If you have a blog and a business, this might sound familiar.

You’re trying to be honest and authentic so you can stand out against the monotonous congealed blob that is the Internet.

(Just kidding, I love you, Internet.)

But when you start to incorporate your real personality and experiences into stories that your clients and potential clients will read, you reach a point where you have to step back and wonder:

When it comes to business blogging, is honesty ALWAYS a good thing?

This was one of the many subjects that came up during my chat with story coach Lianne Picot earlier this week. Lianne interviewed me for her show Story Powered, where she talks with smart people about all things storytelling.

Listen to the full interview right here.

What’s the deal with blogging? An excerpt from Story Powered:

LIANNE: I see it a lot. The question is, “Okay, I’m going to blog, and I’m going to put my writing out there; however, I want to be seen as an expert, so I don’t know if I want to share stories about me failing or being vulnerable because I’m worried that people will judge me and they’ll think I’m not as much of an expert as I say.”

What’s your take on that? How do you work with your clients to get beyond that worry?

ME: That’s a totally reasonable concern. Here’s what I’d say: I think it can really help you to show some of your vulnerabilities and quirks because they make you human. It makes you three-dimensional, a real person for the reader. Think about real life: you don’t necessarily want to be friends with that person who is perfect and super polished and doesn’t have any flaws or weaknesses.

But at the same time you want to be professional and make sure you don’t share things that diminish your credibility or your authority; you don’t want to share things that will make people less likely to hire you.

So if you went through a difficult period in your business, for example, and you’re considering writing about that, be aware of the way you’re framing it. Have you really gotten over the things that you’re talking about?

Do you feel that you’re in a new spot now where you can write about it in the past tense with a new confidence and authority, and you can turn what you’ve experienced into a valuable lesson? That can be great. If you’re in the middle of it? Maybe hold back.

You don’t want people to think you’re in a place where you can’t be helpful to them. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes and ask yourself, “Would this make me less likely to want to work with me right now?”

LIANNE: I agree, and I think that whether you’re a business coach or any kind of coach, for sure, and also as an organization: the overcoming story—you have to have overcome. Don’t share your problems unless you’ve overcome them because you’re not being helpful.

[Tweet “Don’t blog about your business problems unless you’ve overcome them. – @verygoodstories “]

My rule of thumb is always, if your audience is going to feel sorry for you, or has to look after you, then you’re not in the right place. You’re not telling the right story. You need to overcome, because they want to be inspired and know that you’re someone who can hold their hand and take them to the next level. I love that.

The other piece too is, again with blogging, you talk about being human. Do you use humour one week and inspiration the next week?

How do we create a tone for our blog that is consistent but also recognizes that we have different aspects of (ourselves)?

ME: That’s a great question. I think that “voice” is confidence. Often people come to me and say “How do I find my voice?” or “I haven’t found my voice yet!”—this is almost a mythologized thing we talk about. I really think that it’s just the confidence to write as you.

Once you start to do that, you will generate some consistency even if the subject matter, the focus, or maybe what’s going on in that moment shifts a little bit; it’s still going to be your voice coming through because you’ve settled into that, and you’re learning to write as you speak. Not exactly how you speak, but catching some of those nuances and some of that personality.

You want to seem human—you don’t want to seem flat or overly rehearsed or polished. The more you’re yourself, the more you’ll bring in clients who have similar personality traits and values, because they’re picking up what you’re really about, and they’re saying “Yes, I like that, I think we’d get along, I’d think we’d connect.” And that’s really amazing—the ability to do that online is incredible. It’s something you want to make sure you take advantage of.

LIANNE: I think that’s one of the best reasons for blogging that you’ve just hit on there. You’re going to get to the right people. And so that investment of time in blogging and writing and sharing your stories and being yourself, it requires some reflection by the way, everybody: it’s about finding who you are through the writing and doing the work, but it’s also about reflecting on yourself and what you’ve learned from things that have happened to you. That’s major.

But going back to one of my original questions, why would we invest so much time in blogging if it doesn’t have a financial return? And I think that’s one of the best answers: the return on investment is that you get the right people in front of you and you can move forward more quickly.

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There’s something kind of meta about that final section

Of course, I didn’t realize it at the time.

Lianne and I met on LinkedIn—I can’t exactly remember how—and could probably tell from reading each other’s writing that we had similar values and perspectives. She was such a pleasure to chat with, it felt like I’d known her for a while! But such is the Internet, done right.

I edited that excerpt a little, by the way. But don’t fret—you can listen to the entire show right here (there’s also an iTunes link).

And click here to learn more about my Summer Blog Boost special offer, mentioned on the show.

Tell me your stories about storytelling

Do you share your vulnerabilities and quirks in your blog? Have you ever shared an “overcoming” story?

If so…what happened next? Let me know in the comments!