Did you know you no longer own your brand?

Your brand no longer belongs to you - really it doesn't. You probably think it does, and consider yourself in full control of your brand, but put bluntly, you're kidding yourself.

In the past, yes, you would have 'owned' your brand and would have been able to influence the way you were seen. Corporate guidelines, careful advertising, strict policies and more would have made sure that the outside world saw exactly what you wanted them to see.

So what if you were losing customers hand over fist because of your inability to deliver on time or your prices were wrong? It didn't matter because your website told everyone that you 'deliver on time and under budget'.

So what if you were only 2 cheques away from bankruptcy? No-one would know because you told everyone how well you were doing when you went to networking events.

So what if you had a high staff turnover because they were dissatisfied with the company? Who would ever find out? You made sure the people who mattered knew your high turnover of staff was because you expected the best and nothing but.

Yes, in the past, people saw what you wanted them to see, and probably believed it.

But that's changed now. In this day and age of Social Media, YOU don't own your brand, everyone else does. Your customers. Your staff. Your suppliers. Even people you probably don't even know right now.

See, in the past there were limited channels to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a company. Even if you were seething with anger at some of their claims, you could only really tell your friends and contacts, and maybe write a letter to the local newspaper, hoping that they had the guts to publish it. Similarly if you were ecstatic with a company's services, your chances to express that satisfaction were limited.

Not now. Now there's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and various online business forums, GetSatisfaction.com and other online review sites, and more. There's email, blogging and easy to set up websites.

You've wronged a customer? Within a few days it can be all around the Internet and almost every potential client of yours will hear about it.

You've provided excellent service? Again you could be reaching potential clients through the power of the Internet.

But the scary thing about all of this is that YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER IT. 'They' do.

You can't stop people Tweeting, blogging and writing about you, whether that be positive or negative.

So what to do now you don't own your brand? Well the best thing you can do is be the best that you can - think of every potential contact as someone who could be an advocate or an aggressor towards your company. The saying 'do unto others as you would have others do unto you' is trite, but true.

Don't let your brand suffer at the hands of the people who now control it - think carefully, think Social Media.

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Michael Storey is the founder of Whype, a firm of branding experts, web designers and graphic designers based in Bristol.