Over the last few years business experts around the globe have been telling business owners to be authentic and transparent. Don’t hide anything and be yourself. While this is great advice and a sure-fire way to forge connections with your audience, it’s possible to be too authentic and transparent. Yes, you really can share and show too much.
In the world of social media where every tweet and update is instantly spread globally and can never be retracted, so there’s a risk to sharing too much. Some have taken the words ‘authenticity and transparency’ as permission to share everything. The business owner who neglects to set aside emotions and tweets about a troublesome client, isn’t doing themselves or their business any good.
Also, all this talk about being transparent and authentic has created a wave of personalities – business owners who create exaggerated caricatures of themselves in order to attract an audience. This approach often backfires. For example, your audience may not be able to relate to this exaggerated version of you and you may confuse them or even lose them. Not to mention that it’s stressful to try to be someone you’re not.
So how do you walk the line between being authentic and maintaining a professional image?
1.Keep it simple
Create and embrace an authentic message that’s easy for your audience to process and understand. You might start with the vision or mission of your business and go from there. It doesn’t need to be complicated or convoluted. It should ideally be simple, honest, and genuine. Who are you, why are you in business and what do you have to say?
2. What makes you special?
You have a unique brand, something that is special and that your prospects will relate to. Embrace what makes you special and share that with the world.
3. Have a plan
As a business owner you have a responsibility to your audience and to yourself to plan what you’re going to say. So be strategic about it and only share information that is valuable and beneficial to your audience. Stick to your plan and do not deviate. Don’t let the urge to post something get you into trouble. A content and social media plan will help you gain some control over those wayward thoughts and willing typing fingers.
Finally, if you feel the urge to share something via social media (and that includes writing it in an email or commenting on a blog), write it down on a piece of paper first. Walk away for thirty minutes and think about it. Does the comment offer value? Does it embrace your brand and your vision? Does it represent the image you want the world to see – the transparent and authentic you? If not, crumple up that piece of paper and throw it away like a bad idea.