Today communication is instant: type and press enter to publish. Oops, did I really want to say that?
When you’re getting a brochure printed, you have time to chew over the words you use and edit them. Even when you’ve sent the finished design to your printer, you can stop the printing at any stage; you can even decide not to distribute your brochure if you change your mind (although it would be money wasted).
With blogging, email and the internet, it’s different: press enter after you’ve typed a tweet on twitter and it’s gone out into the world. Even though you can delete tweets, some people are still likely to see them. So it’s worth thinking about what you say online and your style of writing. Blogging and services like twitter and facebook can encourage a freer, more light-hearted tone, but at what point does banter start to damage your professional standing when you’re blogging for business?
Perhaps you work in an industry where it doesn’t matter, but some industries are more formal (some would say stuffier) than others. Use these services to build your reputation, not damage it.
That’s not to say that we can’t be original, witty, entertaining, acerbic or controversial. Being a bit different from the crowd helps us stand out, but we want to stand out for the right reasons.
After yesterday’s blog, have you thought about the business topics you can talk about?
z2zine on Monday: What can a press release do for me?
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