Dogs, Balls & Social Media

While driving to work this morning a client called to share a recent story from the office. Of course there's lesson to be learned and so it is going to be titled "Dogs, Balls & Social Media."

My client was looking to forge a business partnership with a gentlemen in another country whom they had not met. In preparation for the meeting they were searching online for any information on the man outside of his business website. (A practice I encourage by the way.)

They stumbled upon the soon-to-be-associate's personal Facebook page which was not secure and personal. His profile picture was of his dog's balls. And not the kind that you see in this picture.

Everyone in the office immediately pulled up the man's page and began laughing at his sense of humor. While they found out that they in fact had something in common (a warped sense of humor) the question is: Is your dog's genitala the first impression you want to make? In most cases the answer is NO.

This senerio could have easily gone the other way and a prospective business associate could have been turned off and the meeting even cancelled. As it is now - everyone from the accountant to the president of the company will first think about dog's balls when they think of this man instead of the fantastic product that he developed.

The lesson is that nothing online is private or personal. Absolutely everything you post will be seen. Please make sure to cover your balls next time.