photo credit: sportsagentblog.com
I just ran across a blog post by my friend Leah that touched on a topic that a lot of people think about, discuss (sometimes heated), and wonder about almost daily if they do business on the Internet. Read her blog post here. By they way Leah is an online sales consultant for a local home builder in Hampton Roads.
Leah is struggling with mixing the personas of her business life and her personal life on Facebook. A lot of people struggle with this. Should I mix my personal brand with my professional brand? How would this affect any current or potential business relationships? How would this affect the communications with my personal friends on Facebook?
I offered my comments to this topic:
I think the thing I like the most about this topic is that there is, and won’t ever be, a right answer. Each of us use social media and its various platforms in our own special manner, which is what makes us special, which is what social media is all about – people (personalities).
I don’t think that any of us ever want to upset or disturb the balance of a friendship or a business relationship on any level. And I think the best way to not disturb that balance is to just be yourself. Be your brand. Be your company’s brand (if that’s your goal). And people will like you, or not. And that’s okay.
What about you? What is your take on the mix of personal brand and professional brand on communities like Facebook for those of us that do business on the Internet?
RSS and Facebook readers: click here to view and enter comments.
On Twitter? Follow me at @parnellk63.
Related reading from my desk (or BlackBerry):
Social Media Communities – Friend Me or Don’t Friend Me – It’s Okay http://bit.ly/32gicg
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Posted by parnellk63 | 19. Nov, 2009, 2:31 PMKeith thanks for the mentions of my blog. It is a constant struggle for me to decide who to let in to my fb since it’s a bit more personal than my twitter feed, I don’t mind sharing my personal life, but I do like knowing who I share it with, even if it’s on the level of networking I’d still like to know why people are friending me who don’t personally know me. Just as Cara Mandart said in her blog post Friend Request Manners http://www.caramandart.com/2009/10/19/friend-request-manners/ it’s important that if you are going to use it to network with people, introduce yourself. Use that space where it says personal note. Since we are wrapping up our personal brand with our professional brand it’s nice to know why people are requesting our friendship.
Posted by Leah Kaiz | 25. Nov, 2009, 12:56 PMRT @parnellk63 Social Media Communities – Friend Me or Don’t Friend Me – It’s Okay | From the desk (and BlackBerry) … http://bit.ly/19kSBR
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Posted by gypsealeah | 25. Nov, 2009, 12:57 PM