A bit of delimna considering a pen name and launching social media campaign...

4 replies
I've been running my article writing and internet marketing services business for about a year now using a pen name. This is also the name I wrote my first novel under, which I'm about to put on Amazon. But here's the thing.

Now that I'm moving out of the services industry a little bit and more into the marketing world, I want to get more active on social media--facebook, twitter, linkedin, and keeping a regular blog. Here's my small dilemna.

I've got two facebook accounts (shhh..don't tell). One is for my pen name and one is for my real name. The thing is that I hardly ever use the one for my pen name and am constantly active on the one tied to my real name. Obviously because that's where my friends are. Also, I feel like I can really be myself there, let my true personality shine (warts and all), and people get a kick out of my sense of humor, etc--and I think my target market in IM will too.

Not to mention that the greatest leverage, IMO, when starting out in social media or launching a self-published book, are the contacts you ALREADY have.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do to merge the two. I could just message all my friends and add them to my professional account--many but not all of them already know I write and conduct business under another name. And then I could primarily focus on that account and shut the other down.

Or I could keep my pen name just for my books and my services business, but that means whatever I do in IM, it won't be as easy to use the credibility I've already built working as a freelance provider and making contacts in the industry.

It's probably not that big of a deal since I"m still fairly new--and I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill--but it has been holding back my social media efforts,so some input would be great.

Has anyone else faced a similar decision, and how did you deal with it?

Cheers,
James
#bit #campaign #delimna #launching #media #pen #social
  • Profile picture of the author JoshuaG
    I'm sure in the end you'll come to your own conclusion about what is best.

    But I would suggest this:

    Use both, but treat them differently.

    I have friends on facebook that I promote my business to, but I treat them just like I do in real life. When I message them with something business related I let them know its because I could use their help in building my business and I only ask them to help by doing things that serve them in a way they might genuinely benefit.

    If I built a pen name facebook account I probably would interact with them in a good-natured, considerate way...but a bit less personally. You know?

    I guess the bottom line is that both can be useful in helping your business but if you treated them both the same way you would be doing yourself and them a disservice.

    Choosing one over the other would complicate things and force you to compromise to cater to both at once which I believe would result in less success.
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    • Profile picture of the author uncleN
      I for one think that the trends for everything is moving to more transparency and no secrets. Everyone will know everything about everyone, so plan accordingly. I am sure you want to be successful, so in time your pen name will come out and everyone will know it and your real name.

      Also consider the time/effort of building up two brands, your pen name and real name. I feel as though everyone is a brand, building two is a lot harder than building one.
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