We live in a day and age in which freedom of expression is practically unlimited. And when it comes to branding ourselves and marketing our products and services, there are no limits. Take a look at pole-dancing for example. Something that was a complete taboo, that was unacceptable, has now become something that we ALL (for the most part) admire. Women of all shapes and sizes dancing their heart off and showing an incredible amount of body strength on the pole. Pole dancing is becoming less and less of a taboo and becoming more and more something that a lot of us look at and think “Wow! That’s amazing!” One thing that lots of women who started pole dancing have had to deal with though, is criticism and harsh comments from women AND men. And they had to ignore those comments instead of getting into a heated debate about them. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. I’m sure many comments were hurtful. But as long as they were willing to ignore the comments, they were golden. Women practicing pole dancing as a form of exercise, had to get used to taking risks on social media and being okay with the reactions that they got from people.
I have been working with social media for a few years now. I have branded myself as a mom first and foremost. As a mom, there are things that I choose not to do. I choose to not post sexy pictures of myself in lingerie. I choose to not post pictures of my pants unzipped. I choose to not post pictures of myself in my underwear. Why? Because I choose to not have to deal with the negative comments. And because I want to reach out to other moms and not have them feel threatened by me. More than anything, I choose to not seem desperate and I choose to be and look professional.
Am I saying that if you’re doing these things you should stop? Actually, I’m not. But what I am saying is that if you ARE going to post these things and someone comes around and attacks you on social media, don’t turn around and expose those people by posting their comments on your Facebook timeline or other social media account. If you’re posting things that are risqué. Things that may at any point cause others to attack you verbally… then you have to look at what you did to cause that. Take responsibility for your actions. Put your big panties on (pun TOTALLY intended) and deal with them. Ignore the comments. But if these comments REALLY bother you, then you may want to start asking yourself questions like:
1- What do you want to be known for?
2- What type of audience do you want to attract?
3- Who’s your ideal target market?
4- Can you deal with the negative comments? And finally…
5- Are you being professional?
If you’re going to make a risky move and do something out of the ordinary to attract your specific audience, then be professional about it and don’t react with the negative comments, because when you do, it can make your marketing efforts worthless. You have a choice between being known as someone who takes risks, or someone who complains. I’ve chosen to brand myself as someone who doesn’t take those types of risks but instead, provides tons of information for moms. The risks I take revolve around replacing unhealthy ingredients in baking recipes to make them healthier.
I’m not here to lecture anyone on what’s right or not on social media. I’m not here to tell anyone to not post things that may seem as questionable to some people. That TRULY is none of my business. But I see so many young moms trying so hard to make it on social media, that they forget that having freedom and self expression means that they don’t have to defend themselves or their actions. Once you complain about someone, or defend yourself from someone, you’ve automatically lost your self expression and freedom.