So this is not new advice. You know that you can’t just post links to your product or content on social media over and over again and expect results. But I feel like a lot of the advice out there says that you need to also respond to people and post other helpful content that relates to your niche. And that is absolutely good advice – don’t get me wrong. You should absolutely follow it.

But I think it should even go a step further – at least for small, creative based businesses where you’re the face of the brand. I think you need to also post about stuff that’s completely unrelated to your business, your niche, your industry, whatever.

Let me explain – I don’t think you need to just go off the handle and post about everything you think about throughout the day. You don’t need to delve into every single personal interest you have on your business’s social media accounts.

But what you can do is pick one or two things that you like that aren’t exactly related to your business and talk about them every so often. This does a couple of things:

• it adds more personality to your brand. If you’re a creative business owner, especially a solo business owner, this can make your brand even stronger. Let’s say, for example, that you want your brand to come across as fun. In those cases, you can (and should) talk about things that people think of as fun, even when they’re not focused on your industry. If all you do is try to sell things but use fun colors in your branding, people might not be getting than fun vibe that you’re trying to put out there. But they probably will if you post about all of the fun stuff you did over the weekend or whatever else you consider to be fun.
• it opens up the door for more people to connect with you. People love connecting with others who have common interests. Sure, you might have common interests that actually relate to your business. But it’s not always super easy for people to come up with thoughtful responses to your business content. But when you post about other things, it can be easier for people to share some quick input. And that can help you sort of break the ice and ultimately form more long-term relationships with people online. Honestly, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve connected with because I posted something about The Office or they posted something about another show that I love.
• it helps you stick to your niche where it counts. Let’s be honest – we all have tons of really varying interests. And they can’t all fit into one neat little box all the time. However, it’s important to have a clearly outlined niche if you’re going to blog or create official business content. Otherwise, your readers or customers might get confused or not really know what to expect from you. But if you share some of those other interests on social media, it can help you sort of satisfy that desire to share your other interests so that you don’t feel the need to cover too many different subjects where it counts – unless you can find a way to really bring those other things into your niche (catch me finding excuses to write about TV every now and again).

There are plenty of different ways to do this. And no one way is better than the others. I choose to talk about TV a lot. Sometimes food. These weren’t super calculated decisions – I just like those things and I used social media more as a personal thing than a business thing for years. But I have noticed that those things help me connect with more people than I would otherwise. And a lot of those people have gone on to read my blog and follow me on other platforms.

If you’re running an accounting business or you have a larger company and you don’t serve as sort of the face of the business – then this probably doesn’t really apply to you. Personally, I always appreciate when brands show a little personality and have a little fun with social media. But I realize that for some it might be more trouble than it’s worth.

But for you – creative solopreneur, small business owner, or blogger – I really feel like injecting some personality and taking a break from the constant biz-related updates is good both for you and your brand.

So here’s your action plan. Write down a list of your personal interests. Cross off the things that directly relate to your brand. Then circle one or two of the remaining items that aren’t directly related, but don’t contradict your personal brand in any way. Then make a point to post about those things every once in awhile on whatever social media platforms you use.

Maybe you’re a fashion blogger or vintage seller, but you also enjoy knitting. Maybe you’re a business consultant but you also have a passion for travel. You don’t have to talk politics or religion or anything that makes you uncomfortable. Just post some light, fun, or interesting content that can help out your brand and help you make some real connections online.

What do you think? What sorts of things do you share on social media that don’t directly relate to your business?