Are you wrecking your reputation?

Karen and I spent much of the summer working on some courses for Algonquin College and one of the main topics that I covered was about responsible online behaviour.  It’s a fascinating topic and one I think we all need to be reminded of on a regular basis.

Here’s the thing…  we are living in a whole new world and most of us have no idea what we’re doing and what the impact of what we’re doing will be.   We need to really think about the information that we’re putting online and what that means. You’ll need to keep this in mind not just on your business pages but on your personal accounts because whether you like it or not, what you have to say during your personal time and use of social media can easily affect your business life.

People judge you

We all do it. When people post things online we get an impression and that impacts how we view that person overall.  That means that you need to decide whether what you’re posting online is representative of how you want people to see you.  

I know of several stories where entrepreneurs have lost business because a potential client was turned off by some of the things they were saying on Facebook or Twitter that had nothing to do with their business.  Those potential clients decided that they didn’t want to work with someone with that kind of personality or attitude.

Are they really your friends?

People seem to feel an undeserved sense of safety when they are posting on Facebook because it’s only going to their friends, not the general public. But who are your friends?

The average Facebook user has over 100 friends (the stats differ a lot, but some say the average is as high as almost 300).  Most of us are “friends” with a lot more people than just our close circle of family and friends. Always think about who you’re talking to and whether you would say what you’re about to say on Facebook if you were standing at a networking event with a group of acquaintances.

Be intentional

It all comes down to one thing.  Post whatever you want online - just make sure that you have thought about what you’re posting.  Consciously realize that what you’re saying has impact and once you’ve done that, go ahead and post photos of your kids, of you out drinking, or on vacation.  Go ahead and talk about politics or how angry you are at this person or that business. 

Nobody is telling you that you can’t be real or that you can’t be yourself, just understand that your online you needs to be just as aware of the impression you’re giving off as you are when you’re not online. 

Set rules

I have guidelines I’ve set for myself.  I am ok with posting photos of my family and vacations.  I’m ok with sharing information about my career through my personal channels.  I don’t swear online.  I try to stay away from overly controversial topics but I judge that on a case-by-case basis.   I don’t vent online.

Examine your content – are you happy with it? If so, that’s great, keep at it.  But if any red flags pop up, spend some time thinking about what your own guidelines should be.

Leave a comment below and let me know if you have any personal guidelines or if you have ever had your impression of someone change based on what they shared online?

Content management tip: schedule!

One of the best ways to manage your online content is to create a lot of content at once and then schedule it out to last for awhile.  In today’s video we talk about why that’s a good idea, even though some disagree.  

Watch it and then leave a comment below letting us know if you schedule content, if you’ll try it now, or if you’ve had any issues with it!

Are you sharing other people's content?

Do you worry about how you can possibly come up with enough content to keep active on your social channels on a daily basis?  Here is a quick and easy solution: don’t try to do it all yourself.

It is great to share other people’s content, not only because it means that you are providing your audience with great content without you having to come up with it, but also because sharing can build great relationships with the people whose information you’re sharing.

So next time you’re reading some great blog posts, watching a great video or think a status update is particularly insightful that would appeal to your audience - share it!

Leave a comment below and let us know what some of your favourite sources for great content are.  And go and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Let me hear your voice: writing conversationally

Writing for the web should be done in a conversational tone. While that’s an easy thing to say, it’s really hard for most communicators to get beyond the fact that we were taught to write “professionally” and that conversational feels wrong for any work communications.

Why is conversational important?

With all of the information that’s available at the tap of a few keys, people have started expecting their information to look different.  They want it to be easy to read and they want it to be engaging. They want to feel like they know who is writing; like someone is explaining something specifically to them or telling them a story, instead of reading a factual explanation.

As a small business owner, if someone is reading what you’re writing, whether it be on a blog, on Twitter or on Facebook, you are slowly letting potential and current clients get to know you.

If you are friendly or funny, that will come through.  If you have sarcastic wit or find the intricacies of certain topics, that will come through.  The more your audience gets that sense of you, the more they can connect with you.  The more they connect with you, the more they feel as if they know you.  The more they feel as if they know you, the more inclined they are to work with you, buy from you, and recommend you.

How do I do it?

The easiest way to write conversationally is to start with a story.  Practice by writing a story about yourself.

For example:

- How you met your spouse

- The best trip you ever had

- How you chose your career.

Once you’ve written it, read it out loud to yourself and ask yourself if it sounds like something you would say.  

Another tactic that can help is for you to record yourself telling a story and then type out the transcript.

Try both and see which one feels more genuine and true to who you are and what you want people to know about you.  The more you practice, the more natural it will become!

If you try it, I’d love to see it.  Email me and I promise I’ll respond and let you know what I think.

Also, I’d love if you’d leave a comment below and let me know if you agree that writing conversationally is important and whether or not you have a hard time doing it.

Writing bios that connect

When was the last time you hired someone based solely on their credentials?  

There is so much more involved in choosing someone to help you with just about any service. The primary factor - how your personalities work together. 

Tell them a story

Your bio can tell someone much more about you than where you went to school and what you’ve accomplished in your career.  You can tell them who you are, how you got to where you are and why you do what you do. Tell them the story of you.

Share what you’re comfortable sharing

People start to get nervous when I ask them to open up online. Don’t feel that just because I’m suggesting you share more personal information that you have to share things you don’t feel comfortable with.  You can share a lot in very simple information, but once you step away from being formal people feel you’ve let them have a glimpse of the real you.  It’s mostly just about letting your voice shine through in what you’re saying.

Let’s talk about me

I thought it was time to follow my own advice, so I’ve recently updated my bio.

Here is my short and more traditional bio:

Lara has spent over ten years working in online, web and social media communications. She has worked in various roles that include creating corporate web content at the University of Ottawa, successfully launching an online clothing store called Apples’n’Oranges.

Lara has helped numerous companies with their social media endeavours through a variety of workshops, one-on-one coaching and the creation of social media strategies.

It tells you what I’ve done but it doesn’t convey any of my personality.  I want you to read about me and get a sense of who I am. I want you to feel like I’m friendly and easy to talk to. I also want you to think I know what I’m doing, and that I love what I’m doing. Here is how I tried to convey all of that:

I first logged in to a social web site and had an online interaction as a twelve year old in the late eighties. It wasn’t called social media then, but I loved it just as much then as I do now, and I’ve loved keeping up with all the changes and new tools and mediums over the years.  Social interactions online have the incredible power to create relationships that can turn into so much more than a casual online conversation. I’ve created relationships with clients, I’ve made many friends, and I even met both my business partner and my husband online!

Public relations and communications fit into my love of relationships and communicating beautifully and I have spent more than ten years working in online, web and social media communications. I’ve created content for corporate Websites, built online businesses, and created online communities.

My focus now is to help businesses learn how to use social media to promote themselves by making social media less complicated and more manageable. Through coaching, workshops and building strategies, I help clients understand why the tools are important, which ones make the most sense for them and empowering them to use those tools confidently.

Working to help people understand how to turn the power of relationship building online into amazing business and personal connections for themselves is a passion. The relationships I get to build with clients and then cultivate online is one of the biggest rewards.

It’s much longer now but I hope conveyed what I intended. What do you think? 

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of this kind of bio and if you have, or will write one.