How important is having an impressive online reputation?  In today's cyber society it is very important.  While I would like my business to be mostly referrals from happy clients and colleagues people often look at online business reviews to make their decisions.  I miss the days when someone would give me a compliment and I could simply say "Thank you so much" and feel good about the effort I put into a task being noticed.  Now the response has to be "Thank you so much... would you mind posting a review on xyz social media site about your experience?"  Honestly I don't like it... but it's necessary to grow a business.  People want to see what others think of you before they consider hiring you.  No one wants to be the first to test out the product.

How much of what you see online is real?  A lot of it is not.  Many companies pay for fake reviews to make their businesses look more successful or to bury bad reviews.  I would guess that unless it's an health or entertainment industry like yoga, restaurants, or theatre most industries are procuring reviews.  This is not to say all the reviews are fake, but personally when I leave my awesome doctor's office, my child's wonderful after school program, or get off the phone with my trusted financial adviser the last thing on my mind is to go online and tell the rest of cyber world how wonderful my experience was... unless they ask me to. 

I would think the same is true in fields like property management and construction.  The people who seek to write reviews for these type of industries are people who had a bad experience... and often the stories they tell are skewed.  The ones who are satisfied simply say "Thank you for getting this done."  They say it to the professional, not online.  In a world of online reviews steering business in one direction or another it's no wonder we ask our satisfied customers to write positive reviews to offset the negative ones we are bound to get at some point if an issue isn't resolved smoothly.

My goal is going to be write more positive reviews for colleagues and professionals without being asked.  I know how much it means to me when I see a positive review that I did not procure.  If you are a professional in an industry that is not focused on entertainment don't be afraid to ask for reviews.  Everyone else is doing it.