Far too many have discovered the hard way that social media channels speak to wide audiences, and when you’re building a personal brand that’s different than your corporate brand, you must always be mindful of the impact of one on the other.

Consider this scenario: You’ve “Friended” a business associate on Facebook and he rants in a sarcastic and mocking tone on a daily basis about his daily commute into the city, and then shares personal information about his party habits. How uncomfortable will it be the next time you’re face to face in a business meeting?

It’s kind of like how odd would it be to hold a meeting with a customer sitting around the kitchen table with your family? Really odd…for both of you. You’d be far more comfortable inviting them to your office conference room where you’d serve coffee and bagels.

Let’s be clear. There’s a place to talk business in social media and a place to talk to your friends. Knowing the difference will advance your business brand and save you many an embarrassment down the road.

The problem is that often people don’t understand the difference and haven’t devised strategies to keep the two separate. Here are a few suggestions:

• When business associates want to be friends in your personal social media space, cordially direct them to your professional space. For example, keep your Facebook friends pretty much to those who know you personally. (And, never allow someone you don’t know personally to friend you on Facebook!) When a business acquaintance, customer, potential customer, or someone you don’t know personally wants to be your friend on Facebook, direct them to your LinkedIn profile and ask them to connect with you there. Explain that you’ll gladly share your professional interests with them in that space.
• Establish professional and social presences in social media. You aren’t limited (in most instances) to just one profile. Be clear about which profiles are personal and which are professional, so that your audience is equally clear. Your status postings should never cross over between the two.
• When attaching images to profiles, consider using your logo in lieu of a photo of yourself on professional profiles, or use a professional photo on your professional channels and a casual one on your personal channels.
• Finally, don’t ever post something that could be embarrassing to you anywhere on the Internet. Despite your desire to keep some space personal, your face and voice is out there and accessible to anyone, no matter how many protections you put in place. Be smart about what you post, period.