Deciding Whether to Mix Personal and Business Brands Doesn’t have to be Hard, Read This

For both businesses and individuals, a consistent online brand is essential for attracting the right audience and establishing expertise in their industries. Corporate brands and personal brands are often distinct, but when you are the face of your business, as many entrepreneurs are, you’ll have to decide how you want to integrate the two – or if you want to integrate them at all.

In order to get some perspective on the issue, a group of Young Entrepreneur Council members were asked the following question:

“Branding is an exercise most of us engage in, both in our businesses and in our personal lives. How does your personal brand intersect with your company brand online, if at all? If the two don’t intersect, why don’t they?”

Should You Mix Personal and Business Branding?

Here’s what YEC community members had to say:

1. Keep Them Separate

“I keep my personal brand separate from my company brand because of the fact that I operate more than one business and brand. It would get too confusing to audiences if I blended them all together. Also, not every audience member is interested in my personal or company brand.” ~ John Rampton, Calendar

2. Core Values Are the Only Intersection

“The only way my personal brand intersects with my company brand is through the core values. There is no other intersection; I’d like my personal brand to stay focused on my personal lifestyle and who I am as a person. At the end of the day, people don’t buy your product, they buy from the people they like. It is an emotional buy. When people know me, they are far more enticed to buy my services.” ~ Sweta Patel, Silicon Valley Startup Marketing

3. Personal and Professional Brands ‘Seed’ Each Other

“We believe strongly in the integrity of our businesses brand, it’s a reflection of us as people. For us, it all has to be related. There cannot be a separation between business brand and personal, the personal has seeded the brand and then as the business grows and hires, the brand “seeds” the personal brand of everyone it employs.” ~ Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure

4. A Personal Brand That Reflects Professional Expertise Drives Business

“A lot of my personal posts are related to the field of startups or tech, which has helped both myself and my business. When I have a tech company, many people remember this because it’s the topic of discussion that I’m continually bringing up in my personal social media pages. This has led to investments, sales and a plurality of other beneficial deals just from people connecting the dots.” ~ Andy Karuza, FenSens

5. Remember: Everything Can Potentially Become Public

“In theory, you and your business are separate entities, but in today’s interconnected world, it’s getting harder and harder to separate them. Everything you do, either as a person or a business, reflects on your reputation. That’s why I keep in mind (and remind my employees) that everything we say and do can potentially be public knowledge, so awareness and integrity are more important than ever.” ~ Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting

6. Brand from the Top Down

“It’s important to have your personal values carry over into the workplace. A workplace should have respect, honesty and commitment. A business with no values will not be able to keep up with a business with values especially if the leaders are not following them. Values work from the top down.” ~ Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

7. Use Personal Social Media as an Extension of Company Accounts

“As the CEO and founder of my company, my personal and professional brands intersect regularly on social media. My personal accounts are primarily a behind-the-scenes look at projects my company is involved with. On both Facebook and Instagram, my personal accounts are an extension of our company accounts.” ~ Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR

[“Source-smallbiztrends”]