VisitAccess

How much should you reveal about yourself when it comes to Social Media for “business?”

“Now, that I have this Facebook page, how much do I say about myself?”  “Do I only talk about business?”  “Why does anybody care that I’m ‘Headed to the gym’ or ‘taking the kids to Sunday school?’”Public relations professionals are fielding some version of those questions every day.   Clients want to know if they should put themselves out there.  Some want permission to do it, others are reluctant to reveal too much of their personal lives.  I honestly think some people are afraid that they will be construed as boring –or at the very least that the message is.

They want to know how on earth it matters that posting their status as, “on the way to a softball game,” can make any difference in the bottom line.  It can.

My advice to the “how much” question lately is, “As much as you can possibly feel comfortable with.”  That goes for pictures, tweets, videos, “what’s on your mind,” and anything else.

Ok, so you don’t want the world to know you are going to the jail to pick up your brother.  It’s probably best to keep that to yourself.  (Especially for your brother’s sake.)

But if you are headed to a conference with industry leaders in Washington, D.C. – isn’t it great if your clients or potential clients can know that?

Granted, that’s not exactly putting yourself out there.  But think about the factors that go into a decision to hire someone or do business with them.  You interview prospective employees and put them through a battery of questions designed to show not just their qualifications – but who they are.

Before you hire an ad agency or make a deal with a new vendor you research them, call references — maybe do a conference call.  You want to know exactly who you are dealing with.

So it’s no great leap of faith that if you are friends with someone on Facebook, who posts family vacation pictures at the beach, a hiking shot from the Appalachian Trail, and updates their status as, “waiting in line for Springsteen tickets,” along with a link to an article about their company from the Sunday paper that you feel like you “know” that person.  It’s at least a start.

“When you are working with a lot of young savvy creative professionals, who are naturally animated on line, they are going to build their own personal brands whether you wanted them to or not.  So for the most part, we embrace that,” said Todd Defren of the San Francisco based PR firm, Shift Communications, in a recent interview with PR Week’s Aarti Shah.

He also cautioned, ”the important thing for those people to know as their personal brand gets created is to know that build that brand is that the client comes first, the team comes first the agency comes first, because ultimately we all need to pay our mortgages…”

I agree with him.  Just as college kids are cautioned not to go haywire posting party pictures that will haunt them when they apply for jobs a few years down the road, business people should exercise some restraint, but not be afraid to show the world a bit of a personal cross section.

Facebook especially should be seen as a totality of you —  at least the public you.  Keep your private stuff private, but don’t be afraid to tell the world who you are.  They’ll probably like you better and trust you more.

• Posted in Social Media
• No Comments »