cats and the said wife.).
If you haven’t the pleasure of using a CPap machine, just picture a canister vaccum with it’s hose stuck on your face with a face mask and it BLOWS air into your mouth and nose, instead of sucking your nose off. As charming and fetching as this sounds, it failed to do the job because in the middle of the night, I’d tear that mask off because I thought I was choking or suffocating. The little woman, you guessed it, hated it! She said it sounds like a vacuum on reverse, how astute was she? Amazing woman.
So, one fine Sunday, I see these cheesy ads depicting a man wear a big Cpap mask and a big international circle with a slash through it stating, “Are you Cpap Intolerent?”. I found the ad in the LA Times right next to the Hair Transplant and Erectile Dysfunction ads (those two really work! but that’s another story…).
So, wife begs me to give it a try or continue sleeping in the guest room with the cats. So I say’s, “O.K..”
I meet the doctor, Dr. Keropian of the Center for Snoring and CPAP Intolerance. Fifty-something Dr K arrives with the air of that kid in high school that aced all his math and science tests and enjoyed doing it. He has a twinkle in his eye and a spring in his step. He’s a scientist, doctor, inventor and lover of all things human.
Dr. K gets me on his invention, a mouthguard like no other and after a few weeks of adjustment, voila, I do not snore, I’m back in my own bed with my wife and the cats don’t fear me! On top of that my energy level is much higher.
So what does all this have to do with search engine optimization and keywords and marketing and ‘Reputation Management?” Well, a lot, I tell you! You see, I wanted to see how this good Doctor was doing on the search engines (after all, it is my job.) and one of the first things I read is:
”I don’t think this thing works, it’s a big scam, just a mouth piece and they charge so much money, blah , blah, blah.”
That got me to thinking, I wonder how many people suffering wit Sleep Apnea saw that comment from some forum and discounted what this guy offers? Sleep Apnea is dangerous, very dangerous, many people die of heart attacks and from strokes caused by Sleep Apnea! This is a serious disease and a cure for at least some people is out there. It’s a shame that one off-handed comment on a forum could keep a patient from a better life.
At GOiMarketing, that’s what we want, people to have a better life and a better business. In this case above, we would go to work addressing the issue directly on the forum and hope that our response get’s posted with equal or better footing as the original. We’d also publish positive testimonials and feedback on the website, forums and blogs.
Not all negative comments or postings are really negative. Sometimes these comments can spark a conversation that can lead to better understanding for all.
