Sing online in your own voice. It will help to establish your brand.
We recently wrote about being careful when you use content online(that is, make sure you’re allowed to use it). From visual to audial: Today we’re writing about using your own voice online.
What do we mean? Have you ever listened to Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline (think “Lay Lady Lay”) and compared it with just about any of his other albums? What’s with the crooning, Bob? You’re naturally nasal, dude, not a crooner. We love you because of the nasal. We think Bob was not being true to his voice. (We tend to think he feels the same way because he abandoned that style pretty quickly.) We think you should be true to your voice, online.
And we don’t mean your personal voice, but your business voice. When you have your professional hat on, or when your business or enterprise is communicating as a business or enterprise, what is the voice and tone? Funny? Serious? Quirky? Morose? Ironic? Your business has a voice. You need to be true to it. Stick with it whenever you are communicating online. For a dose of synesthesia, people can smell it when you’re not using your voice. You need to be careful, of course, if you hire someone to post online for you. They should understand and be able to replicate your voice.
Someone told us recently they really liked the vibe (i.e, the voice) on our website. They found it unlike that of many other websites, whose messaging they viewed as somewhat expected. Our professional voice comes somewhat naturally for us, but we do work at it. It’s our business voice, after all, and it’s part of the flavor of our brand. We don’t doubt that it turns some people away, but maybe it would be harder to work with the people who are turned away by that voice.
Truly, GoatCloud’s voice is an extension of my personal voice, but it’s not the same, and yours should not be the same either. Chances are you would not tell the same jokes to your friends (as a friend) as you would tell to potential clients (as a business owner). Which is not to say that you personally have bad taste in jokes. It’s just that your business voice is different from your personal voice, and you should not confuse the two.
Another example, Your personal Facebook page should not have the same content as your Facebook business page, unless, I repeat, unless, you post no personal stuff on your personal page. Each page is unique and should not have the same voice. You may personally sound off on hot button topics of the day. Not necessarily a good move on the professional side, unless you deal professionally with hot button issues.
So. Identify your professional voice. Be true to it and sing loud and long online.
Image source: Peter Dawson singing with New South Wales Police, 1930s / Sam Hood in Flickr Commons
