Why I Keep My Social Networking Professionally Personal

Okay, I have to admit that this post about keeping social networking professionally personal is something that I need to practice more.  And probably because I have been on Facebook and Twitter for several years, I have to make sure that my time in each is productive.  I have probably 59 real friends on Facebook and then acquired an extra 700 friends from England who claim that I “look familiar” or I have befriended in order to make a connection to play Metropolis on Facebook.

Metroplis is worthy of its on article for probably being the most addictive, boring and useless online game in the world.  But it is so addictive that my metro called “Chocolate Bayou” has been going for more than 100 years and I have more than 300,000 people living in my iconic city!

But now I have set a goal to gain consultant clients and improve my credibility as an SEO expert.  I also am looking at the 700+ “friends” on Facebook (and not to forget the 1500+ Twitter followers) to see how I can turn them into buying customers or move them to my own website’s email lists.  The challenge excites me but I am realizing that up until now, I have been all over the place in my posts.  My friends and followers know that I am funny, clever, and thoughtful (at least I hope).  In many ways, this is good because they know that I am a real person.  Oh, they may also know that I was really sad about the sudden death of Michael Jackson, too. 

But they don’t know my profession and what I want from them.  Now it’s time to convert my discussions to a more professional conversation about the industry.  And perhaps send them back to my various websites to read articles and sign up to my email lists.

I had a client who was a Kansas City attorney and I setup his first website which was a blog.  Aside from law, he was a black historian, a pastor, and a writer.  His blog made him approachable and he received quite  a bit of business.  The reality is that a lot of people do not feel comfortable with lawyers and a blog that shows their personal interests or ramblings makes them human and breaks the ice.

So using this theory, perhaps I have broken the ice, too. 

I found an excellent post online about “Getting the Personal - Professional Mix Right in Social Media” by Kivi.

What do you think?  Should you keep it professionally personal or personally professional?  Is it better to setup and manage two accounts for personal and business contacts?

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