How to grow a reputation management business? | PromoSEO lead generation

James Dooley: Okay, so if I have a reputation management business and I want a consistent flow of inquiries every single month, what do you recommend? How would you grow a reputation management business?

Kasra Dash: First and foremost, an ORM company—online reputation management—is a huge growing market. People now want reputation management for personal branding as well as business branding. I would start with networking events. I’d be rubbing shoulders with the biggest entrepreneurs and business owners I want to work with and ask, “Do you have your knowledge panel in Google? Are your links set up? Do you have a proper story about who you are behind your brand?”

That’s where I’d begin. Most people don’t know they even need reputation management until someone points it out. They don’t Google their own name or brand. But if a prospect Googles you at the 11th hour, you want five-star reviews, strong testimonials, case studies, and overall positive sentiment.

James Dooley: What else would you look at to grow an online reputation management company?

Kasra Dash: This is twofold. What you mentioned is great. I’d also do SEO. Many reputation management companies avoid SEO because it's competitive, but if you generate your own leads, your business gains asset value—especially if you plan to sell the company later.

Pick niches to rank for: reputation management for automotive, property management, healthcare, lawyers, etc. Some niches pay more and let you upsell additional services.

Once you have a strong brand and website, I’d partner with FatRank for lead generation. At FatRank, we work with many ORM businesses. We generate leads for individuals and companies wanting improved online branding. We operate on a no-win, no-fee basis. No one else really does that in the ORM space. We do an onboarding process to ensure your reputation is solid because we won’t work with an ORM company that doesn’t look good online. You need a professional website, email, proper service structure—crisis management, brand sentiment cleanup, etc. But don’t rely on just one lead source. Use Clutch, Top Three Rated, Bark—track KPIs and measure ROI. If you’re accepted into our FatRank program, we guarantee ROI, but you should still diversify. Lifetime value of an ORM client is high, so you should know your KPIs, LTV, and acceptable cost per acquisition.

James Dooley: You mentioned SEO. We also invest in Searcher.com, our link-building agency. We offer Power Posts—third-party content pieces written about your clients in a positive sentiment. They link back to reviews, awards, and case studies. These rank and help control page one of Google for your clients’ brand names.

ORM companies should definitely upsell this. It’s not just about new clients—upsell existing ones and increase average transaction value.

Kasra Dash: Exactly. Power Posts let you control the entire narrative. They help dominate page one for branded searches.

James Dooley: What’s your take on traditional marketing—billboards, TV, radio, magazines, leaflets—for growing an ORM company?

Kasra Dash: Probably not, unless your service is more offline. With traditional ads, you can’t track inquiries properly. With everything else we’ve discussed—SEO, Facebook ads—you know exactly what you spent and what you got back. Could traditional work? Possibly. But ROI is usually lower.

James Dooley: I agree. I’m numbers-driven. I want trackable ROI, and traditional is harder to measure. For ORM, it’s tough.

Facebook ads could work because you can target business owners, CEOs, entrepreneurs with ads like: “Are you happy with what appears when you Google your name?” YouTube ads can work too. For me, I’d focus on FatRank lead generation, SEO for inbound leads, and social media ads. Another strong method is what we’re doing right now—video content. We both have knowledge panels. Search ‘James Dooley’ or ‘Kasra Dash,’ and you’ll see positive digital footprints that tell our growth story.