post by Stephanie Nelson
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how political comments can affect your business, especially in a tense political climate like we’re in now. Over the last couple weeks, I’ve seen how that can translate to social media, too.
I’ve recently had friends looking for recommendations for good or services on Facebook. Things like house cleaners, in-home health care, coffeehouse and restaurant recommendations. In EVERY instance, folks commented saying they owned a business that could provide the goods or services requested. And in every instance, there was at least one of these comments which prompted my friends to say some version of, “[His/Her] profile pic shows support for [political candidate friend does not support]. They’re not getting my money.” And I’m phrasing it like this because it’s gone both ways with my friends; there’s not just one party not wanting to spend their money with supporters of the other party.
Obviously, it’s up to each individual as to whether they want their personal politics and passions to affect their bottom line. My personal philosophy is that if I am passionate about something to post about it and that post offends you, I’m probably not the best fit for being your voice online anyway. Other colleagues of mine feel differently, though. Rather than lose out on a potential client, they keep their profile photos and such non-political, and if they choose to post their position on a cause, they make sure the privacy on it is locked down so only friends can see and/or not post on a totally public outlet like Twitter or Instagram.
So what’s your take? Do you let your politics help determine a good fit for you, client-wise? Or do you try to keep politics out of your business?
Image courtesy ofvectorolie at FreeDigitalPhotos.net