| If you are a small business owner, what you do on | | | | in someone's mind. If you are a small business owner, |
| the Internet, even from a personal perspective, helps | | | | that negative impression will be carried over to your |
| form potential customer's opinion about your brand. If | | | | brand and you might have just lost a potential |
| you are a high school junior or senior who plans to | | | | customer. It is easy to forget that while we are |
| attend college after graduation, your comments and | | | | using social networking sites for entertainment |
| status updates on sites like Facebook are part of | | | | purposes, we are also having an impact on our |
| your personal brand. If you are looking for | | | | reputation and our brand. |
| employment, what you say on social networking | | | | It has become common knowledge that colleges and |
| sites is easily accessible to potential employers. How | | | | potential employers often check out potential |
| you are perceived on the web is directly correlated | | | | students or employees on the social networking sites |
| to how you present yourself. However, how you are | | | | to get an idea of who they are. An easy solution for |
| perceived might not necessarily reflect your | | | | someone looking for a job who wants to control |
| intentions. Perception is in the eye of the perceiver. | | | | what potential employers might see is to simply not |
| No matter what your small business sells, whether it | | | | write anything that could be perceived as |
| is products or services, you, as the owner of your | | | | controversial, insulting or inflammatory. But for some, |
| business are also your brand. If your company sells | | | | this might take the fun out of social networking. It is |
| blue eyeglass cases or health care software, what | | | | a matter of personal preference on how one |
| you say or do on the Internet affects your brand. | | | | chooses to network. As long as you realize what the |
| Even if what you say on the web has nothing to do | | | | potential impact is of your style of networking, the |
| with blue eyeglass cases or health care software, it | | | | choice is yours. |
| has a direct effect on how your potential customers | | | | It is interesting to see the how the young people are |
| perceive you. The same principle applies to college | | | | reacting to this realization that what they write |
| and job applicants. | | | | affects their reputation and could impact their |
| The Internet offers an almost ridiculously huge array | | | | chances of getting into a college. They are changing |
| of social networking sites to engage and participate | | | | their real names, often, on sites like Facebook, so |
| in. From Facebook to Twitter, what you "say" is read | | | | that their comments and conversations will not show |
| by anyone anywhere who is interested enough to | | | | up in searches as being tied to their real name. For |
| "listen". When you make a comment on someone's | | | | now, this tactic might work, but it is highly possible |
| Facebook post or status you need to remember that | | | | that social site tracking tools might at some point in |
| if it is off-colored or inflammatory in any way, you | | | | the future figure out a way to infiltrate this evasive |
| may have just left a negative impression of yourself | | | | technique. |