27 April 2009
A few very key points when promoting your professional status and business in any social medium.

Rule number 1: Keep a Professional Attitude on Twitter Because The World is Watching

Every professional should be very aware that mistakes in social mediums will seem larger then their intention. This could be detrimental to your business and professional status because social networks are for the world to see.

I reached out someone I was following this weekend asking ‘What do you teach?’ from a previous post of theirs. I found out she is a passionate Yoga instructor.

When I expressed my passion for ‘hot yoga’ finding many benefits for my allergies, congestion and overall well being I got replies I did not expect.

Her words came across full of as anger and disgust at me. She sent multiple direct messages and posts on her twitter homepage that furthered her disgust for hot yoga and essentially me for being ‘ignorant’.

She judged me as an individual and questioned my personal quality for liking hot yoga and finding benefits within it. She especially became angry when I used the term ‘to each their own’ for liking hot yoga and then advised I welcome further education which she never provided.

One of her posts and in her own words read: ‘If you don't have the training to understand what you are doing, and choose to remain ignorant, YOU are responsible.’

A few very key points when promoting your professional status and business in any social medium:

1. Set a strategy of for your business and understand each social mediums benefits, general use and tone.
2. Use this strategy to dictate your tone and promote it as such religiously without fail.
3. Understand how to write text for social mediums. Remember you are not dealing with speech so be very careful how you write. THIS IS SHOUTING AND SAYS YOU’RE ANGRY.
4. Remain positive at all times in every post or simply don’t post that day.
5. If you are a small business combine personal updates with professional updates.
6. If you are a larger company, share one general login with 3-7 people who understand the strategy and can spend an hour a day reviewing and posting one day a week.

As for my angry yoga instructor, I don’t question her professional ability as an instructor. I think she has little or no education on how to deliver herself in social mediums and through text. She continues to deliver her messages this way especially to her fellow yoga instructors, so I am not one in a million with her.

I am happy however she is not my yoga instructor and am not following her any longer ;-)

*Of course I have screen shots of our conversations, which I am not sharing with the public. I am in the business of watching my back and butt, as it is always on the line and this is why I have kept them.