Quandary
What is this quandary you ask?
Personalized vs. Professional
About 6 weeks ago dh had some buddies of his in the marketing department at mega corp (name changed to protect the guilty)
The Ink Think site was also reviewed by a group of fellow VAs and WAHMs about a year ago.
The comments from the two groups could not be more different, even though the site has not changed in the intervening time.
WHY?
I think the mega corp guys think like, well, mega corp. That's cool, that's what they get paid for. They said I needed to, among other things, get some of the personal stuff off (read that as : delete the blog entries where I let my clients know I am out of the office for the day/weekend to spend time with my family!)
The VAs... Well, they were damn near polar opposites. "You have so much personality in your forum posts, and, well, your site is just so... Safe. So unlike you..."
I will admit I am biased toward the latter because, well, I've found my site a bit stuffy and constricting, like an over-tight collar on a dress shirt, for a while now. At the same time, though, I strive to keep my personal life and my business life separate. Among the reasons for this is the fact that I am temping during the school year (can we say writer=starving artist?) I do not want potential temp agency users to Google me and find my personal life spread on the Internet like a cheap centerfold, y'know?
At the same time, the fact is, I run (in theory, I've actually cleverly delegated it all in the last year - go me!) a local online group for moms. I participate in dozens of online groups for moms, for writers, for moms who are writers, for VAs, for parents and patients with lymphedema (my daughter was born with this condition), grief support (we lost a child in 2000), cooking, and tons of other stuff. None of it is particularly inflammatory, but none of it is relevant in my work life either.
I've been conflicted about being active on the Web and wanting to keep private life private for a while now. In fact, I recently obliterated my personal blog, which was masked from all association with the business, because someone used it to track back to my husband. There are several VAs I admire the hell out of who are pretty transparent, people like Candy Beauchamp and Jennifer Gniadecki, but with the temp thing complicating my life, and a husband looking for a new job, I'm just not sure how wise it is...
So, do I open up, which is, based on the tone of this post, what I am leaning towards for simplicity's sake, or clam up and go
What would you do?
Labels: blogging, business ownership
posted by Dy @ 6:34 PM
5 Comments:
Ya know... if someone doesn't like that I talk about the latest tax law, or show a picture of my kid picking her nose, or complain about my mother, or post that I'm playing hooky that day or whatever...
Frankly, I don't want that person as a client or a friend. I'm damn good at what I do. You are too. If they want to know more about me, google me, you'll find all of the above, plus me rambling about books, movies, complaining about my in-laws I'm sure, etc etc.
Life is too short to hide behind what some people think you should be. Be who you are and the hell with them.
Wow! I have to agree with Candy. I don't post personal things but that's just me. You need to be you because you are a beautiful person and you rock. And, as Candy so professionally said, "Be who you are and the hell with them."
I agree with Patty & Candy. In the end, it is YOUR site and you can do whatever you please with it. If you feel comfortable putting some personal information on your blog, then go for it! It's who you are. And hey, if your business isn't suffering and your clients aren't complaining, then why should anyone really care?
My personal belief is that the "stuffy business type" is going more and more by the wayside.
I have to agree with Candy. If my clients or potential clients google me and don't like the fact that I have a personal blog that rambles on about a crazy cat or the insane weather then they really aren't a client I want to have. I try to keep my business website and blog on the professional side but not so stuffy that it's not me. People are choosing to work with me, there are tons of other bookkeepers out there, if they hire me they are hiring ME and this is what they get. I don't hide it.
Now with being single and living alone I do take great care in protecting my actual physical location. But, I do let myself be me online. :)
One other thing - you could always wait till hubby gets a job and then go all personal style.
Just a thought.
I didn't start talking about my personal finances till Randy had a full time job. Now that he has a full time job and experience in his field I will never worry about it again.
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