Personal v. Private

The last few weeks, I've been talking to a good number of people who are contemplating blogging, either for business or on a personal level.  I've heard a great deal of discomfort about "telling all my personal stuff," or, "essentially, I'm a very private person."

First off, by blogging, I can assure you, you do not lose the right to remain silent. I knowof no blogger who reveals everything about themselves, their family and their work. Some matters are best left private, and when people start blogging, they should not get swept away in all the talk about transparency and authenticity.

Some things should remain private, but that does not prevent you from getting closer and more personal with your readers than the marketing and legal departments traditionally have.  The idea is to show the world that you are a real person, with real fallibilities and passion about the topics you cover. You need to show us enough flesh and blood, so that we know you are trusted as a human, rather than a borg-like unit of a robotic global enterprise.

You need to use language that sounds like you, when you are talking with a professional friend. And you need to reveal about yourself only to the level of your personal comfort.  For example, Scoble reveals a lot more personal stuff than I choose to reveal about myself. We both reveal enough to readers that they know we sometimes disagree as partners, occassional to a very high degree.  But we also reveal our respect for each other's judgement.

When you are trying to decide what's personal and publishable, and what's private and not, keep in mind that blogging exploded because of a general discontent with and disbelief in CorpSpeak, language inflated by marketed and obfuscated by the legal department.

Corrante President Stowe Boyd has named his blog "Get Real" and we think itis good advice to any blogger.

 

Comments

[Heidi Miller]

Ah, yes. I made this mistake early on with both my blog and my business. I thought owning my own business meant I needed to appear like a corporate drone, and I couldn't have been more wrong! My most faithful clients enjoy my personal stories just as much as I enjoy hearing theirs.

Because really, who wants to hire a corporate drone with no personality?

[philhalliburton]

I am fairly new at this blogging but I do see the value in it. I hope to encourage my family to participate. Thanks for sharing.