I’d like to address an excellent question which I’ve had a few times before: “Do you make yourself vulnerable, by posting both personal and business related content on your business social media pages?”
I know that everyone has different levels of comfort with what they choose to share online, so to answer this questions you need to ask:
- What are you comfortable sharing?
- What is going to be of most interest or value to your audience?
My social channels help my audience understand more about my personality as I choose to share a mix of personal and business content. I want to show them who I am as a person, as a human being, because at the end of the day that’s who we do business with: other human beings.
A lot of the relationships that we develop aren’t just commercial, they are personal. People are letting us get into their businesses, we are working with people who have spent years building a career, a business, an empire, so it’s personal for them too.
A lot of private business owners want to know who they are dealing with. They want to know that you’ve got some skin in the game and that becomes incredibly valuable.
If you’re considering posting content that isn’t something you’d do yourself or wouldn’t post on your personal Facebook page and you feel that it would be irrelevant to your audience, then don’t post it! It’s as simple as that. Don’t overcomplicate the process.
If spending time with your family on holidays is something you value and is important to you, then then by all means share it with your business audience too. Let them know that you’ve got a personal life and you’re not just working 24/7. Being vulnerable and showing that there is more to you than just the commercial side of things can be very valuable in relationship building. This can be as simple as sharing content on the things you’re interested in, maybe kitesurfing or bushwalking.
You’ll find that on my social pages I post a lot of content on wine, for instance, as this is something I really enjoy and share with people. I also post a fair bit of content on the beach. It’s been a personal goal of mine to live by the water, so you’ll see I film most of my videos here. You should consider sharing the things like this that matter to you, if you think it might resonate with your audience.
I want people who interact with my social pages to see some personality and authenticity behind what I do, and understand what is valuable to me, as ultimately we want to do business with people who resonate with our values and our life.
Stay Dangerous,
Kevin Spiteri