This post was inspired and sponsored by Domain.ME, the provider of the personal domains that end in .ME. As a company, they aim to promote thought leadership to the tech world. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was asked to write a sponsored post to talk about being authentic online. This is easy for me as I have always felt that honesty is the best policy, and when blogging, it is the only policy. I could also write paragraph after paragraph on those who I feel are not authentic online, but they are already hurting the blog “industry” without me adding fuel to the fire.
My blog is filled with happy family times! And they are all true! But the dark side of our family life I save for small Facebook blurbs. I have a tween who is days away from becoming a teen and I love him dearly: he is smart, intelligent, witty and handsome. And he would be a middle school drop out if I did not insert myself into his evening routine of homework. This is the first time I have shared this on the blog, although as I have said, I have shared it on my personal Facebook page (which sometimes gets more hits than the blog!). My son is in an honors program and has made honor roll the last four semesters. The ugly truth is that his first middle school semester we left him alone and he almost failed out of the honors program. I made it clear that if the program was too difficult he did not have to stay in it, but if he was smart enough to do better, then I insisted he perform up to his potential. His grades shot up when we started to micro manage his time. And when I say we, I mean me, like the dutiful stay at home parent in almost all households that makes sure everything is handled. I am always authentic when I write about my family, I just make a big effort to reflect the positive. I do not want my blog traffic to come from daily complaints about my husband, my roller coaster sex drive, or my hard to handle tween. I can be real by being honest, and not destroying my family for blog traffic. That is my truth.
Being honest is especially important now as bloggers seem to be under a microscope, the questions I see popping up, are we worth what we are paid, do we really have any influence, is blogging past its prime? When I write family stories I try to be as honest as possible, and the same is true for my product reviews. When they are organic and from the heart, I know I did the best job, writing about the real me. There are many who will do and write anything for a dollar, that failure to be authentic hurts us all, as has come to light recently when a parent blogger blew up the Internet over the weekend with accusations flying all around, filled with negative comments. She has gone viral by being nasty, that is not authentic in my world.
Lastly, as one of my loyal readers, please share with me why and/or how you stay authentic online! Please leave a comment on the blog and let me know, it would be a great way for us all to learn from each other!
About Domain.ME:
Domain.ME is a domain name provider that allows anyone (personal and/or business) to create a unique, safe identity online with a domain ending in .ME. They are uniquely positioned to provide you with the space you need to build your personal brand and create a captivating online persona that’s a direct reflection of you.
I actually haven’t heard of this domain site before. If I decide to start another blog I will check it out!
This sounds really cool! I’ve never actually heard of this before, but I love the idea.
This .me domain idea is fantastic! I can see how having a super specific domain like that could be beneficial to branding.
The .me domain is a great idea. I will have to look into this. I would feel bad if I wrote a blog post and I wasn’t truthful.
I love the current blog news reference, and being real! I don’t understand all that mess, but I love your response and everything that it is. Way to go! I keep things real by not always tidying up for photos. Things are messy, and I’ve never used Facetune!
I have always made it a point to be myself online. I hate being fake and always try to portray myself the way I am in real life.
It’s important that I stay authentic online. I try to write only about things I like and am interested in.
I am very much the same as you. I’m optimistic and like to share what I like and enjoy!
One of the things I have always loved both about your blog and your social networks is your voice–bold, unabashed, unafraid, funny, gentle and completely your own. It is what keeps all of us coming back and fawning all over you and wanting to read up on your adventures and your small and big milestone life moments. You continue to inspire me to speak my truth and share the things that are authentically me.
THIS! ” I can be real by being honest, and not destroying my family for blog traffic.” I try to be authentic by weaving a story into my posts. I don’t follow any traditional writing styles and I know my gramer is the pits! But I enjoy doing what I am doing, and they day I don’t enjoy it anymore is the day I will quietly tap out.
I think you always need to stay true to yourself. Stand up for what you believe in. If it’s not the right fit for you, pass on it. The second that you start being inauthentic, your audience is going to see that and move on. We’ve built a community based on being who we are, why mess that up with trying to be someone we’re not?
This is perfect. I love to see real. Real doesn’t mean negative, it just means REAL… which you most definitely are.
Mitch – you are very authentic and I love you for that. Your adoption story of your son was beautiful and made me cry. While I don’t always get very personal about everything that happens in my family, I share snippets. My first rule is “will it help anyone”. I shared about our struggles with our youngest son, with his special needs. However, I don’t talk about my oldest child as much anymore, because I respect his journey and I worry about him getting bullied (as he was earlier in the school year). I don’t discuss my marriage as a general rule and will leave discussions of my crappy childhood off the table out of respect for my mother. Blogging isn’t dead, but we get to decide when and what we will share. On our own terms and our own timetable. Maybe it’s time to create my own .me site. Love you, Mitch!
You are very real The way I see it you are always willing to lend a helping hand. So I will probably write you about a problem I am having one of these days.
I guess the real you will show up after some consistency. The first few ones will always show the happy you and the rest? Let’s hope it’s the same!
In all of the years I have known you online, you have always seemed sincere to me. I love that you let your real self show through in your writing.
It is very important to stay authentic to yourself and to your readers online. Thanks for sharing some of your family with us.
I agree, I think it is important to be real and honest with our readers. I will have to check out this domain.
I love this and how you keep it real which I can appreciate!
The more personal posts I write about are more journal style which might not look as nice to a company that I would want to work with but for me that is who I am and I will not change the way I write just to work with a brand.
I’m a lot like you Mitch. I won’t say much about when I lost my son over 5 years ago, but I do sometimes talk about it on FB. More of my friends that knows me from childhood can comfort me there….and they don’t read my blog…shame on them, right. You’re a great parent!!!
I do not share anything personal that involves my husband or son or my parents or siblings… it is not my place to do that, and we all know (or should), once you put it out there it IS always out there. I would not do anything that could hurt my family in any way. So, whether people think I’m authentic or not really doesn’t mean anything to me. Besides, I believe you attract what you put out, so I generally only share the good. I’m all for REAL as long as it doesn’t affect or hurt the people I love. All this goes for my blog and my social media channels. 🙂 This is why I only agree to do sponsored posts or reviews of things I already know I like or want.
I’m this way in my IRL, too, though. In fact, only 3 people ever hear any bad stuff if there is any bad stuff going on in my life… they are my sounding boards, my confidants, my supporters, and the only three I vent to — my husband, my mom, and my bff. Hey, you really do have to have someone you can unload on or get advice from, from time to time. 🙂
Something else I want to add: I hear people, especially on Facebook, say things like, “I tell it like it is!” or similar phrases, but what they really mean is, I tell it like it is when it suits me and it’s my excuse to be mean and hurtful. You can be truthful and authentic, in fact, you should be, but my Mom taught me tact, and I would like to see people on the internet be more tactful and less rude. And as she also said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
I’m sorry Mitch that I’ve went on and on, I guess your post inspired me and I had more to say than I thought. LOL! Great post!
I love your comment, all of it!
Honesty is for sure the best policy. I’ve seen A LOT of talk about this lately and its frustrating. For me, I post a lot of happiness, and a lot of sponsored content but if I don’t like something I’ll say it and if its a product I’ll let the company know before posting, because I think that is just the more professional thing to do.
As for personal stories and such, I have kind of stepped away from that, but being authentic and real is something I really pride myself on. Great post.
I totally agree, I can be positive and still be authentic. Life isn’t always perfect, that still doesn’t mean I need to complain about it to everyone for some site traffic.
I believe if you have a steady following, your readers know if you are being honest. That domain is a new one to me.
Thank you for writing this (as if we needed more reasons to adore you)! I have always been authentic and real (the girl with a sheitel, eats only kosher, wears skirts, etc) and you have always respected that! I have just started to open up about my dad’s Alzheimer’s, which has so much material a book could come out of it. In my post about Walt Disney World (seriously the Happiest Place on Earth) I shared how we almost didn’t make it because my husband was hospitalized with a kidney stone the previous week. I really like how I can weave the brands and products I support into my posts. I hope that someone will be inspired or even know they are not alone in their good and bad moments. Cheers to all you do Mitch!!!!!
Love this post Mitch! I’m with you, I don’t share it all on my blog – I can’t imagine my family would be too happy with all that at times, but what I do share is 100% authentic and not always roses. I’ve shared so much about losing my mom and the grief that follows along that journey. It’s real. It’s authentic. It’s me.
I think this is the most important reason that blogs grew so much. The “How to.” How to get through the tough things, death, kids illnesses, and anything else that makes us feel alone. We forgot that we have that huge value to help others with our real, authentic stories.
Authenticity is super important. I try to do that by talking about things I love and already use. I also think that when you stand by your word, people respect you for that.
Being real is so important. It’s to hard to keep up the facade of being anything other than what you are. I stick to what I know and what I’m passionate about to remain authentic.
I understand exactly what you mean when you say how some bloggers are making it hard for the rest of us online for authenticity. Sponsored post arent the problem – its the people who just paint this rosy rainbow and fairy picture of a happy go lucky perfect life on a blog and no truth to it. People see through that.
How I keep my authentic self is to share my real experiences and connect the best I can.
Love hearing some of your philosophy, Mitch. It’s a fine line between respecting your family’s privacy and writing about your real lives on the Internet. Well done, sir.
I stay real online by not sharing anything I don’t really feel. If I write about it, I like it or love it or hate it – I have an opinion on it.
Honestly, I never heard of this before and it looks like a great idea. Glad you share this with us
I think it is important not to sacrifice yourself for blogging.
I like the way you stay authentic.
I never heard of domain.ME but I’m so glad you share it. I like your being authentic.
I think it is very important to be honest and genuine all the time, not just online. I also agree that you don’t need to embarrass or humiliate yourself, friends or family in the process. It feels a lot better to build others up than it does to tear them down.