The Tribune

By D’Arcy Rahming

People buy products and services from whom they know and like. So becoming a local celebrity increases the prospects for your business to flourish...... provided people like you.

However, because you are human and will ultimately make very public mistakes, it can also hurt your product or service. For example, there is Tiger Woods, who had a very public break up with his wife after an extra-marital affair. The problem was that he was selling the image of a family man, so many of his sponsors pulled out because this image was no longer sellable.

In some circumstances you will be judged by your politics. So if your positions are clearly known, some people will feel you are not to be trusted, or that they do not want to support your business because of your political leanings. This is particularly true if you decorate your restaurant with your political interests or post your positions on your Facebook page.

I know many people who simply don’t care what the world knows about them, but for those of us that do, we should follow these simple guidelines below.

Keep private things private, and public things public. Once it’s out there, with today’s media, even if something happened years ago, it can be made as present as if it happened today. Posting an angry rant about how you feel about a person on the Internet is going to be there forever. Sending naked photos of yourself to significant others can later come back to haunt you. There are some things that need to be said and done face-to-face, and should never be put down or even said in an electronic format. We are truly in the age where Big Brother is watching us. And it can hurt your business.

So, for example, you should have a business page and a personal page when using Facebook. Settings for the business page should be public, and settings for your personal page should be private, so only your friends can see them. This means that on your personal page you should delete all people whp you have not met face-to-face, or redirect them to your business page. You should also speak to your children and make sure they understand this concept.

Celebrity marketing means that you are your brand. But remember to separate the ‘personal you’ from the ‘public you’. There are many children seeking jobs this summer because their labour is all that they have to sell. They are going to be in for a huge shock when employers view their Facebook pages and give them a pass or fail for what they see there.

• NB: D’Arcy Rahming holds an MBA from the prestigious Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Mr Rahming has clients in general tnsurance, retail, the health and medical fields, sports federations and financial services. He is also treasurer of the Bahamas Olympic Committee. To contact him he can be reached at DArcyRahmingsr@gmail.com.