Brand used to mean what you said about yourself; in the age of social networks, it increasingly means what others say about you. If you are big enough and well-known enough, you will attract plenty of positive and negative commentary. If you are small and unknown, then you are even more vulnerable to buzz that could make or break your little business.

Try this exercise: do a Google search on the term "I hate ___", replacing the blank with your company name. If your brand is well known, chances are you will find whole web pages dedicated to the topic. Trust me, this can be a depressing way for marketers to spend a few hours, but remember: this is the Internet, where someone hates everything. "I hate the Salvation Army" pulls up 87,000 hits; "I hate the Red Cross" 166,000. Even "I hate puppies" returns over 230,000 hits.

         You’re not fooling anyone.

So how do you protect your reputation online? When and how should you intervene if you spot negative commentary about your brand?

1. Track reactions to your brand online. To react to issues, first be aware of them. Your approach for tracking your online reputation can be as simple as running periodic search engine queries on your brand, or as advanced as setting up a social media dashboard. You can find some good options here. The technology matters less than the commitment to building this into your weekly schedule.
   

2. Sort the issues into categories. This is pretty easy and an important first step. Is this a product issue? A customer service complaint? An upset investor? Set up a few simple categories and assign "response owners" from your team. Make sure they understand what’s expected of them.
   

3. Determine whether the issue is timely. Don’t worry about putting out old fires. If you find a year-old comment thread where posters are discussing with great enthusiasm how much they hate your new product, let it go. Focus on current situations where you have a chance to insert yourself into the discussion and head off a bigger problem.
   

4. Determine whether the problem can easily be resolved. One of our software clients was criticized by a popular blogger for not offering online product documentation. After a quick email from the company pointing out the link to their user manual, he happily updated his original post and praised them for their responsiveness. Many times, frustrated customers are simply looking for information.
   

5. Decide whether you are at fault. Is the complaint justified – or is there at least a chance that it might be? Or is it a clear misunderstanding or distortion? If there is something to it, a gracious apology or commitment to investigate the issue can work wonders. If not, a polite but firm clarification or rebuttal is needed.

6. Respond to the loudest, most influential voices first. Focus on those bloggers or tweeters that get the most traffic and carry the greatest influence. Often, they won’t be the point of origin, but will simply be reposting something from another smaller blogger. Unless they have a clear agenda against your brand, they will usually try to deal fairly with you.
   

7. Engage personally. Most bloggers and many commenters offer their email addresses. Start by sending a friendly, polite message directly to the owner. If you are offering an apology, be specific as to what you will do to correct the situation. If you are responding or defending yourself, provide details to support your argument. Sign the email with your own name. Most bloggers will post your message on their site. If they ignore you, take your message to the other blogs that have picked up the story, and be sure to mention that you started at the source.
   

8. Maintain the right tone. It can be infuriating to watch someone run down your business online, but settle down. Never lose your courteous, gracious tone. And never seek to intimidate or threaten anyone into removing content; those threats will end up online and make a bad situation worse. Be very careful before proceeding to any legal action, even if justified that tends to do serious damage to your reputation online.
   

9. Close the loop. Live up to your commitments. If in the process of responding to a customer’s issue you promised to give her a replacement product, make sure it gets done. And then post an update to the site where the discussion took place.
   

10. Engage with brand champions. Don’t spend all your time reacting defensively and putting out brand fires. If you find a group of people online who enjoy your brand, find ways to keep them engaged. These can include a simple "thank you" email, discounts or special offers, or a chance to preview your new product before it comes out. You can’t be in all places at once, and these champions will be far more effective at building and defending your brand than you could be.
    

Remember to keep perspective: you can’t please everyone. You can, however, win over current customers and potential new ones with your responsiveness and willingness to meet them on their own ground.