How Much Transparency Is Too Much you ask….
Transparency and Authenticity go hand in hand. When you are sharing yours or your company’s store how much transparency or authenticity is too much. Even though you are being honest can you be too honest?
Some use their struggles to impress upon a potential client how much they can help them. While others share their success to attract the exact audience of their ideal client.
Transparency many times will cause many to choose them as mentors and coaches.
Should you share your triumphs and tragedies? Does it set you up to be viewed as arrogant or as a victim?
That doesn’t mean, though, that you have to be frank and honest about all areas of your life and business. With a little forethought and planning, you can keep certain aspects of your story private.
Watch Your Social Media Profiles
Here’s where a lot of business owners falter, especially when it comes to Facebook. You have your personal profile, to which you invite friends and family, and your business page, where you talk, well, business.
But there will inevitably be some overlap. Colleagues will slowly filter into your personal timeline, and you into theirs. Pretty soon, your business people are hearing all about your latest bout with the flu and that snarky thing your mother in law said yesterday. Too much? Maybe.
When it comes to your social media sharing, it’s important to pay close attention to not only what you say, but who you’re saying it to. Using privacy settings, contact lists, and even limiting who you “friend” can help maintain your privacy while still being transparent about your business offerings.
Remember, the Internet is Forever
While privacy settings can help, the only way to keep your personal business away from prying eyes is to simply not post it at all. Think of every blog post, Tweet, Facebook and LinkedIn status updates, and Instagram pic as a billboard. If you would not post it on the side of the highway for all who pass to read it, don’t put it online either. The chance that it will “leak” (despite your best efforts) is great, and once it is out there, you will not ever get it back. Yes even if you delete it, it is still out there.
So think twice before posting nasty replies, intimate details, and other confidential information. You just never know who might be reading, and they will affect your brand image.
The bottom line? Know your audience and know yourself. If you’re not comfortable sharing certain aspects of your life and business, chances are they won’t be comfortable hearing about it, either. It’s okay to maintain some privacy, even in this transparent world of online marketing.
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