My kids have already enjoyed two rounds of treat gathering — first at our church’s annual Trunk or Treat, and then at school parties. We have enough candy in the house to last for weeks, divided by category into sandwich bags. My girls are serious about their Halloween candy.

Alas, they’ll dress up again tonight and traipse through the neighborhood collecting (more) candy.

As we prepared for Halloween this year, I thought about how many of us wear costumes every day when we go online to interact with our Customers. We may think we need to be someone else to be successful interacting online.

Mike Sansone says it well in this new post: just be yourself!

We will be most successful in connecting with others online when we allow who we are to shine through, when we are authentic and genuine.

Here are three ideas about how to be yourself online:

  1. Give people a glimpse of your work life. Talk about what you are doing in your business. Share about big accomplishments but share about everyday ups and downs, as well. What do you most enjoy about your business? What do you DO during a regular work day? When you share details about what you do for work , it will help people identify and connect with you.
  2. Share about your life beyond work. Share photos from your personal life, to the degree that  you are comfortable doing so: favorite places, activities that you enjoy. Talk about your favorite sports teams if you’re into sports. Talk about your hobbies and interests.
  3. Invite your fans and followers to share their lives with you. Look for ways to interact with your Customers in real ways, also. Ask them questions. Find out what they enjoy. Ask them about their hobbies, interests, families, and activities.

Just be you! Take off your mask, save your costumes for Halloween parties, and be real online, today and every day.

For the record, my favorite candy is Peanut M&Ms. I’ve already eaten all of the ones my kids got at their other Halloween events. If you have any extra, feel free to send them my way.

What’s your favorite candy?

I created a video on this topic for Toledo Biz Connect TV. I hope you’ll head over there, watch my show, and leave a comment. 

And: big news! We’re launching our free Social Media Quick Start Guide tomorrow. If you want to be one of the first people to get it, sign up here.