A friend of mine recently told me that she's not nearly the perky, positive-minded marketer she appears to be on her business blog. She said it like that was a bad thing.

I say, are you kidding me? That's exactly how it should be! Your business blog should be just that: the place where you blog about your business. Thrusting yourself into the public eye means you've got an image to uphold. That means putting on a happy face to the professional world. That means sticking to the information that your audience wants to hear. That means sticking to business.

If there's a disconnect between how you're really feeling, and how you portray yourself to the business world, then you have what it takes to be a successful marketer. It means you've got the good sense to don your marketing mask and project confidence, capability and consistency, even when you may be facing your toughest challenges on the inside.

It goes without saying that businesspeople are human beings, not machines. When we turn off our computers and lock the office door behind us, we go home to reality. That means sometimes feeling the pressure of life. Financial pressure, relationship pressure... pressure to move ahead but failure to find a direction. All these things eat away at us at times, but the key is not to let that stuff seep into our work mindset and sabotage our efforts.

If you ever feel like a fraud because you've deceived people into thinking that everything is always A-OK and you're a smashing success... stop thinking of it as deception and start thinking of it as a role that you need to play to move ahead in this world. Figure out who you are when you play this role out, and then never break character in the context of that role. Smart businesspeople do this without thinking about it.

Choose your friends carefully. While some people can serve as trusted confidantes, others will remain friendly colleagues and associates, and nothing more. Yes, there is a huge difference between being friendly, and being friends. Best to keep your doubt and hesitation to yourself and to people who you can lean on, than go broadcasting it in public places.

My friend who was feeling the normal pressure of life did the right thing. She needed to talk, so she turned to someone who really cares for her and isn't interested in just using her for personal gain. On her business blog and in each of her professional endeavors, she remains a cool and savvy businessperson who sets goals for herself and carries them to completion and beyond. And I know that in doing this, she will eventually catch up on the inside to the place where she directs herself from the outside. And even though she may not see it at this time... that's the ultimate secret of her success!

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.