How do YOU make distinction between personal and business communication?

[chrislrob]

Hi all,

As we all know, there are a variety of online tools available to communicate with friends, family, prospects, partners, leads, clients, the press, etc.

And in the past month I've signed up on Twitter, Seesmic, Twhirl, myspace, Tumblr, and maybe a half-dozen other sites.

I've also tied all of the above, including my blogs and (inactive) youtube channel, into friendfeed.

Yesterday, I noticed on FF that my feed showed that I'd favorited a youtube video. I'd added youtube so that people would know when I posted a new video and had never considered that my own personal "favorites" would be broadcast to my followers, many of them likely to be business associates.

Not that it was inappropriate, mind you...

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? Heck, is it good for family life?

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?

Or maybe you don't make a distinction at all? Maybe the life of an internet mogul means not just blurring the line between the two, but obliterating it.

What do you think?

[NextInstinct]

If your own, actual identity is synonymous with your public persona,
than there is no problem. You would simply have some privacy choices for various parts of your life online.

Ed is a great example. He teaches IM, and yet he tweets and bookmarks sites that I and others will find cool about guitar.
He is his brand, and he takes his public actions into account.
(He does not click on bookmarks with accounts we'd recognize when he's stealing ideas at DanRaine.com )
IF you have no intention of using your real name and full identity on line that way, simply have more than one account/ set of accounts.

I agree personal privacy is important.
I have a feeling this will be addressed for the purpose of the TDC
soon, in a way that will expand your understanding.

[NextInstinct]

Here, let Dr Mani add to the conversation:

Money.Power.Wisdom - WHAT are you ALWAYS selling?

[DavidW]

My philosophy is to keep anything public at the level of what I call resume details. If I wouldn't want it on a resume, I don't want it on the Internet, period.

People think there is some level of privacy on the Internet, but it's simply not true. The Internet is not a good place for private details even if you think you're only sharing those with your family. Real privacy doesn't exist as FaceBook and others have proven over and over.

Just my 2 cents.

[DerR]

Good and important question.

If you are doing something online and you don't want people to trace it back to you easily, you should start with a pen name and a separate eMail account for those activities. However, this doesn't work on some services like StumbleUpon or Digg because their TOS allow only one account per person. If you want to use them for your business, you should choose wisely.

[chrislrob]

I also found the Dr.Mani article interesting. It reminded me of the Tom Peters, Brand You book.

A lot to think about. For me, I think I am going to be the face of my business and I am just trying to figure out the limits of my "transparency".

[Caro]

This is an excellent question!!

I love the link too EdShaz - a great article

I think there are two aspects here:

The 'You' persona - where you use your real name for things like Twitter, Friendfeed etc.

And then your Niche Persona's (in some instances they may be the same ie: if you are in the IM niche, or say make Fountain Pens etc).

In both instance's I agree totally with Dr Mani's article - it is YOU that people buy into.

Both your expertise and your character/personality.

My opinion is that it is good to share some of 'You' - the authentic you, with your audience (you can do this also in you niche when you have a pen name - you may have the same interests, same birthday - you just have a different name).

And I believe you can share the authentic YOU, AND maintain privacy.

I don't believe the two are mutually exclusive.

I guess you just become conscious as to what you want to share as the authentic you to the IM audience.

Ed Dale is an excellent example of this - we know he took Hannah and Molly to Mama Mia the other night...we know his wife's name is Julie. We know Hannah had a Tae Kwon Do competition recently.

AND we do not know the intimate details of their day to day lives - as that is their private business.

So I would offer that you can be real and be 'you', and just be conscious about how much and what you choose to share.

And that you DO have control of that.

Best to you

Caro

[bigebiz]

For me it is open as well. One of my web sites is my full name. I use Eric G or Bigebiz on all my social stuff and usually add my name as well in a signature.

I knew long ago, that YOUR name is important, and your reputation even more. I have always tried to help as many people as I can and I continue to do so here and their when time permits.

Like the Dr Mani article, and the Grand Poobah Ed himself, I have always taken a personal approach and associate me with Eric Gehler. I guess it could be an ego thing as well, love to see my search stats for my name ( unique as it is) and see how many references their are.

Regardless, the NET is an impersonable thing, bringing a face and a name to it helps build credibility and and the flow of ideas which at times lead to a profit.

Differentiating yourself is a personal preference. I don't feel it should be one way or another. To each their own.

If you feel you need duplicate account then go for it. Some of us have Duplicate accounts to test or promote a product other than ourselves

[drmani]

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.

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?"

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.

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?

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

[Allison]

Ahh Authenticity (great post Dr Mani!), what we all want from our interactions with others. What people so rarely deliver.

I have a half written blog post sitting in draft about my "Authenticity Detector". I bet everyone has an inbuilt detector that on meeting someone flags "FAKE" when a personality that is just "not right" comes along.

I would think it would be easier in real life as the body language signals are delivered with the verbal communication. Some personalities are just "too perfect" or speak from high horses, and do not interact in a way that I find trustworthy.

In the text world of the internet (or now increasingly in video) these people are still able to be detected. The trick is I find, is to determine "do they have something to teach me", if yes look beyond the fakery (but can you really trust someone who cannot even be themselves?). If no, move on, there are plenty of real, authentic and pleasant people on the internet to learn from.

In looking at what annoys you in others you are able to determine what not to be.