How much of your private life should you share on Social Media?

I’m writing this because I’ve had so many conversations lately with clients and friends about the privacy factor on Facebook and other social media.

So how much should you reveal?

Well there is no easy cut and paste answer (sorry) except for ‘as much as you feel comfortable sharing.’

As I teach in The Niche Expert, having success online and being happy at the same time is all about being YOU.

I call it the ‘Magnetic Expert Profile.’

Call it what you will but it basically means that you have to have a clear profile of your brand, what value you have to offer and what things you are willing and comfortable to share with your readers and followers.

You can adapt your brand as you grow and develop but there will be basic, core things about you that will never change.

Grab a pen or fire up your online notepad and get scribbling.

What are they?

What do you get excited about?

What skills do you have?

What knowledge do you have in that lovely head of yours?

What are you passionate about?

What do you love doing? (Write it down even if you think it’s a bit silly!)

What are you good at?

Are you a mum or dad working from home or an entrepreneur out there working offline everyday but wanting to establish your presence online.

Are you crazy about cats, italian food, have a huge stamp collection or live in an interesting location?

These are the little things you can weave into your brand that funnily enough are the things that people often remember.

In some cases they may even make you a fortune.

They make you stand out as an individual in a sea of online profiles

Be true to who you are because otherwise you’ll come unstuck.

So if you’re sharing stuff on Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus but you get a queasy feeling in your tummy and feel vulnerable then that is probably your inner radar alerting you.

Always listen to your inner radar or your gut.

Start slow and build up and you’ll soon figure out what works for you and what doesn’t.

On Facebook there are sophisticated levels of privacy settings that enable you to choose which of your friends see what.

Go have a play around in your privacy settings and set them up how you want.

I’m an open networker and came into social media purely for business several years ago so all my settings are open and I think you reap the maximum benefits by being transparent and sharing all your stuff like that.

But as I started before my friends & family knew what Facebook was so now many of them are connected with me there.

In my experience you’ll never go wrong if you follow this golden rule –

‘Never share anything on social media that you wouldn’t be happy for everyone you know to see.’

It’s that simple because who knows when Facebook might tweak the privacy settings or whatever.

I’m no geek so I keep things simple.

Share the good stuff.

How much of your personal versus your business stuff you share is up to you and depends how you have created your Magnetic Expert Profile.

The caveat here is to bear in mind that no matter how business focused you are social media is SOCIAL.

You can share the social aspects of your work such as pics of networking groups you attend and events you go .

You can also share the odd holiday pic or two without being too exposed.

So it’s always good to share some social stuff so that you attract the people who resonate with you and who will be fun to work with.

And finally … have mercy on your followers!

They don’t need to know what you had for breakfast unless it’s something super cool or you are a raw foods breakfast chef!

For detailed step by step guidance on marketing your business online with social media check out my new book, The Niche Expert, which is now available in paperback, kindle and e-book editions: The Niche Expert