Are You Guilty of T.M.I.?
Posted November 4, 2011 in Marketing, Social Media
Freelancers go to great lengths to build strong relationships with clients, so it should come as no surprise that they are sometimes guilty of sharing too much information (T.M.I.) online.
While it’s important to be authentic and genuine online, it’s also possible to overshare. There are some things that clients, colleagues, and potential clients didn’t really need to know about you.
Yet, oversharing happens all the time. I’ve seen it on nearly all of the major networks, and I’m sure you have too. In fact, some social networks have recently encouraged oversharing by suggesting that you use their network to document nearly every aspect your life.
While oversharing might be okay if you limit your fans/friends/followers/circles to a small group of individuals who are well-known to you, it flies against good sense if you are using social media to interact with clients and prospective clients for your freelancing business.
In this post, I’ll identify some bits of personal information that are better left unshared. I’ll also invite you to discuss online reputation and social media.
Information You Don’t Need to Share
Does everyone really need to everything about you? Check the list.
- Relationship troubles–This information is best shared only with a small group of trusted confidantes, preferably offline. Yet, some persist in announcing breakups and other relationships online. Besides, what if the relationship mends? Your rant will still be out there in someone’s cache memory, even if you delete your original comments. From a business perspective, airing relationship problems publicly makes you seem hard to get along with.
- Regular updates on your location–Many would disagree with me on this one, but unless you are attending a conference or other large gathering where you plan to meet up with others, regular updates on your location are unnecessary. From a personal perspective, such sharing might even be unsafe–especially if you are alone.
- Detailed descriptions of what you ate (or drank)–Unless a meal or beverage was truly exceptional and unique, there’s no need to share it (let alone share a photograph of it). Really, I’ve seen a salad, burger, french fries, steak, etc… The exception, of course, is if you are somehow tied into the food industry (restaurant reviewer, food blogger, cookbook editor, etc.). Trust me. Don’t bore your clients and prospects with this.
- Graphic details of every one of your physical ailments–Yuck! I can’t believe the details people share on social media about their illnesses and physical symptoms. While I understand it’s no fun being sick–it’s no fun reading about vomit either. Besides, do you really want your prospective clients to think that you’re sick all of the time? I thought not. One exception might be if you are a medical writer, but even then I’m not sure it’s always a good idea to constantly write in detail about your own ailments.
- Griping about clients and past clients online. It can feel good to rant about a bad client. You may even justify your actions by telling yourself you are warning other freelancers. However, if you constantly gripe and complain a potential and perfectly legitimate client may be scared off. Besides, there are non-ranting ways to turn in a bad client. In the U.S. these methods include contacting a state’s attorney general’s office, filing a complaint at the Better Business Bureau, and even hiring an attorney.
As you can see from the examples listed above, there really can be such a thing as sharing too much information. Of course, all of this ultimately impacts your online reputation.
T.M.I. and Your Online Reputation
As a freelancer, your reputation as a professional is probably your greatest asset. Because most freelancers rely on the Internet find work, your reputation as a professional must also be maintained online.
Your website or blog may not be the very first thing that your prospective client reads about you. (That doesn’t mean you don’t need to have a strong business site, though.) More and more frequently, clients are meeting freelancers through social media and then turning to search engines to learn more about them.
It may seem nearly impossible to control your online reputation, and it’s true that there are elements that are beyond your control. For example, someone may tag you, write about you, or otherwise share about you without your permission. However, there is still much about your online reputation that you actually can control. In many cases, it’s just a case of setting boundaries between your personal life and your professional life.
Your Turn
Did I leave out any examples of information that doesn’t need to be shared? Do you think oversharing is a problem for freelancers? Why, or why not?
Related posts:
- Why Online Reputation Management Is More Important Than Ever
- 5 Bad Work at Home Habits: Are You Guilty?
- Feeling Guilty About Taking Time Off
- Online Reputation Management: A Necessary Evil
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.
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24 Comments
Sharon Hurley Hall
November 4th, 2011 at 9:54 amTotally agree with you, Laura. It’s best to avoid all of those areas. I will say, though, that sharing information privately with other freelancers about a bad client or the lessons you learned from a particular working relationship can be useful, as long as you don’t name names.
Laura Spencer
November 4th, 2011 at 10:06 amThanks Sharon–I think it depends on how well you know the other person. If you know another freelancer really well and can trust them not to repeat what you said, you might even name a name–for their ears only. Likewise, if you have a close personal friend you might confide your relationship troubles to them. But, if you are in business (and freelancing is a business) these things should not be for general distribution through social media, IMHO. Yet, I see one or more of these things nearly every day…
Sharon Hurley Hall
November 4th, 2011 at 10:57 amSomehow, I think people forget that once you’ve said it online, you can’t take it back. In fact, it could be lurking in archived and cached pages for a long time. It’s wise to err on the side of caution, Laura, I agree.
Laura Spencer
November 4th, 2011 at 12:17 pmSharon–I think that’s a big part of the problem…
Kenn
November 4th, 2011 at 12:59 pmTMI WHEN WORKING WITH CLIENTS …
Not just online, but when working with clients, TMI is dangerous.
I think twice before I send clients “new ideas” when working on their project.
New ideas can sidetrack your work and do the client an injustice EVEN THOUGH it seems like a good idea will help them.
Remember, getting things done is just as good idea as adding more work.
TMI = (could equal) =TOO MANY IDEAS. ;)
Kenn Schroder
Blog + free stuff on how to get web design clients.
Erin Feldman
November 4th, 2011 at 1:05 pmI think over-sharing is a problem for everyone. Somehow, people lose their filtering systems when they’re on a social network. People, especially people who use social media as part of their business marketing, have to learn to be personable without being too personal. It can be helpful to ask, “Would I share this information if I were at a social function?” The answer to that question can help guide one’s use of social media.
Laura Spencer
November 4th, 2011 at 2:11 pmKenn–Interesting take on the topic. Scope creep is definitely something to guard against, although you always want to make sure that you are providing the best service. The best way, I think, is to flesh out as many ideas as you can before the contract is signed…
Erin Feldman, Excellent point! I think sometimes people fail to see social media as another social outlet and view it instead as a place to vent their problems.
Catena Creations
November 4th, 2011 at 4:47 pmI treat everything I put online as if it’s open to the public, no matter how “private” I make my accounts. Someone can find it somehow. My son is in high school, and I’ve talked to him several times about Facebook and college recruiters. I also know of people who were top candidates for jobs, but lost them because of their blogs. Nothing is private!
Laura Spencer
November 4th, 2011 at 5:57 pmCatena Creations–Good policy! I’ve heard those stories too.
Alexandra
November 4th, 2011 at 9:48 pmIt is really a nice and helpful piece of info. I am glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Ian
November 4th, 2011 at 10:09 pmThis article really seems to be very interesting. I’ll stop by more often times if doing something new here.
Maria
November 4th, 2011 at 10:10 pmSuperb!
final year projects for IT chennai
November 5th, 2011 at 7:10 amNew ideas can sidetrack your work and do the client an injustice EVEN THOUGH it seems like a good idea will help them.
Nicole
November 5th, 2011 at 11:02 amThe one that really bothers me is when people post pictures of their ultrasound, their pregnant (unclothed) belly, their wife in the hospital, their baby seconds after birth, etc. Even worse when they make one of these images their profile picture.
Yes, having children is a big deal. But I don’t need constant “I’m pregnant” widgets updating me on the size of your fetus, the size of your belly, or any graphic details of your pregnancy. And neither do your clients.
Laura Spencer
November 5th, 2011 at 12:04 pmHi Nicole! Yes, in most cases those pics are probably best saved for close friends and family only. I don’t have a problem with an announcement or even a few (clothed) baby pics after the birth, though.
allena
November 5th, 2011 at 7:14 pmThese are the reasons I have separate FB accounts for personal and work.
I do disagree a little with “Griping about clients and past clients online.”– I have NEVER been stiffed on a payment, although I’ve been in a place where I was pretty sure that I WOULD be (clients admitted to cash flow issues).
Those few who were giving all the signals that I wasn’t going to be paid (looong overdue, owed several freelancers, etc) were told in plain language that I am under contract with the NYTs About.com to share ALL the ups and downs of this career on my blog, and have taught me well about writing without libel or slander. I told them I’d of course have to blog about the issue to my 110K monthly readers.
In all cases they almost instantly paid.
I’ve not had to actually DO it yet.
Morgan & Me Creative
November 6th, 2011 at 3:02 amIn social media, although it’s hard because of the way it was originally designed, which is to be personal but there needs to be divide between personal and work space. It’s okay to add clients to your circle but bear in mind the consequences of what may follow. Why not you add them to your business pages (ie. facebook) instead?
Caitlin Kelly
November 6th, 2011 at 9:20 amGreat post, but seriously? These seem like basic common sense to me. I’ve been reading a blog by someone who’d been very blunt about one failed client recently — and just recently blogged that he’s been tipped off it might be hurting his business. You think?
I was shocked that he wrote in such detail about it in the first place. I keep these conversations off-line between a very few writers I trust.
Steph
November 7th, 2011 at 3:04 pmThe only omission I noticed was… images of pets. Tweeple, I’m not as interested in your pet as you are – and cats suck.
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