The name of the game is search engine manipulation for NetReputation, which is coined an online reputation company.
Attracted to those who need a boost in how they’re perceived online, or at least a positive review, founder Adam Petrilli has been pretty good at this game: the company has grown from its 2015 launch to 11 million dollars in revenue last year. It projects $15 million this year.
Part of that growth comes from the removal of negative customer information on Google, just one part of the company’s online search remediation services. It charges between $1,500 and $100,000, depending on the difficulty of the question. Projects range from one-off campaigns to monthly campaigns with annual agreements.
“Reputation management is, for lack of better terminology, manipulating the search engine where we want certain results to appear in our favor,” says Petrilli. “That’s our core product. We control the first page of Google for people’s names and brands. So when you Google things like celebrity reputation management, we’re on page 1. The ability to be good in search engine optimization from a marketing standpoint, as well as a product standpoint, it’s had a really big impact.”
NetReputation welcomes anyone looking to improve their online reputation, whether it’s personal information, negative reviews, or spam. “Most of our clients have something online about them or their brand that they want removed or removed from search results,” Petrilli wrote in a follow-up email with Business Observer. But there are some limits to who the company will work with; Anyone involved in violent or sex-related crimes, for example, is a no-no.
So how does it work? The team, through a five-step process, highlights the positive information and deletes anything negative by using search engine optimization processes and something it calls digital asset creation.
The first step involves an in-depth analysis of the customer’s online reputation to determine all the factors that contribute to how that customer is viewed online, whether positive or negative. A strategy is then put in place to eliminate the threats and rebuild your brand. The next step is to identify all the positive factors such as company listings or social profiles that work in the client’s favor to build their assets. NetReputation then dives into content creation to develop high-quality articles, blogs and other content to strengthen the client’s brand that appears in Google search results. The last two steps include a publishing plan and promotional techniques to spread brand awareness and engagement.
Being new to an industry can bring its challenges, but it’s also an opportunity for tremendous growth, Petrilli has learned. By the time the online reputation management company reached its first anniversary in 2016, revenue had surpassed the $1 million mark to $1.4 billion. By 2017, Petrilli says the company had grown to $3.5 million, up 150%.
“In the grand scheme of just being a small company, going from zero to $1.4 million, there was a lot to do,” he says. “It’s very hectic to maintain a certain level of growth.”
The biggest challenge? Determine how many employees to add to support growth. Petrilli also faced an uphill battle figuring out what processes to put in place for his business model.
“We were in a new industry, so there really wasn’t a playbook,” he says. The company now has 68 employees, with offices in Sarasota and Kansas City and a new one in Brazil.
Most clients who come to NetReputation have already had their online reputation affected, while about 10% of clients use the company as a preventative measure. Petrilli says many of his clients are high net worth individuals and brands of all sizes. The list includes managers, entrepreneurs, professionals (even teachers) who come to the company for help, he says.
“The severity and what they need will vary from client to client depending on the problem,” he says. “If you have a big reputation, like a big company or celebrity, you’re going to need more resources than the teacher who’s from Sarasota High School who maybe did something he or she wasn’t supposed to do.”
Most customers come to them, but Petrilli says that if someone is involved in something nationally, the company could reach out on its own.
In terms of revenue, Petrilli says his company has only two major competitors: Reputation.com, which topped $100 million in annual recurring revenue earlier this year, plus a minority growth investment of 150 million dollars; and Reputation Defender, a company Pertrilli says is slightly ahead in revenue compared to NetReputation.
“We’re on track to be the second largest full-service reputation management agency in the United States,” he says, a statistic he provided based on revenue. “It’s a testament to being focused on growth as a company.”
In addition to the team and the market opportunity, another big driver of success, says Petrilli, is reinvesting back into the organization. This includes a recent move to a larger office in Sarasota, hiring more employees, increasing advertising and marketing budgets and adding product training. The company moved to 1100 N. Tuttle Ave., after outgrowing its former headquarters in the SH Kress and Co. building. in the city center.
And with people making bad decisions every day, hey Florida man, there’s likely to be more growth. “More people than ever are online,” says Petrilli, “so more people than ever need a solution to be online.”
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