One of the unfortunate things about life and the internet is that there are a plethora of unscrupulous people who are more than willing to mess with you online.

Sure, there are lot's of people who want to take your money; and then there are lot's of people who just seem to have nothing better to do than to try to make someone else's life and business more miserable. I honestly dunno; doesn't make sense to me, yet it still happens.

What's the answer?

It is all of our responsibilities to be educated and proactive about our business and personal online reputation. And below we're going to go thru the five steps you need to take care of, to make it harder and less fun for "the bastids to monkey wit ya!"

1. Subscribe to the newsletter of (IMO) one of great, wise men online, Paul Myers. Paul's Talk Biz newsletter is free and he gives you his 112 page book about how to succeed online for signing on. The book is superb as are all Paul's products.

BEFORE you read further, go subscribe to the newsletter. FREE! Seriously, this is the best advice I could give you about learning about the online world.

Go – do it now – you'll thank me later!

These next steps are from the latest "TalkBiz" newsletter.

2. Grab the .com domain for your business name (if it's available) and the local version as well – ie. JimsPlumbing-Vancouver. If you don't plan to do anything online, this is still a must do – just so someone else cannot gum up your rep online.

For $8 or $12, this is cheap insurance!

3. Register your business with your Google Local Business Center. Now!

(You already did that cause you read my earlier blog post, right?) Here's how – Register at the Local Business Center

4. Social media – yes, that foolishness! It's important and going to be more important (and can easily be the best time investment of all your marketing).

Get yourself and your business registered with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and for bonus points MySpace.

Once you are registered, it's more difficult for someone to masquerade as you. You can control what information gets distributed and reap all the benefits.

5. "Tell the Truth." No fakery! No fake testimonials, no flogs (fake review blogs), no getting friends to make glowing reviews, and especially, no trashing the competition!

This is a simple one, but somehow people get fooled into thinking they can get away with stuff online. It will come back to bite you.

5 easy steps that you can get accomplished in a weekend, that will both protect your business and personal reputation online and ultimately help grow your business; even if you don't have a website!