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Is Facebook Destroying Your Business Opportunities?

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Dis-LikeWhile I’m most known for presenting on Sales Intelligence (how to search for information on other people), I am also often brought in to discuss the opposite — Personal Branding (how to control what others find when they are searching on you).

During my program preparation, I’ve witnessed and heard stories from executives where people have done damage to their reputations based on what they post on Facebook. Worse, this damage has caused the posters to miss out on major business opportunities. Most often, the person posting had no idea the damage they did to their own business or career.

While many of the posts were pure stupidity, some exhibited the “law of unintended consequences,” meaning the post itself was rather innocent, yet it was negatively interpreted by others. Following are some examples of both:

  • A financial services firm was looking to hire a video production company for 10 on-location video shoots, averaging about $12,000 per shoot. If all went well in year one, the firm anticipated needing 20 videos in year two, and possibly for many years thereafter. A production company came highly recommended and based on a review of the company’s reel, website, testimonials, and the founder’s LinkedIn profile, the company was going to get called in for a bid — it would be their project to lose. Prior to picking up the phone, the firm’s marketing director went on Facebook, as he wanted to get more information on the production company’s founder (as she had some very impressive professional credentials and he wanted to see her friends and who he might know). What the marketing director saw was shocking. The founder’s Facebook posts looked like they were written by a junior high student, and they contained numerous grammatical errors. In addition, there were vitriolic posts against people who she disagreed with, other business professionals, and even past clients. Needless to say, the call never went out, and she lost out on nearly a half-a-million dollars in business. And she’ll never know.
  • I was delivering the keynote presentation at a large association meeting. In preparation, I randomly researched a number of the association’s members and their companies so I could ensure I tailored my talk to their interests. One of the members, the president of a large company, had multiple Facebook posts sharing his disdain for labor unions. I can only think that he thought his Facebook page was private. Why? Because in doing further research, one of the newspaper articles I read was about the upcoming negotiations this president was about to have with the union representing his employees. Oops.
  • An exceptionally talented woman posted on Facebook that her husband had a “successful medical checkup that morning, and although all was looking good, there was still a long road ahead.” She probably just wanted to share the news with her friends. But the “law of unintended consequences” was about to strike. This woman was also on the short list to get hired for a six-figure marketing job. After the post, she was not even included in the final list. The small business that was going to hire her didn’t want to take the risk of large health-care cost increases, or that the woman might one day request weeks off to care for her ill husband. Unfair? Yes. Heartless? Probably. Illegal? Maybe. Realistic? Absolutely.
  • In preparation for a very important meeting, an executive who had attended my Know More! Selling program wanted to practice what he had learned. To ensure relevancy and that he provided value, he went online to research the other meeting attendees. In reviewing one of the attendee’s Facebook pages, he saw a post she made about the newly crowned Miss America, Nina Davuluri, whose parents are from India. This woman was aghast that a “foreigner” was named to represent our country (Miss Davuluri was actually born in New York) and the racist post continued, even comparing Miss Davuluri to Osama Bin Ladin. Needless to say, the executive brought his six-figure opportunity to a different company. In addition, there were more than two dozen others who added equally racist comments to the original post. Of course with a mouse click, it was easy to see who they were, where they worked, the businesses they owned, etc.
  • A company executive posted on his Facebook page his strong support for a Republican candidate in an upcoming election. What this executive didn’t know was that a major new business prospect was a strong Democratic supporter. The new business prospect took his seven-figure contract elsewhere. There’s nothing wrong with posting your political feelings online, just know that in so doing, you could be alienating 49% or 51% of your prospects and clients, depending on your geography.

Remember that nothing is private online. Even though you may have set your Facebook and other social media settings to “friends only,” over time, as you click on links, watch videos, and play games, those setting may return to default, which typically means “wide open for anyone to see.” In addition, what you post online can be archived, and made searchable, forever.

Happy posting.


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