Be aware of how all communications you post could reflect on your business.

By Amy Hoppenrath

As the world becomes more transparent, the lines seem to blur. Where it was once easy to compartmentalize our business and professional lives, it isn’t so today. With Facebook, Twitter, 4 Square, Linkedin—it’s hard for our business and personal lives not to be intertwined by social networking. It’s even more difficult to make sure that your social networking isn’t clashing with your business networking.

These tools bring you great power; with great power, however, comes great responsibility. You must remember that every piece of external communications you publish becomes part of both your personal and company’s brand.

So how can you manage this responsibility?

Determine What Your Online Brand is Today
Google yourself. Then put yourself in the place of the reader. What would they think? Are there any red flags? Is there anything there that is embarrassing or that would hurt your credibility?

Set Distinct Guidelines
If your goals for using these tools include both business and social, it’s time for you to determine which networks you will use. Some people connect only with business contacts on LinkedIn and with personal friends on Facebook. And, they perhaps manage two Twitter accounts: one for their company and one for personal. Others prefer a blend. What’s right for you? Let’s look at each tool:

• LinkedIn is the mainstream tool for business. It is the safe place for business networking online and can help you to increase your visibility, build your brand and credibility in the market, while helping you accelerate your business development efforts.
• Facebook plays a key role in both personal and professional networking, and must be balanced carefully. People do business with people that they know, like and trust. Facebook gives people an opportunity to get to know you on a personal level. However, to blend the personal and the professional, you may want to control your content and/or your settings. If you haven’t done so, see this Facebook post on the 10 New Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know. Remember though, nothing on the Internet can ever be guaranteed as private or secure.
• Twitter is a micro-blogging forum that allows postings of 140 or fewer characters. Twitter is about sharing information, tips and links to articles or news. Since it totally lacks any controls, people may often have both an individual and a company account. It is important to monitor your brand on Twitter. This is best done through tools such as HootSuite or TweetDeck.

Control Your Content
Even though you feel like you’ve done a great job managing your settings and networks, beware: content is alive 24/7, and basically lives forever. Before you publish content, think about:

• Is your post controversial? Will it offend someone? While your political or religious views are a part of who you are, not everyone will agree with you. If so, don’t post.
• Does it align with your brand image? Is it professional?
• Is it too self-promoting? Remember, the rule of thumb is to share information 10 times to promoting yourself once.

Separating your personal from business persona online is not easy. You must carefully control your online image by making sure that the right people see the right content. It’s not impossible if you determine your guidelines up front and manage your content.

Amy Hoppenrath is principal of AccelerAction, the only agency in Kansas City dedicated to fueling successful professional services firms by creating powerful branding messages, developing strategic lead generation campaigns and driving business development programs. www.AccelerAction.com