One of the reasons why people hesitate to start blogging, especially as businesspeople, is that they are nervous about having their privacy disturbed. That is completely understandable. Our lives are already so much more transparent, and while in some way that’s good, in other ways, it feels – and often is – invasive and unsafe.

The beauty of blogging, of course, is that it is a bit more casual, that it invites clients and potential business partners to get to know you a bit better.

How, then, can you let your hair down a bit and at the same time not violate your privacy?privacy

One way is what I call a Blogging Privacy Strategy.

It is quite simple. Sit down and make a list of the non-business activities and topics that you often discuss with your friends and family. Can’t think of any? Just remember the last Thanksgiving Dinner with aunt Maude or when you went to a brunch and movie with the Jeffersons. What did you talk about?

Maybe the list looks like this:

  • Hockey
  • Stephen Harper
  • Aunt Maude’s arthritis
  • Your son Matt’s homework
  • News and events in Aunt Maude’s hometown, Winnipeg

Now the question is – what aspects of these topics would you feel totally comfortable talking about? Which ones would be 100% off limits?

Let’s take Stephen Harper, our sometimes not-so-beloved prime minister. If you are now a staunch supporter of the Conservative party, maybe you feel quite private about that summer a few decades ago when you thought it would be cool to be a wild-eyed radical and had a shouting match with young Steve. And perhaps on the other hand, Stephen Harper’s economic strategies are something you’ll happily discuss with anyone who’ll stand still long enough.

Now you take another piece of paper and divide it into two columns: Absolutely yes, and Absolutely no.

Your wild-eyed past goes into the “Absolutely no” column and “Harper’s economics” goes into the “Absolutely yes” column.

And so you go down the list. Chances are you’ll have more than one “Absolutely yes” or “Absolutely no” per topic. Chances are also that as you do this, you’ll come up with more topics.

Within less than an hour, there you have it: Your Blogging Privacy Strategy.

Bonus? You’ll also have a nice big list of topics to write about.

(Photo courtesy of leep)