Tweet

Social Media Tip: What’s Published Online Is Public and Searchable

Guest post by: Debra Gould

Article Overview: Using the recent Tiger Woods PR disaster as an example, The Staging Diva®, reminds home stagers that little in life is private anymore.

Social Media Tip: What’s Published Online Is Public and Searchable

If you take nothing else from the Tiger Woods PR disaster, realize that there is very little that is private anymore. While you may not be famous, any time you send an email, Facebook message, Twitter status update or ‘Direct Message’ you’re essentially leaving a trail of digital communication. That applies to all those Facebook quizzes you might be tempted to take too.

Leaving a trail can be extremely beneficial in some cases. For example, if you’re having an email discussion with a client who owes you money, you can have documentation that they promised to pay on a certain date (and so on and so forth). Of course if you follow the business model set out in the Staging Diva Home Staging courses, you wouldn’t find yourself in that situation in the first place, but I digress. The point is, sometimes a digital trail can be helpful.

However, this permanence of communication can also tarnish your image.

Tiger Woods is a good example. Before the scandal about his car accident and “marital indiscretions” broke out, we all had positive feelings about Tiger – he had a squeaky clean image. Then all of a sudden, allegations of an affair hit the Internet (as if the specter of a golf-club-swinging wife weren’t hint enough) and we all hoped it wasn’t true.

But it’s hard not to be convinced when text messages that were exchanged between he and his mistress are published everywhere, not to mention an embarrassing voicemail so easily shared on the Internet and subsequently broadcast on TV. From now on, with the amount of press this incident has received, Tiger’s devoted family man image is ruined. This story, those text messages and that voicemail message will live forever on the Internet.

Assuming you won’t be doing too much potentially reputation-damaging texting in your home staging business (though it’s good to keep in mind that your texts can be used against you) you should be aware of the permanence of anything you put out there on the Internet.

Twitter can be one of the most dangerous applications to use if you’re not sure of what you’re doing. Each “tweet” or mini blog post you publish is out there in the world, with your name or your business name associated with it, when you press Update or Send.

You can delete an individual post of course, but it’s automatically indexed by Twitter and search engines. For as long as the Internet exists, someone searching your name can find anything you’ve published on Twitter. This is why it’s a good rule of thumb to never post anything online or in an email that you wouldn’t feel comfortable with seeing in the local newspaper with your name beside it.

Social networking is a must for any entrepreneur in this day and age, home stagers included, and Twitter is an extremely beneficial tool and a great way to build a business. But if you’re using it incorrectly you can be wasting time and damaging your image.

To learn more about Twitter and how to use it effectively in your home staging business check out Debra Gould’s new Home Stager’s Guide to Twitter.

Related Articles
  A Picture Says 1,000 Words–Especially on The Internet
  How Important Is Traditional PR In The Age Of Social Media?
  Social Marketing Online
  The Multidimensional PR Approach
  Social media : why should my business use this resource?

Article Tags: home stagers, home staging, real estate staging, staging a house for sale, staging homes



Related Forum Posts
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Internet Marketing Section - Yes or No? - I think Samin is is right... The Social Media part needs to be a subcategory of Internet / Online Marketing. There are a few qualified characters here that would fit nicely as moderators. No sweat GT. There's a lot to share and learn, social marketing is fascinating and it'll be an eye opener for everyone as we dig into the details. But it's still just a small piece of the pie - maybe it's getting bigger???
Kevin's Case Study #11 - A New Forum Category? - Hi Everyone, 2009 is a new year and I'd like to create a new forum category to jazz things up! In the past, there's been some interest voiced about adding a "Social Media Marketing", "Online Marketing", "Internet Marketing" or "Online Promotion" category. I'll implement [u:1g2tv6tf]ONE[/u:1g2tv6tf] of those new categories, but can someone first tell me what the difference would be between the existing "Marketing" section and one of those new options mentioned above? Thanks
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Angel Investors Where Are You?

An Intelligent Contact Sheet

Selling What Sizzles vs. Delivering Real Value

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.