Comments on: How to combine personal and professional online without pissing people off

By: Robert Clay

Robert Clay — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:50:15 +0000

Hi Lemuel. Yes I think you sum it up very nicely. Thanks for taking the time to share those thoughts. Much appreciated.

By: Lemuel Jones A.

Lemuel Jones A. — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:52:52 +0000

Thank you for the repost, Robert.

I was just speaking to my friend/colleague about this very same topic yesterday. I feel that if you’re looking to be effective (market your product/idea) in your area of expertise, then you need to keep professional advice from personal “news” from mixing without productive intentions. I think this is true especially with twitter where people follow you for a specific reason without real interest in your personal life (at least in the beginning.)
Lemuel Jones A.´s last [type] ..SpeakOfMarriage: RT @HusbandWifeLife: Have confidence and believe in your Marriages potential. The more you believe in it, the more effort you will put i …

By: Robert Clay

Robert Clay — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:12:43 +0000

Hi Mandy, thanks for your comment. I’ve checked out your blog and now know where you’re coming from. I agree that your brand is YOU. The key thing is to be you, and comfortable with how much you’re sharing with the world. You should have limits, but as long as you observe them you shouldn’t have a problem. I wish you every possible success on your new journey and I’m here if you ever need someone to bounce ideas off.

By: Mandy

Mandy — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:18:19 +0000

Thanks Robert for publishing this article. As I’m documenting the ups and downs of starting my own business/personal brand, I sometimes worry about the consequences as the details I share on my blog can be quite personal. However, I think my openness/honesty is MY brand — and I would rather work with clients who appreciate that.

Kudos to Susan Morgan above as well. Love her comments!

By: Robert Clay

Robert Clay — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:49:05 +0000

Well, Susan, what can I say. I agree with everything you say, and you’ve said it so well. Thank you for your comment. It is appreciated.

By: Susan Morgan

Susan Morgan — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:49:53 +0000

Great point here! What always amazes me is that people think posting on Facebook or Twitter isn’t public. Like the employee who gripes about a boss/company and is shocked to be fired, or a student who posts inappropriate pics and then wonders why employers or colleges shy away.

My rule of thumb is this… do not post anything that I couldn’t read back, out loud, to my grandmother. It’s fine to have opinions (what makes life interesting, in fact) but you don’t need to hit your readers over the head with them. Allow that others may feel just as strongly… on the opposite side of the issue.

In the end, whether for business or personal reasons, Facebook, Twitter and the rest are an amazing way to communicate, to promote yourself, NOT to preach, shock or otherwise offend. Nobody likes that.

Thanks for covering this much-neglected topic,
Susan

By: Robert Clay

Robert Clay — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:04:59 +0000

Hi Wendy,

Thank you for taking the time to comment. From what you say you’re doing the right thing. Since the article was written things have moved on, particularly on Facebook, where it is now possible to entirely separate personal and business with a personal profile and the ability to set up any number of business pages, although they operate in a slightly different manner.

By: Wendy Ager

Wendy Ager — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:20:32 +0000

Hi,
an interesting post. I share business tips & info as well as promoting my own services & workshops and lots of other local events on twitter and Linked. On FACEBOOK I give motivating tips info & posts on my company page and keep my own completely private.

By: Robert Clay

Robert Clay — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:39:48 +0000

Monica O’Brien wrote the piece. I liked it, and she kindly agreed to have it featured here as a guest post. In my experience it takes time, effort and practice to find a balance between personal and professional online. I believe I’ve achieved that in some places, but not yet in others. We all have to keep working on it.

By: Hilary

Hilary — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:44:21 +0000

Thank you for writing this article! Appropriately using Social Media to combine one’s personal and professional life is something I struggle with and admire those who do it successfully. So much depends upon one’s profession and one’s “brand”. And as you wrote, “personal branding is a conunundrum for most people”. I could easily relate to your comment about how your “clients complain that you talk about things they don’t care about with people they don’t know and your friends complain that you are ‘no fun’ anymore” and that you don’t share your “personal stories anymore”. Thanks also for the validation that one should use “Twitter and Facebook to both sell stuff and talk to friends”. The points you made were excellent; I look foward to reading your book and learning more.