Now, more than ever, it is important to take stock of how you and your company appear online. Brand management – personal and corporate – has an impact on future business and how buyers and sellers judge your abilities.

A search of your name on the Internet enables you to see otherwise unsolicited customer feedback. For instance, if a customer felt your services were not delivered as expected, rather than tell you, they might post their feedback on websites such as Yelp or Twitter®. Periodically searching the Internet provides you the opportunity to reach out to an unsatisfied customer and resolve their issues and possibly turn them into not only a satisfied customer, but an ally of both you and the company.

One of the easiest ways to find out if people are talking about you or your company is to set up a Google Alert™. You may want to set up several types of alerts such as your full name, your primary email addresses and some variants of the Company name such as Fidelity National Financial, FNF, FNTG, etc. Then anytime information – good or bad – is posted to the Internet you are notified. Otherwise, it is a good idea to search your personal and company name and email addresses at least every month to ensure customers and consumers stay satisfied with the services you have provided.

When a customer is satisfied with the services you have provided, ask them to write a good review. A testimony will go a long way in steering prospective customers to you and will also bring into question any negative posting against you or your company.

Your Internet search might find instances where someone used the company's name and/or an employee's name without permission. This is done to lend legitimacy to a fake transaction.

We have had individuals claim escrow officers were holding "proof of funds" for potential buyers; when the escrow officers had never worked with the individual. We have had individuals claim they had open transactions with our Company, when, in fact, we had no dealings with them whatsoever.