Facebook, Twitter, Blog: Personal or Professional

Again today, I was asked how to keep your personal life, posts, “friends”, and “followers” separate from your professional persona.

I don’t. On Facebook I link to every business blog post that I write, sure many personal FB updates don’t make it to the blog, but I strive for balance. Almost exclusively,  professional contacts comment on personal posts and personal contacts comment on professional posts.

The goal is to provide meaningful content to readers, personal and professional, so that means covering a variety of topics. They don’t vary too far from family, baking, and business because it’s key to keep topics and voice consistent. As long as you are producing content with a context that is relevant for your readers, then you are doing your job.

Most people have families and friends that would like to know what they are doing professionally and mosts employers, look at your personal posts. They want to see if you are a good fit for the organization. Culture often supersedes skill. Free the stories! Even Ford does, lets their brightest shine, personally.

My daughter is a huge part of life, she “works” alongside me. (She also does air quotes.) Sara inspires me every day to reach farther, to grow, to learn how to be a better parent, and a better human being in general. Then I feel compelled to share these experiences with everybody.

When you know and like somebody personally, their family, or friends, you trust them more and are more willing to do business with them or purchase their products. That’s human nature.