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What do you think of my new "About Me" idea? --- rather than link to a bio page, I'm directing folks to my LinkedIn profile. Why? To integrate my "dual lives."

I run a PR firm; that is my professional life --- after my family, the agency is my true passion: our work, our staff, our clients, are the lifeblood of my reputation.

I am also a blogger. It is my hobby. In addition to meeting scores of interesting people, the simple act of capturing and communicating some of my business/PR philosophies in a public forum (and trying to be consistently relevant & interesting, to boot) has reinvigorated my interest in the trade.

While the agency is my "professional persona," this blog is my "true voice." They complement one another; both are important; both impact my professional reputation ... but they aren't always meant to be mixed.

I don't think I am the only blogger to wonder about this gray area: I see a need for a place to tell my "total" story; a place online that can integrate all the diverse fragments of my work, the sum of which = my professional reputation.

I think LinkedIn is a good spot for that: it allows people to provide their employment history, with endorsements from colleagues about their work across each career milestone. It provides for web and blog links. It gives folks a sense for how "well-connected" you are, i.e., how much time you invest in the important work of relationship-building.

You could do something similar with a Squidoo lens, but, Squidoo is not known as a place for professional advancement; it's more jack-of-all-trades. Meanwhile, critically, LinkedIn allows you to create and cultivate business relationships with friends and friends-of-friends, if you put the time in to building and nurturing your connections. (It would be great if you could combine the customization options of Squidoo with the professionalism and networking functions of LinkedIn!)

The LinkedIn profile could be like a permalink for your career. That idea won't work for all bloggers, but I can't think of why it would be a bad thing for a PR blogger.

Continue reading here: Untangling Claims About Wire Services & Social Media

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