426. Online Reputation Management › how it works › step 3: managing – dealing with opportunities and threats If you are responding to a blogpost, find the writer’s contact details on the blog and email her directly. At a last resort, use the comments to make contact with the blogger. When responding, be transparent, honest and treat the person as you yourself would like to be treated. At all times, remember that you are engaged in conversation, not a dictation. Finally, remember that online, evidence is forever so try keeping it to a minimum. 17.4.4 Step 4: Maximise – Evolve the Business! So, you are monitoring the conversation, you are measuring it, refining your successes and actively managing perception. Good job! However, you can still do more with the data. The final, and ongoing, step of ORM is the process of using the data to help make statistically supported decisions about the future. It’s about using the information that you have recorded and then asking specific questions of it. These could range all the way from the most basic such as “Which is the best day to launch a product?” all the way through to identifying business innovation opportunities and threats. The more data one has, the bigger decisions one can make. By using online conversation as a source of data means that results are returned in near real-time. This empowers a brand to make decisions more quickly and with more information so they can keep the business evolving and narrow the gap between business offering and stakeholder expectation. 17.5 ten rules to recover from an online brand attack These 10 rules to recovery should provide a practical approach for brands facing an online threat. 1. Humility Before you can recover from an online brand attack you have to be aware that your brand can be attacked - no matter how big it is or how untouchable it may seem. 2. Listen Once you have a clear understanding of the scope of the possible effects of an online attack and are committed to maintaining a good reputation online, you’re halfway there. Next you’ve got to understand how the process of consumer complaints has evolved. Use this understanding to guide your actions.430