I'm delighted so many of you liked the blog article,
"WHAT Are You ALWAYS Selling?"
I like it too, and would list it among my best blog posts. Ever.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigebiz
"So I'm curious: how do you maintain a distinction between your business
world and your personal world? Separate accounts for everything?
Two Twitters? Private email and text?"
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Great question, Chris.
In a very real sense, there is little that is absolutely 'private'
when you engage on the Internet. So, if you want real 'privacy',
get OFFLINE!
And gradually, the line between 'business' and 'personal' is getting
blurred and erased, leaving the one entity that's common to both
in the spotlight -
YOU, the person, and the brand.
There ARE ways to keep the facade of separation going (though it is
a bit of effort, and you must decide if it's worth doing).
Far more productive, in a business sense, will be to leverage your
personality to gain a serious business advantage - by tying your
brand to your personality, and placing YOU front and center.
That does NOT mean sharing your most intimate and private details
with the world. You can set limits. But within those limits, get
up close and personal with your audience. Engage the people in
your universe. Get to know them on a one-on-one level.
Don't try to create an illusion of perfection and greatness - not
unless it is true!
Reveal your weaknesses and faults, within limits, and you'll find
more 'acceptance' from an imperfect and faulty audience than if
you come across as Mr/Ms Know-It-All.
But always keep it limited to the context of your overall brand
and image, the one you are building for business purposes. That
way you get synergy and leverage from both.
What if you're in multiple niches, each distinct from the other?
Why, create unique 'personas' for each of them - and do the same
thing!
Your personas could have different names, if you're worried about
'brand confusion'. My good friend, Michael Green, uses a pen
name to keep his online business distinct from his offline work
in British politics. It can be done - and works.
But
EACH persona has a PERSONALITY. That's key.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigebiz
But it got me to thinking just how much we are expected to expose
ourselves in a Web 2.0 world. Is being open about my political
views and family life really always good for business?
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That's part of my message on that blog post. The days when you
could hide or mask the bits about yourself that
"aren't always
good for business" are fast nearing their end.
If you reveal that information ANYWHERE online (or maybe even
when you don't), chances are that they WILL find their way into
the fabric woven from your online presence that makes up the
persona named YOU.
Instead of working hard to mask it, therefore, I'd argue it is
smarter to
make it a PART of your competitive advantage - by
leveraging it to reinforce the unique brand called YOU.
That brand will attract the 'right' kind of people - who will
therefore trust you, like you and enjoy doing business with
you.
Will it drive away some?
Of course.
But what you need to look at is what the chances were of those
people ever doing business with you in the first place - or
liking it, and keeping on doing it!
That chance was always low.
My approach has been to attract the kind of people who are
comfortable with who I am and what I do - and once there
are enough of them in your 'tribe', you've got an advantage
over anyone else that no amount of money, no advertising
blitz, no external activity can undermine.
Of course, it can all come down like a stack of cards - if
YOU let it happen, by being incongruent, getting 'out of
character' or revealing (or having revealed) a facet of
your personality that wasn't in the 'original' brand!
That's where the
authenticity bit comes in.
Like some wise man once said,
"You can fool all the people
some of the time, you can fool some people all of the time,
but you cannot fool all the people all the time!"
Just my 2 cents
All success
Dr.Mani