Why Small Business and Personal Laundry Do Not Mix

Back in the spring, I taught an e-commerce course to residents of a women’s shelter.  While there are many factors I would change if I had to do it again, there were some areas where I am stumped today.

One day, when discussing content and legal issues, I shared a time when I posted online some not so nice things about a former supervisor.  While in tone with the blog (mine) and possibly entertaining, my language did cross the borders of professionalism.

“What did you say?” asked one of my more energetic students.

“Something profane", I replied.

“But what could you possibly say that would hurt your business?” she countered.

A few minutes later, I said the word used and explained that using rough content was not the way to build an online presence.

This lady now had a confused look on her face and it was one of her last appearances.

Today, I don’t know if I was wrong for not taking more time to explain or if the class was meant for a different demographic.  I’m happy to report that a small fraction of the women did get it since they were the ones most likely to put the teachings to use.

In the past few months, I have encountered some online professionals I wish had used a filter when it came to content.

The first was an author that I have a slight rapport with as her blog (which is part of a major online media conglomerate) has had great advice and writing resources.  When her posts began to taper off, I figured it was a job or school taking her away.

When I heard from her again, she went into a rant about how a subcontractor attempted to slander her name because of a late payment.  Though I had strong opinions about this (which I did voice on my blog), I mostly felt this is something she should have kept to herself.  Misunderstandings happen and you either resolve or find a happy medium if you don’t want to admit to being at fault.  Period.

The second incident is a marketing professional that has given some decent small business advice on her blog.  While she has taken time to post personal information, I normally look past it and get to the good stuff.  Last week, I got an email from her with the slang term for urination in the subject line.  OK.  The next day, I actually read the contents and it basically was a weak attempt to get a dialog going on word usage.  If she were pushing an editorial opinion blog, I could see this being a subject matter.  Yet, her demographic is women who have or are starting small businesses.  On behalf of those women, I can say with confidence that we really don’t care.  I’m also biased because of discrepancies I’ve had with products and services that I paid for.  Though it has been resolved, some transactions came with a lot of back and forth until I copied a PayPal statement to confirm my claims.

Mistakes happen and we as humans cannot be impeccable at all times but many should look up netiquette before embarking on a career that involves the art of careful communication.