How do you monitor what people say about you or your firm on the internet?

I think it is more important to focus on building our image/reputation...

Monitoring of media has been going on for a long time. Prior to the internet there were clipping services that would clip out any story on your company. Today with the internet there are similar companies that help monitor what is being said on the internet. You can not control what is said but you can clarify mis-information about your company or products. You can also counter attack bad publicity with your own press releases and promotions. Most large Public Relations firms will do this and there are services that you can utilize also. It is important for all firms as public opinion can quickly be swayed and damage your brand or company's image.

A good place to find how people know and speak of your brand or about you is to look at the keywords and phrases they use to find your website, or your blog.
You can find these metrics in the analytics package you’re using with your website, in order to do that, you should use an analytics package like Google Analytics, Webtrends or Clicky...

Have you tried to type your name or your company name, use google to arrange by date and read all the blogs and posting news? Simple questions, simple solutions. The google analytics only give figures no content! You can use freelance readers to collect anything said on most popular sites, news and blogs and send you a summary daily. PR or personal digital secretary services do that for busy people for a monthly fee

Well, I am not tend to control what people saying about me or my company, I need to know that. Regardless of the size of your business, chances are good people are talking about you and your brand via social networks and blogs. So keep update on this you will get more chances :)