The R word… no not Recession but Reputation is the word on everybody’s lips. Think about it, we are going into the toughest economic year many of us have ever experienced and what is going to keep that business coming through the door other than your reputation.

A good reputation will go a long way; you only have to look at the hundreds of big companies who throw thousands of pounds into their CSR policies, employing agencies to handle crisis management to ensure that their reputation goes undamaged.

Moving into what is clearly going to be a tough economic year; many companies are recognising the importance of maintaining and developing their reputation to set themselves apart from the competition.

If you are confident that as a business you can forge a good reputation it is more important than ever that you let everyone know just how good you are. Attracting new business by publicising the good work you do has never made more sense.

All of the large blue chip organisations we know and love have developed their reputation from a few small stunts, take a well known fast food chain for example who last year began a campaign that publicised their use of quality meat which was responsibly sourced and good for you. Upon this organic train has everyone jumped, allowing said fast food chain to be the leaders of the pack- forging their reputation and maintaining a strong market share.

There is nothing to prove that they were the first fast food chain to use organic and free range products but their reputation has changed.

Reputation is key, and is often created by publicising what you do before your competitor beats you to it.