How Personal Are You?
A common piece of wisdom for freelance writers is to show a personal side. For the most part I think this is pretty sound advice. I know that if I am trying to make a decision for services I want to feel like I am going to deal with a person and not a corporate entity. With that said, I also think that there has to be a line in the sand in terms of how much is put out there.
On my own web site, I have a fairly detailed About page which is truly a crucial element in establishing some level of personal credibility. It’s got a picture of me ol’ smilin’ mug and a few tidbits in terms of history and who I am. The About page is the perfect forum to let folks know a bit about who you are. If you don’t have one on your site, go do that right now. You can come back, I’ll wait for you.
There is a fine line though, between personal information and too much personal information.
Personal information that includes some background of your life and how you ended up where you are today makes for a good read and most potential clients appreciate the chance to know you a little better. This is especially true if you have had some interesting experiences in your life. It’s a good idea to include a little bit about your hobbies and interests as sometimes common ground can be a deciding factor for a client. Don’t go overboard, just a mere mention of being a sailor is enough to raise your status a peg or two in the eyes of nautical types.
It can be a huge mistake to go to far in what kind of personal information you include. A detailed medical history of an illness may be more than a client wants to know. Also, it may be ok to show that you are a dog lover and have two Blue Tipped Terriers. It’s not quite so ok to put a dozen pictures of them on your web site ’cause their just so darned cute.
The best way to think about this is to consider what you would say or do in a first time face to face client meeting. Would you dominate the conversation with stories about the many cute things your toddler did over the weekend? Probably not. That’s a good litmus test right there. Would you whip out a photo album showing the pictures from your last vacation at the beach? Of course not. So, the lesson here is to not divulge on your site what you would not bore folks with in person.
There is a whole other side of this that relates to posts specifically. In many ways the same criteria apply but there are times when a personal story really brings home a point. You have to know your audience and your potential audience. Remember that you also take the chance of that post being the one that a first time visitor sees. Hopefully you don’t have an archive filled with the same kinds of posts and the visitor is able to take the post for what it is.
How about you? Where do you draw the line? Have you ever put some personal thing on your site only to regret it later? Have you put a personal item on your site and had it go viral?
George
About the Author: A writer living in Alaska. A simple man with few passions: My daughter, writing, soccer and now and then a good cigar.
Mark | Sep 22, 2009 | Reply
That reminds me: must include my inside leg measurement on my next blog piece. Hey George! Thanks for your comments – much appreciated. So … you’re “A writer living in Alaska”? Is that your address? If I write that on an envelope will it reach you? Or might it end up with the other person by mistake? He’s an Eskimo, right? That pic isn’t you trying to outdo me in the cute pic stakes, is it? My lemur would have your hamster for breakfast, mate. That may not be zoologically correct, but you get the point. Anyway, it’s not a very nice picture – it looks like it’s about to eat through that electrical cable. Admit it: it’s dead now, isn’t it? It’s turned its little hamster claws up. What the hell did it ever do to you?
Earl Gile | Sep 22, 2009 | Reply
Very informative, I tend to be too private and impersonal. Maybe a pic or two of my insane blue heeler Blue would not hurt. Thanks Earl
Monika | Sep 22, 2009 | Reply
@ Mark: Allow me to find my voice while I wipe my eyes once again. Dude, you are one dangerous sob when let lose. Perhaps I should choose to use a tiger for my next post to keep up with the zoo thing. Who will get eaten then? LMAO
tumblemoose | Sep 22, 2009 | Reply
Hey Mark – you scoundrel.
As it turns out, the other person in Alaska is a reader so we have this whole symbiotic thing goin’ on.
Hammy the hamster eats electrical cords – and lemurs – for breakfast. He is one bad hamster. He ate a polar bear last year, dude. Serious.
Silly boy.
Love,
George
tumblemoose | Sep 22, 2009 | Reply
Hi Earl,
Thanks for the sane comment in this sea of comment turbulence.
Try a pic or two, it could be endearing!
George
tumblemoose | Sep 22, 2009 | Reply
Monika,
Ohhh, I can tell right now that me and Marky-poo are going to have some fun.
There goes the neighborhood.
George
Mark | Sep 23, 2009 | Reply
Hate “Marky”; not overkeen on “poo”. I am dispatching my lemur as we speak. He has orders to seek out the Alaskan NOT living in an igloo, and KILL.
Monika | Sep 23, 2009 | Reply
@ George @ Marky-poo: Now, now boys… do behave!
Michele | Writer's Round-About | Sep 28, 2009 | Reply
Wow, George, very awesome stuff here. Hmmmm…. I actually didn’t have an About page for a while. I started one little blog on Blogger in 2007 and tiptoed lightly into the blogosphere. I always worried I’d write the wrong thing or spell something wrong or make a horrific grammar mistake. I didn’t have time to write an About page with all those worries! LOL
As time went on, though, I moved to WordPress and have tried to update my About pages for my sites as I’ve felt more comfortable sharing things. I’d have to say my health blog has the most personal info about me. Sharing my health history is a little different in my case, because I promote health on that blog. But I totally know what you’re saying about sharing too much.
I sometimes worry if I share too much these days. I’ve been pretty private until more recently this year when I started sharing a lot more of my personal life. There has been a really big positive response via comments, emails, and across various Social Media sites so I’m assuming people are enjoying the tidbits I’ve decided to share. I guess I’ll see how it goes….
*smiles*
Michele
Monika | Sep 29, 2009 | Reply
@ Michelle: Thanks for stopping by and sharing your own thoughts about the pros and cons of being personal. I think it is great you did venture out of your skin a bit because your readers can associate with you better if you share a bit about you with them. I have also found that by being more personal I generally get much better response than if I just write a tutorial style post.
People want to see right into your heart, this is why reality TV is so big, viewers love to to watch you do all sorts of private stuff and bloggers can share their lives by being more open. However, there is a limit to how much I share because I like to retain some sense of privacy in the end. I hope it will work out for you anyway.