As a business person there something I haven’t quite worked out yet. How political or ideological are we allowed to be? Do we remain neutral so that no body knows our allegiances? Or do we where our colours on our sleeves? Before social media, it was easy to keep your opinions to yourself if you were just in the business of selling your widgets. But now, it’s hard to is resist a like, a retweet, a follow, and a comment here and there. It’s much harder to remain neutral.
I think it’s not so much of an issue of you’re selling widgets to the average Joe and Jane. But our business is immersed in a political / ideological environement. There are a range of political issues that impact on what we do, and importantly how we’re perceived.
I don’t really think I’m capable of not declaring my ideological / political positions. They may not be immediately obvious as I talk about a lot of different topics.
So do I hold off declaring my positions until we’re an established business? Or do we build our business, one that reflects who we are and what we believe in? And if someone doesn’t like if, well they don’t have to hire us. And those who can deal with it, will hire us.
Hmm, I think I may have answered my own question.
#blogJUNE
Social media and positioning really is a tell-all isn't it? Do we have the freedom to declare our ideologies and politics if we are not 'servants of the State?' And, if we are not so? Just thinking about Government employees…
In your case, I would think you are on a great trajectory, and this is going to grow your business surely. Your target audience is adults, who should be able to reason things. Would this ever see you miss opportunities, I don't know. In a most positive sense, I would say 'it's too late to ask yourself this question'. You've achieved so much already being 'true'. Regards, Flora.
PS I want to listen to The Tent Embassy talk at Stafford on Sunday. PM if you are going.
Thanks Flora. Yeah. It probably is a bit too late. Lol. It's just something I sometimes think about and wonder if/how much it impacts on our business. But really, we have to be true to ourselves. Didn't someone say "better to be hated for who you really are, than loved for who you're not", or something like that. I hadn't intended on going to the Embassy talk, I'll check it out. Thanks for your awesome commenting and reading by the way. You're a trooper. I'm unofficially doing #blogJUNE if you're interested (http://www.flexnib.com/blogjune-2014-list/)