Are You Playing Hide-N-Seek with Your Small Business?

Tough Love Talk: Why Social Media is the New Permanent Record

Remember when you were in school, and you did something “bad,” the teacher would warn you: “This will go down in your permanent record!”

Yeah, right! What permanent record? Well, guess what? Social media IS the new permanent record. What goes on it stays on it. So if you’re using social media, for whatever purposes, consider some common-sense wisdom:

It doesn’t matter if you are an entrepreneur, a mommy blogger, an employee, or an employable person seeking a job…..What you post on even your personal Facebook page has everything to do with HOW you will be perceived on a professional level (trust me, people will always eventually make the connection – all it takes is a little Googling).

If your posts are mostly about religion, or politics, or are constant pissy rants and vents about what’s not working in your world, it is in this context that you will be remembered by friends, colleagues, family and – most importantly! – by friends of friends (these are those people you are not friends with, but they still see your comments). Everyone in your immediate and indirect circle who comes in contact with your posts or comments will automatically associate you with your opinions or lifetyle – ESPECIALLY because it’s on your personal page.

“Why should I care? It’s my personal page.”

Because this is where the “real you” comes out. And if the “real you” is perceived as negative, pessimistic, critical, sexist, holier-than-thou, etc….well…this is the brand you have created for yourself. It is by these characteristics that you become known. To everyone. Personally and professionally.

So, if you desire a job in politics, by all means, keep ranting about the election process or spotlighting your favorite candidates. If you are starting a church, keep up the “prayer” talk because it is relevant to what you are building your brand about. But if you want to make wise personal branding choices – choices that will ultimately impact you many years down the road – post with variety and post with caution. Remember, you don’t know why you will regret TODAY’S post TOMORROW. Things change. Stuff happens. Life is just funny that way.

Social Media is Not Marketing!

I have a mild irritation in seeing Social Media being referred to as “marketing.” Worse, self-proclaimed Social Media experts are calling themselves “marketing professionals.”