Many entrepreneurs struggle with their ‘personal’ brand versus their ‘professional’ brand – or perhaps better stated, who they are ‘on the job’ versus who they are ‘off the clock’ – so to speak.

This challenge has never become more apparent with the incredible rise of social media and the truth is you can no longer have your ‘entrepreneurial’ brand and a clear and separate ‘personal’ brand that you wish, or feel should be off limits and not to be used when a client or prospective client is considering working with you.

It may feel unfair or somehow too judgmental when a prospective client uses what you consider to be personal when considering hiring you, but consider the following example.

Suppose you are a parent looking for a nanny and upon an interview you really like both the applicants’ credentials and resume. Then, after they leave you do a quick search on Facebook and see pictures of what you consider to be less than safe or appropriate behavior.

I’m not being judgmental of what someone does in their private life, but the fact remains, for many parents seeing these pictures would be unsettling to say the least, and a disqualifier to say the most.

And truthfully, as entrepreneurs, giving this even more than one second’s thought or deliberation about how this might be unfair is a complete waste of time and energy. For better or worse, this is the world we live in. There is no hiding who you are.

So the question is, as entrepreneurs that want to achieve higher levels of success, how do you use the fact that we are all operating in an online and ever-connected world, and use it to grow your business?

The answer is simple, and actually quite relieving!

Choose to be your authentic self – all the time. So what do I mean by being authentic? The dictionary describes authentic as “not false or an imitation, true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.”