Friday

Dicussion: Personality VS Professionalism

Finding the balance between having the right level of personality and professionalism is something I tend to worry about a lot. It's the way that I don't want to throw my personality at you; putting you in a situation where all you want to do is escape. Although, I also don't want to be overly-professional; to a point where everyone gets bored...and where a single part of what I say reflects who I am and the type of blogger I want to be. This discussion is all about whether you feel you need to have a certain level of personality, and how professional you feel you need to be, whilst making sure people remember you are a young(possibly teenage - like me!) blogger.
 
Personally, I think that you need to show you can be professional, especially when writing an email to a publisher and requesting ARC's, for example. This shows you know what you are doing, and that they are willing to send you the books because they realise you must be able to organise your time. If you sound professional through an email, these people want to look at your blog too, and it is probably a lot more likely to gain their interest if the simplest things are done: no spelling mistakes, formal language, and organised so, they are able to easily work out what it is you are offering. Even so, I think there are times when they want to see your personality. I do this by using Twitter, and talking to my blogging-buddies like I have known them forever. I follow publishers that I have review books from and here they can really see that I am just a teenager - and will moan about homework, and chat about book-boyfriends. Oh, and freak-out a huge amount about new book-to-film adaptation trailers.
 
I love chatting to people online, and getting to know those who I genuinely get-along with! It's also great to see someone being relaxed about what they are saying, and willing discuss their lives. This part of blogging is one of my favourites; understand someone's personality to a point where you ask them if they are OK, and want them to email you if they feel down. Also, it's a good-feeling to know you can email someone with no subject line and just write them one short sentence, all in capital letters, and it will start a whole conversation. Of course, you can't really do this when communicating with a publisher, or author talking about an interview or even if you want to attend an event.
 
Having a personality is also something high up on the 'Must Have' list. You shouldn't be afraid to be yourself when blogging, in fear of not being 'professional' enough. This is something I struggled with but, I end up smiling and laughing a lot more because I'm myself. You shouldn't feel like others have a bigger-personality so, are coincidentally more important. This isn't how it works! I prefer to see someone with a bit of personality, rather than trying to be too much to be professional. As your blog becomes more popular, I think you just sink into a mode of, "Wait - I shouldn't say that."
 
Just wink at people, instead!
 
All of this combined - my overall opinion is that there are times when professionalism is really important and other times where, you just need to be yourself and come-across as who you are. It's about being comfortable, and I know I wouldn't be always trying to be professional. I know when to adapt a different tone but, then I have my places where I feel I just need to talk and talk without worrying about sounding un-processional. This never means I go about swearing and ranting, I don't know why but I'm always immensely careful not to be offensive when tweeting or talking online. Anyone can see that tweet - a person in marketing and someone who was thinking about getting me involved with something - so, being considerate is even more worthwhile than keeping to rules that should be there for people who do this as a job. Not as a hobby where our plan is to discuss books and make sure people find the best-read!

What do you think?
Tell me in the comments!

14 comments:

  1. I think you just need to find a balance. I love getting to know a blogger better, because that's when they start to feel like friends :) I think being professional in emails is the most important thing.

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    1. Blogging friends are so important; I completely agree with how getting to know a blogger builds a relationship!
      Thanks for commenting, Mel!

      -Sophie:)

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  2. I've only been posting for just over a month however what you just wrote means a lot to me. I've not known where to really draw the line so have been feeling like people must think I'm a brick wall or something! I could not agree with you more and this has really helped me, especially what you said about being more relaxed on your twitter! Basically, thank you for writing this! :-)

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    1. I'm SO glad this post meant something to you, Georgia! I don't feel like I've been blogging long-enough to offer any award-winning advice, but if I've helped someone that that's a good thing! No problem! Twitter is such an important thing when blogging; I just feel that's where I'm really myself.

      -Sophie:)

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  3. Great post! I find it a bit weird when bloggers become *too* professional on Twitter. Like, there are some teen book bloggers that I used to be friends with and now they never tweet me or our other friends. And they hardly ever reply to mentions unless it's a well known blogger or author tweeting them. I think book bloggers like that need to remember their roots.

    I completely agree about being formal in emails to publishers etc. I always say 'Best wishes,' at the end of my emails to them which feels a bit weird but I know it's polite sooo...:P

    Back to Twitter, as you probably already noticed I don't really hold back on my personality because to me, if professional people can't accept who I really am then I'd rather not work with them. I love it when authors and publishers actually interact with it. :D

    This comment probably made no sense. Oops. Uhhhh anyway....awesome post as always! Going to tweet this blog post now, adios xD

    www.themilelongbookshelf.com

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment, Amber! I think it's really important to always remember where I came from. I mean, before I began blogging I was shy, quiet and un-confident; and just reading my posts from the first few months makes me cringe.

      When I read back emails to publishers I always laugh, I can never believe how formal I sound!

      OF COURSE, I'VE NOTICED! You're one of the biggest personalities, and we love you because of that!

      It made a lot of sense...I read your tweets, after-all!

      -Sophie

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  4. I definitely agree that finding the right balance of professionalism and being you is really important. It's always an advantage to come across as professionally as you can when contacting publishers and representing your blog. But it's also important to remember that it's a hobby not a job - even though it may feel like it. Being yourself makes blogging so much funner because you can fangirl with other awesome people. Being social in a way is also professional because you want to be as a approachable as possible and just being yourself is a great way to do that. Fantastic Post Sophie!

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    1. The making it not a hobby part of blogging is so important to me, because it involves reading and I never want to feel forced to pick up a book! You have to be yourself and comfortable, and of course, I completely agree with you about being social.

      Thank you so much, Sunny!

      -Sophie

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  5. I think it's all about finding the right balance. Sometimes I think adding personality will make your blog stand out from others but you also want to keep it professional so when you want to do a review book for a publisher they don't look at your blog and this she's not sophisticated enough. I don't know what the right balance is yet but I think once you've been blogging for a long while you sort of get the hang of it.

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    1. I think experience does play a part in it - as you get comfortable with the amount of your personality that you want to share, and your own writing style! What a great point, Francoise! Thanks for commenting!

      -Sophie:)

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  6. Personality probably is more important to me. Obviously you have to have some degree of professionalism online. There are just some things you can't say. Often I might read a post on some blog and I'm totally over powered by there personality. It's not a bad thing but it can be sometimes irritating when I don't necessarily agree with what they think.
    The best thing is getting to know a person through their posts. Afterwhile you see how people shine through their blogs. Instead of the girl behind the blog it's like the blog behind the girls. (-- that doesn't really make since but I hope you get what I'm saying...)
    Excellent post Sophie!
    Marian ^_^ x

    acertainperhaps.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you for your comment, Marian! Personality is so important...even if it does get too much sometimes! I'm not the only one who's careful when tweeting, then? I always worry that something will be taken the wrong way! No worries, I understand completely what you're saying!

      -Sophie:)

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  7. I totally agree with this post. I use a professional writing style on my blog, but I let my personality shine through. And on twitter I talk about my personal life and have ALL CAPS fangirl-y conversations with friends. In fact, twitter is where I met all my blogging friends and I not have a long chain of more personal emails going with one. You should maintain professionalism on social networks by being polite and not posting anything you wouldn't want potential employers to see, but I like seeing and showing a bit of personality, especially since I write relatively analytical reviews and stress about every word of business emails. This post is spot-on and I love it!

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    1. Thank you, Emily! I don't think anybody can use twitter without using CAPS in almost every-tweet! This comment has made me smile so much - I agree with you too!
      Sophie:)

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read - and comment on - this blog post! I read and reply to every comment, so feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer!

See you soon!

Sophie Louise