OVERSHARING Recap - Barfield & McKinney Indie Business Club podcast

7M ago 9:50

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Hi gang, Mel here.

⏰NEXT B&M (on public speaking): Monday 25th March 12:30-13:30⏰

Here’s a recap we recorded just for audio (hence I’m not looking to camera) but then we thought hey, why not throw the vid out too?

All in the interest of oversharing, of course.

I spoke at Digital Women Live on Monday, on the topic of getting over yourself and posting more on LinkedIn. Nagged everyone not to be a #LurkinGherkin.

After my talk, I was asked by a few people, “how much is too much?”

It seems to be a consistent dilemma for people.

On LinkedIn in particular, where’s the line? How far can you go before you get “this isn’t Facebook!” comments?

Ben doesn’t post about personal stuff. I do. And in the great tradition of Barfield & McKinney, we ended up not coming to a firm conclusion either way 🤔

Benefits of sharing personal stuff:

* it shortens the space between you and your potential clients/peers

* allows people to relate to you more

* you can pre-qualify and pre-disqualify potential clients

* it sets client expectations e.g. if you only work within the school day, like me

* shows you as a fully functional 3D/4K human

Downsides of sharing personal stuff:

* could risk being seen as a Mumpreneur/Dadpreneur/Parentpreneur/Pupreneur if all you do is post about your children/doggo

* oversharing about family life means you lose your business being a “space” for you and only you

* if you post something vulnerable and it gets huge reach, the engagement isn’t necessarily from your clients

* can make you look less polished (also a benefit - it can put off clients that might not suit you)

* face recognition tech might mean your children’s faces get deepfaked (hey, it could happen)

We also covered the shocking news that not only has Ben never had Facebook, he also never had a MySpace page. #TomWasMyFirstFriend - IYKYK.

An “excessive generosity of information” is a lovely phrase Ben dug up when doing his research for the show. I guess it all depends on your definition of “excessive”.

Timing matters too. Molly Scanlan and I discussed the subject at Digital Women and agreed perhaps a good rule of thumb is not to post while you’re vulnerable. To wait until you’re through it before posting about the situation. Partly for your own protection but also to retain the confidence of your clients.

And in case you missed it, I have to mute myself every time Ben does an intro. I don’t know why, but it cracks me up.

Our next LinkedIn audio event is on Monday 25th, 12:30-13:30 UK time. We’ll be discussing how you can use PUBLIC SPEAKING to promote your business. Make sure you click “join” on LinkedIn then add it to your calendar to get nag-reminded.

See ya,

Mel & Ben

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit barfieldandmckinney.substack.com/subscribe

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