Today, the popularity of social media, third-party reviews websites, blogs, and other digital platforms is on the rise. Thus, maintaining a solid online reputation is necessary for businesses. Understanding the importance of remaining vigilant on what is being said about their brand online, companies are allocating resources to online reputation management (ORM)—the process of maintaining a healthy brand reputation online while removing or suppressing unfavourable content to page 2 or beyond.
Understanding the increasing demand for online reputation management services, entrepreneur Richart Ruddie founded The Reputation Management Co. and its subsidiaries over 10 years ago with his first main stream brand Profile Defenders. Richart is a born entrepreneur and owns multiple businesses in the fields of online marketing, SEO, and reputation management. He is one of the well-known leaders in the reputation management landscape and has been featured in Entrepreneurial Magazine, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Times of Malta, Sun-Sentinel, and dozens of other media outlets throughout the years as a thought leader in the industry.
Continuous Improvement and Radical Transparency
Richart started the first Reputation Management brand in 2010 with a startup named SEO Time. Since then, he has expanded it into additional domains such as Profile Defenders, Nu Profile, The Reputation Management Co., Remove Names, Brand Defenders, and additional brands. In 2018, Richart was approached by a private equity fund that was looking to purchase a controlling share in the company’s operations. Shortly after, the company hired Devin Johnson who took over as the CEO and Richart no longer had to handle every single part of the business and had some help to expand the business.
While building numerous profitable businesses over the last decade, Richart experienced several failures as well. However, according to Ray Dalio’s principles, continuous improvements and radical transparency have fuelled his growth both personally and professionally. “I have sat on private jets and networked with some of the most successful people in the world and it is comforting in how well we can talk, shop, and relate,” says Richart. Being the Founder and CTO of RMC, he is presently at the forefront of the company’s operations and services.
ORM Services for Individuals and Businesses
RMC is one of the most recognized ORM firms nationally for its ability to remove content from top sites on the internet while also providing high end PR services. The company creates high-end editorial content and strategic technical placement of brand building information to help build brands, create insulation against potential negative online content and is a leader in suppressing unwanted content. Some of the other services provided by the company include,
- Autocomplete ORM
Search engine autocomplete or autosuggest terms may hamper businesses. RMC uses a proprietary software method to guarantee the removal of unwanted search suggestions and promote positive or wanted search suggestions.
- Autocomplete Marketing
Search engine autocomplete suggestions are an effective way to get visibility of new products or services. RMC provides custom methods and systems to enable clients to create suggested searches they want their users to read, and drive traffic to ideal articles and search results.
- Brand Management
RMC’s team of corporate and personal brand experts is passionate about helping clean up and maintain good reputations. The company builds corporate solutions that help brands achieve their corporate goals. Understanding the corporate goals and how they translate into marketing goals helps RMC to strategize unique ways that it can achieve wanted reputation outcomes while helping to realize strategic marketing goals.
“Being transparent with clients, keeping in touch, and providing realistic expectations along with stellar results has been a formula that has proven 10+ years of being in business with never having a month that was not profitable since inception,” says Richart.
Performing Multiple Roles
In the initial days, Richart wore many hats from accountant, head of marketing, head of sales, human resources, and everything in between. Presently, he has a lot more support from an in house team and outside vendors; however, he is still active in numerous touchpoints and critical parts of the business. “I am looking to step away from that and use my knowledge and skills to build another great business. I have been fortunate to grow a business from nothing but have bigger dreams to pursue,” he adds.
Surmounting the Challenges
Like any other successful tech platform, RMC frequently deals with growing challenges. Richart states that scaling while ensuring that a high level of service and production is retained has always been at the forefront for RMC. “The industry has evolved a lot from 2010 to 2021 and a lot of the players then are gone. A big change has been the increase in services for review management,” he continues.
In 2020, businesses across several industries were hit hard by the unannounced outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the tech world expanded due to the travel restrictions and a plethora of opportunities emerged for digital marketing agencies like Ruddie’s that were lean and meant to take advantage of a tech savvy environment. Making the most of the opportunities, RMC witnessed exponential growth throughout the pandemic.
When the pandemic hit, the company rewarded its entire staff with a COVID bonus. While employees across the globe were being laid off, Richart believed that it was important to keep the positive momentum from 2019 and reward the staff that was still coming in and working hard every day. RMC supported the team members’ families during these unprecedented times as it hired a team member’s wife who was laid off from her previous job.
Ruddie’s Recipe for Success
“If you hire talent that is passionate and you understand that you don’t know all the answers, you just have to understand how to manage and work with your team. You have the recipe for success and that’s where transformation can take place,” As a leader, he believes in his decisions and actions. Under his auspices, RMC’s team has rallied around the company’s direction. The company’s culture, client retention, and bottom line have proved that those decisions were correct. Talking about future endeavors, Richart adds that great company culture and diversity are essential to succeed in 2021 and beyond.
Remember this he said in our brief interview:
