How Big A Beach Are You?

by Ben Yoskovitz

Lots of people love the beach.

Tall people. Short people. Fat people. Skinny people. Bronzed beyond George Hamilton people. Deathly pale people.

There’s just something about stripping down to the bare necessities and letting it all hang out. The interesting thing about the beach is that no one seems self-conscious. It’s rarely flattering and in some cases downright disturbing. Watching a flabby guy in a bright green thong parade across the hot sand just doesn’t do it for me. You?

What is it about the beach that allows many of us to discard our outer shell of clothing, and with reckless abandon allow our least attractive parts to bounce about willy nilly? What, indeed…

Expose Yourself on the Beach

beachI recently spent a day at the beautiful Parc Jean Drapeau - 5 minutes from the heart of Montreal.

It’s an amazing location: beautiful water, sand, BBQ and great play areas for young kids. It’s amazing how few Montrealers know about it, because it’s the closest thing to a tropical vacation spot that we’ve got. And it’s the closest thing to a vacation I’m going to get in the next couple years…

While at the beach you can’t help but notice the flesh. Lots and lots of flesh. But no one cares. People are exposing themselves in a very, very personal way…and no one is covering up. It’s not all Baywatch models either; every shape, size, culture and creed hangs at the beach.

It makes me think about blogging. (Say what now?!?!)

Expose Yourself on Your Blog

Whether you like it or not, blogs are personal. They wouldn’t work otherwise. Of course they have a business purpose; just like social networks, blogs can be used in a hundred different ways for professional reasons. But business is personal, and blogs have their roots in an open, conversational, relationship-building style.

So if a blog is personal and professional, where do we draw the line?

How much of your personality goes into your blog? How much do you expose?

It might depend on the topic. News-focused blogs won’t have as much room for personality. But most of us write blogs as a means of establishing our personal brand, building meaningful relationships and growing our businesses. There’s lots of personal “stuff” in there.

Chris Brogan exposes himself a great deal on his blog (and through Twitter, Facebook, etc.) He talks about his work and his personal life. Following Chris is more than just a learning experience; it’s a personal experience.

Don’t Show Me Everything, But Keep It Real

Exposing yourself doesn’t mean revealing every detail of your personal life. It does mean you need to approach blogging with an authentic voice. Overly crafting your message can siphon off too much personality if done incorrectly. The information you’re providing might be valuable but the delivery becomes staid and distant.

Your blog should drip with your personality. You should feel free to include personal stories as a means of truly connecting with your audience. The more you expose, the more your audience will as well; and that’s how community is built.

So feel free to be a beach. (Or at least enjoy it!)

photo by pocketshoot.

July 24th, 2007
More in Blogging, Online Community
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  • Excellent post! I am my brand, so telling stories about my personal life is my bread and butter - LOL

    But I do enjoy reading business or "professional" blogs more when there is a person writing it that makes me feel comfortable - as if they invited me over to their picnic table at the beach! (Like you!)

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I hope you have a wonderful day!
  • Good points here. Won't be able to go to the beach too much more, as summer is coming to an end. Blogs are all about the personal touch and projecting who you are as personal to your audience or readership.

    Dan Schawbel
    Personal Branding Magazine
  • I expose myself everywhere I go. Sure, the cops get mad, but you get over it.

    Thanks for the mention, Ben. You're an inspiration.
  • Hmm, good question. How much of "you" do you expose on your blog? Wow!

    I like Dan's comment about how it's about projecting who you are to your readers. For me, it's part "Let them know you without invasion of privacy" and "Like attracts like". The more "me" I let others see, the more people like me are attracted to my blog.

    As usual, you've given me plenty to think about, Ben.
  • Thanks for the feedback and commentary so far! I hope people continue it...

    And there's a key follow-up question to this that's also gnawing at me. But that's for a follow-up post.
  • I love this post and I love the beach. My favorite commercial for the beach is the one with the itsy-bitsy red bikini that Kellog's did with the woman my age (41) covering it with a surfboard and finally just taking the surfboard away and revealing the bikini!

    I also wholeheartedly agree on the blog and being personal but not too personal. It's a fine line between a diary and a real conversation.

    And I think it's valuable to have a real conversation (in Texas we do it over a cold ice tea on a porch) and it really helps engage folks authentically to share personal stories as well as your take on your part of the work arena.

    Tons of my personality i think go into my blog and I've always gotten good response from it and just a couple of naysayers who say I should completely keep work and life separate. But how can one when they've got a blessed life and love their work? So at times I will have posts on my family, my creative writing, and then mainly stuff to empower book authors.
  • I have to agree with you on that. I do think that you should enjoy the beach how ever you are. but so thing are a little bit much. thats the same with blogging!
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