Do I have to give up who I am as a Mom or spouse or woman because I’m a businesswoman and entrepreneur too?
I’ve been told that I should separate the two. I’m not sure that I want to, let alone that I have to.
I’ve been working on my new business for several months, gathering my thoughts, getting my website ready and all kinds of other business-related efforts. To that end, I’ve spent some time talking to experts in the business field, some of whom have told me that I need to have a separate Facebook page for my business, a separate Twitter account and etc.
Businesses create pages on Facebook for people to “like” not to become friends. But, when I look at my personal page, I realize that it really represents who I am. I’m a Mother, Life-Partner, Friend, Pet Owner, Life Coach, Healer and more. Yes, I want people to like what I’m doing on a professional level, but does that mean that I exclude everything about myself that makes me who I am and why they would want to choose to work with me?
Why not work with the people who know about my life, the people who know me best? Why not include information and stories about my kids and my grandson? And, my Life-Partner and my home or my dogs for that matter? Who said business had to be impersonal? I’m not sure who put the “It’s not personal, it’s just business” aspect into the whole realm of what we do for much of every day but I don’t agree with the sentiment.
How can we truly separate who we are from what we do? For that matter, is it a good idea?
Maybe people who want to work with me don’t need to know about my Grandson’s first birthday or that I just got a new dog. Maybe they only want to pick my brain for what I know that can help them in their lives, which is more the norm in our world of business today. But, perhaps it’s that thinking that has companies like Monsanto acting like their need for growth is more important than the fact that their products are causing such catastrophic damage around the globe.
We are social beings. We congregate together on purpose. We want to know the people we’re dealing with and we want to be able to trust them. Just look at the number of reality TV shows that give us the personal stories behind everyday people and tabloids that give us the inside scoop on the personal lives of celebrities.
We don’t want to be devoid of the human part of business transactions. That’s the main reason people are attracted to social media like Facebook and Twitter. We want to be part of each others lives. We have a need to connect and interact. We have a desire to know each other and communicate with each other on a human level, not just a business / marketing level.
Companies spend billions on their marketing efforts in an attempt to get us to trust them. Perhaps all they really have to do is let us see who they are. Who are the people behind the brands and the expensive marketing campaigns. I’m talking about the real people not the actors the advertising agencies hire. What would our world be like if businesses were transparent?
Should there be a separation of business and personal sharing? Is it really possible and, more importantly, is it really for the best? What do you think?