VOA慢速英语:Paying Others to Worry About Your Online Image

A reputation -- what people think of you, good or bad -- is built one message at a time. The difference today is that people can get their messages out to lots of other people at lightning speed through websites and social media. So, not surprisingly, an industry is fast developing around managing online reputations for individuals and businesses.
声誉——人们对你印象的好坏——好或是坏都是通过信息逐渐形成的。今天的不同是，人们可以通过互联网和社交媒体以迅雷不及掩耳的速度将信息传播给许多人。所以，毫不奇怪地，为个人和企业管理网络声誉的行业快速发展起来。

KEN WISNEFSKI: “Up to eighty percent of people have been influenced in a purchasing decision by what they’ve read or seen online.”
KEN WISNEFSKI：“高达80%的人们在采购决策中，会受到自己在网上看过的信息的影响。”

Ken Wisnefski is chief executive of WebiMax, a company he started in two thousand eight. WebiMax is a search engine optimization, or SEO, company. Search engine optimization involves different ways to improve the results of online searches.
Ken Wisnefski是WebiMax公司的执行总裁。他在2008年开办了该公司。WebiMax是一家搜索引擎优化公司。搜索引擎优化包括改善网上搜索结果的许多方法。

WebiMax offers several different services, but Ken Wisnefski says reputation management is growing the fastest.
WebiMax提供几种不同的业务，但Ken Wisnefski表示，声誉管理业务增长最快。

Some of his customers need help with urgent publicity problems. Others are seeking long-term management of their online image. Mr. Wisnefski says about one-fifth of his business is with companies and individuals outside the United States.
一些客户需要帮助解决迫切的宣传问题。其他人寻求对他们网络形象的长期管理。Wisnefski表示，大约五分之一的生意是美国以外的公司和个人。

How does reputation management work?
声誉管理是如何工作的呢？

WebiMax has two sides to its business. The company can organize online publicity campaigns to try to limit the harm done by negative comments or bad news. Mr. Wisnefski says when a client gets in the news for the wrong reasons, his company does not try to hide what happened. Instead, it develops a campaign to show that the client is dealing with the problem in a productive and positive way, he says.
WebiMax的声誉管理业务包括两个方面。公司可以组织网络宣传活动，限制负面的评论或坏消息带来的危害。Wisnefski表示，如果一个客户因为错误的原因出现了负面新闻，他的公司不会试图隐藏事实真相。相反，他们会发起活动，向公众展示客户以积极富有成效的方式解决问题。

In that sense, the work seems a lot like old-fashioned public relations, but in cyberspace.
从这种意义上来说，这项工作看上去非常像传统的公关，区别只是它是一种网络公关。

But what if clients are the target of lies or maybe an organized effort to harm their reputation? Then WebiMax would use its legal team to try to have the comments removed.
但是如果他们的客户是谎言的攻击目标，或者有组织的活动的声誉受害者呢？这种情况下，WebiMax会通过法律团队来将这些评论删除。

KEN WISNEFSKI: “We realized pretty early on that it wasn’t going to just be a marketing function, that there also needed to be a legal function involved with it. And marrying the two together is what really has impact and makes this successful.”
KEN WISNEFSKI：“我们很早就意识到，我们不应该只有市场功能，还应该有司法功能。将这两者有效地结合起来才更加有效，才能获得成功。”

In the United States, not all speech is protected by the Constitution. And even if the comments are true, the threat of a costly legal fight may be enough to get them removed.
在美国，并不是所有言论都受宪法保护。即使这些评论是真实的，对簿公堂的昂贵代价就足以使这些评论消失。

Ken Wisnefski thinks the legal side of reputation management is only going to grow. He says WebiMax is profitable and expects ten to fifteen million dollars in revenue this year.
Ken Wisnefski认为，声誉管理司法方面将会快速发展。他说，WebiMax目前的盈利状况不错，预期今年的收入可以达到1000至1500万美元。

Clients of companies that manage reputations can pay thousands of dollars a month or as little as a hundred dollars a year. But here is some free advice.
声誉管理公司的客户可以美元支付数千美元，或者每年支付几百美元。但是声誉管理公司也免费提供一些建议。

KEN WISNEFSKI: "If you’re not paying attention or at least monitoring what’s being said about you online, you’re making a mistake because other people are paying attention to that."
KEN WISNEFSKI：“如果你不重视，或至少监控你在网上的声誉。你就犯了一个大错，因为其他人都很关注网上声誉。”