Lately I’ve been engaging fellow bloggers in this conversation: How do I keep my brand sounding positive, without making my life seem perfect?
No one’s trying to be misleading, but the girls I talked to all confirmed the same thing: We share the best. The truth. Just not the Debby Downer parts. Which can make a Twitter stream read like life has nary a bump.
Some replies when I asked: “What are you not sharing on social media?”
* “When a client cancels. And then wants a refund. Or is really negative & a struggle to work with. I feel like I can’t share when that make me have a rough day because I wouldn’t want all my other incredible clients to think I ever spoke negatively of them.”
* “I never talked on the blog about why we moved. It was because my Dad has cancer. But I didn’t feel that his personal illness was my right to share, so I just declined to answer when my sweet readers asked.”
* “Our numbers on social media are through the roof. But the reality is we can barely pay our rent. It’s amazing the support we have from our readers, but running a business just takes a lot of money & I’m not out lunching at Barney’s like people probably presume.”
* “I spent days researching business tax law. And pretty much not understanding any more than I did before. So not glamorous. So defeating.”
* “I never installed Google Analytics because I don’t know how. Everyone talks about their numbers & I act like I’m discretely not sharing, but it’s really because I have no idea what mine are & I’m embarrassed to ask for such beginner help.”
* “I moved because my husband & I are getting a divorce. But that felt too painful to share. So while I wasn’t trying to make it sound like that, my readers probably just think I’m a jet-setter.”
* “I have the same traffic as another blogger, but because of where I live I only get 15% of the rate she can command. I feel that’s a reality I should share with my readers who are also bloggers, but don’t know how without sounding ungrateful.”
* “We’ve struggled with infertility this year. Maybe if I get pregnant that’s a journey I’ll go back & share about later. But right now it feels too personal. And awkward to follow up “Here’s where I got that cute skirt” with “P.S. I can’t have a baby”.
Steve Furtick says, “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”
What you read of the above fabulous bloggers on social media is a highlight reel. It’s generally smart, positive, encouraging. It’s honest. But it’s the portion they choose to share. No one’s life is perfect. We should remember that Plato’s “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle” didn’t just mean be kind to others, but kind to ourselves. Here’s to starting this new year afresh with less comparison online, & more conversations like the above when we are face-to-face.
What do you not share on social media or your blog? Is it because things feel to personal & private, or too negative or boring?
What a great post! I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I don’t like to post anything negative (like most bloggers), but I’m always terrified that I’ll come off as fake or some type of annoying Ms. Suzy Sunshine. Just like everything in life, I think there’s a balance that needs to happen on blogs and it’s something that I strive for every time I write a post.