Mixing Business And Pleasure (Blogs)

Jan 24

Mixing Business And Pleasure (Blogs)

It’s been said for years that we shouldn’t mix business and pleasure. That old adage has also been ignored for many years. How many business deals have been made on the golf course or informal functions?

That leads me to wonder about our online blogs. Do we hurt our brand when we publish a personal blog? What about allowing too much personality to show in our posts and comments? If you are like John Chow then I guess the question doesn’t apply because you are your brand but it is something to consider for the rest of us.

My personal views can be considered extreme, arrogant, self-righteous, opinionated and a whole bunch of other adjectives. I used to run a blog ThatsRightISaidIt.com (now off line) and those posts were designed to get people going. Some of that controversial attitude spills into my personal blog posts. I would never apologize for my opinions but I wonder if it’s bad for business. What do you think?

About the author

Keith Bloemendaal wrote 110 articles on this blog.

Keith is a passionate blogger and writes Blog Tips, Social Media Tips, and also operates a Social Bookmarking service. .

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  • I have nothing against business associated with pleasure but the only thing that goes between them is the outcome. It depends upon the sole reason of why connecting the fun part into business. Though as said, work should be fun, yes I agree, it should be fun but not beyond the limits that work has already been left behind. It's a matter of balancing the two.
    .-= Short sale Agent in Las Vegas´s last blog ..Positve News – Realistic? =-.
  • I agree that balance is important Short sale Agent. BTW, Brad West (first comment above) is near Las Vegas.
    .-= Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Extreme Ezine – Social Edition | Nov’09 =-.
  • Brian, your personal views can never be considered as extreme, arrogant, self-righteous because I second you on your thoughts. For me work should be fun and I believe in Steve Jobs's statement about keep looking for what you love to do and do only what you love to do for your profession too. So I work on things which I feel as fun. fun = pleasure. therefore work = pleasure.

    Regards,
    Mack McMillan
  • Thanks Mack, I need all the support I can get. I agree with you and Steve because I love this stuff.
    .-= Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Chasing The Guru Ghost =-.
  • Hi Tom, I was just reading a related post on Daily Blog Tips called Generic Blogging Could be the Right Choice for Newbies. Pretty cool
  • Some guru´s say that you should keep a blog strictly on one topic for best results and build several niche blogs instead of talking about 50+ different things on one blog.

    Also, the page rank is a mystery for me.My PR went down to zero from PR 3 and my traffic has increased and I rank really well for lots of my keywords.So, it appears that "The Big G" looks at lots of different factors.

    <abbr>Tom - Home Business Marketing Tipss last blog post..Marketing With Articles</abbr>
  • @ Sheryl, yep, and combine that with the 100% Italian blood flowing through my veins will definitely do something to my DNA! :D

    <abbr>Sires last blog post..Sire’s Big Moment A Total Flop</abbr>
  • You're sweet Sheryl :)

    That's a great point too. That would apply with business deals to. I hadn't thought of that.
  • I was just reading about how many employers are looking potential employees up online. What they find can make or break you a hire. I understand that if you are totally socially unacceptable on line that it could cause a company to question if you are a good fit. Yet, I think that no one can be perfect 24/7.

    I just don't see how having no personality (individuality) is good. I think that is what draws us to some people.

    @Brian, yes, you have a higher form of inelegance! I also consider anyone that has an opinion to be of higher level.

    @Sire, Now you are being sarcastic. I think that is in the Aussie DNA. ;)

    <abbr>Sheryl Lochs last blog post..Is My Child is a Geek</abbr>
  • @ Sheryl - You were being sarcastic? ;)

    <abbr>Sires last blog post..Sire’s ‘Ice Breaker’ Pick Up Line</abbr>
  • Thanks Sheryl, You said I had a higher form of intellect didn't you? I think that's what I read LOL

    That's a great point on not being able to please everyone. I'm just amazed anyone at all reads what I have to say. I just keep trying to act smart and hope nobody discovers the truth ;)
  • Well, I try to keep my personality out of all I do. Seems I am the only one that appreciates my sarcasm. (Oh, I was being sarcastic there). It has been said that someone must have a higher form of intellect to understand sarcasm. Damn, I did it again! My bad!

    For real this time - no more goofin'. I have for the most part tried to stay somewhat professional online. I do however have my moments when I have to state my thoughts. I try to refrain from being disrespectful or name calling. But, I have been saying for over a year that I want 1 place where I can be me. That will be coming around soon, I think. =)

    I have never know of anyone that can keep everyone happy so it is always taking a chance when you say anything about anything.

    <abbr>Sheryl Lochs last blog post..How Long Can They Blow Smoke</abbr>
  • Ah, that is so true Brian, but even if they visit my blog will they be astute enough to find the right posts that will open their eyes as to our conversation?

    <abbr>Sires last blog post..Sire’s Big Moment A Total Flop</abbr>
  • That's funny, everyone that hasn't been to your blog
    will be scratching their heads wondering what in the world we are talking about LOL
  • WOW, a whole hour, man that is a great compliment if I've ever heard one. Thanks mate. You know, I have a lot more fun with those posts than the serious ones but I still enjoy the whole blogging experience, especially because I don't let the SEO and other stuff get in the way.

    Brian the Barbarian sounds like a nemesis I ran into over my 600 years of traveling the globe. Man, I reckon that perhaps I can turn that into another post. ;)

    <abbr>Sires last blog post..Sire’s Big Moment A Total Flop</abbr>
  • I am like you Sire, that's why I just spent the last hour one your blogs. It's hard to pull away and I wish I had written most of it ;)

    As far as pissing people off, well, that's kind of what I do. Perhaps I should get an alias. Brian the Barbarian has a cool ring to it. Hey, I could write from the future. Say from 2598? Oh, wait, that's already been done. LOL
  • Shit Brian, you sound a lot like me when it comes to blogging, its all about the enjoyment factor first and hopefully the rest will follow and it doesn't, heck it's all good as long as we are having fun.

    As to your question I would say no as long as you don;'t make a ass of yourself. By this I mean that you don't piss people off as that would definitely be bad for business.

    <abbr>Sires last blog post..Sire’s Big Moment A Total Flop</abbr>
  • Thanks Brad, you're funny. And you have authority here so your comments count.

    I don't worry about SEO as much for myself as I do subscribers and visitors. You can probably tell by my PR and Alexa. If you look at most of my pages I don't normally even bother with key words. On sites where I get paid like my ad tracking site it's a different story. I work SEO like my money depends on it because it does. On my blogs I'm satisfied to have friends visit and comment. It's the part I enjoy and doesn't feel like work. I want them to continue growing of course, and eventually make money but I'm a very lazy person :)
  • Well Brian, don't know if I can speak with any authority here, I don't personally own a blog.

    But then again I build the Blogs the girls have and I'm pretty intimate with them. As a matter a fact when we set Sheryl's Blog up a few years back her insistence was to defy the SEO laws. She now has 7 blogs on the same domain, no keyword URL, just slerylloch.com.

    Her Alexa keeps dropping just over 200 K right now. But after the last Google ranking her front page dropped to a 1. Her front page actually went backwards. She Was Hot to say the least. Then she got looking around. Due to the testing that we had been doing on the Blog Co-Op we had been submitting perma links that lead directly to articles. Knowing yourself a little about how the Blog Co_op works, I will just highlight a little. When submitting to the Co_Op you submit a mini post or the first paragraph of your blog article with a perma link in a topic specific thread.

    Look back at what I just said, you are submitting content not just a link to a topic specific area. I will just let your imagination take care of the rest.

    The result on Sheryl's blog after looking closer was a big increase in PR on the interior pages there are now a minimum of 6 pages with the PR of 1 and one page at 2, weird enough that is the sales page. Also a bunch of pages went from an NR to a rank of 0.

    People say well it's only a zero, Don't be fooled my friends a zero is 100 times better than No Ranked at all.

    Take a look at some of the blogs out there that the front page rank at 6 or 7 they have worked so hard at pushing the domain. they never thought to hook up the content, there interior pages allot of times are not even ranked.

    What is more important the site or the content.

    So the theory of following strict SEO laws goes on. Do you stay focused on one subject and don't contaminate your blog with anything fun. or do you have fun and increase your keyword count so you get not so targeted traffic coming to your site also.

    I may not have answered any questions, I got a little off topic. I think it is a personal preference of where you want to go, and using your educated imagination to get there.

    Hope I helped a little Just creating another question helps sometimes.

    I am totally crazy I am out writing this stuff on everyone else's sites and neglecting my own. Sorry I'm stealing this for a post. LOL

    Brad West ~ onomoney

    <abbr>Brad Wests last blog post..Las Vegas Unemployment</abbr>
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