Earlier this week, my article about the intersection of blogging and dating appeared on Match.com’s online dating magazine. The article covers some of the pros and cons of blogging about your dates, how to avoid revealing TMI, and what to do when someone blogs about you. All of which has me thinking about how to handle the urge to blog about clients.
Personally, I do sometimes post about clients and editors I work with, but it’s usually to demonstrate a point about how I handled a certain situation or serve as a springboard for discussing a larger freelance topic. That’s where I get most of my inspiration! I never name names (even when someone has slighted me and I’m boiling with anger), and I always use broad strokes so that it’s not totally obvious who I’m talking about.
A few times I’ve saved a post as a draft, then gone back later to delete it (when it doubt, save your draft and reread it once you’ve calmed down). The act of writing the post is often theurapeutic in itself so I don’t really need to publish a rant. Overall, though, I try to keep the tone upbeat, and so far my blogging hasn’t been an issue with any of my clients or editors.
What about you? Has blogging ever jeopardized one of your personal or professional relatioships? And with blogs and social media encouraging us to tell all, where do you draw that line between your public and private spheres?
I have blogged about my clients. I recently wrote a piece about how to evaluate the economic health of a publishing company and I specifically focused on Pearson Education, for whom I've done dozens of textbook supplement projects.
I also recently blogged about a specific interaction with an editor, but I kept both the editor and the company anonymous, even though the post was a positive one.
I blog about my clients, in that I talk about my experiences as a freelance journalist, but my clients seem to like it. This is probably because I love my clients – I try to work only with publications I really like, I find our styles mesh better that way – so write positive things about them.
I blog about clients, but mostly to chat about my writing life and processes.
I don't blog about my interaction with the company/editor, whether I'm happy with them or angry about an issue. I feel that is private between us, and worry that it would be a betrayal of their trust if I spoke about our relationship on a public forum.
Never by name!
This is such a great discussion topic, Susan! Like most everyone here, I don't use names. I try to focus on projects rather than companies, just help keep identifying details to a minimum.
Since I use LinkedIn and Facebook to keep in touch with my networks, I do mention industries and projects when marketing myself. One client specifically asked that I not mention working with her on Facebook, because she didn't want *her* clients to know they are re-branding the company.
Interesting! So it sounds like most people *do* blog about clients in some form, but we're all careful about not bad mouthing someone by name. Makes sense to me! Has anyone had a blog entry backfire?
Not so far. My clients know I do mention their projects, and sometimes when it's relevant, I link to their sites. They see it as a benefit for them: one more person creating buzz about them.
When I started blogging, many years ago, it was about my personal life and my dating adventures. Blogging was a way to keep in touch with my friends in France and I was talking to them via the blog the same way I would in have in front of them. Then my blog became successful, so I started lightning up the references to the people I was interacting with: using letters instead of names, then trying to avoid using name at all… then my clients and professional associates started reading my blog and that's when I stopped blogging about my dating life. Too weird.
But I have to say, blogging about something personal like dating and being able to share those experiences was a very fun writing exercise. It also allowed me to take a distance on some too emotional situations, just because I had put them on "paper".
There is always, in the back of my mind, the idea of going back there, maybe under a pseudonym and changing all the names; because, it's fun, satisfying… and a lot of people actually like to read it…