Being Anonymous Can Hurt You

Aug 07 2008

Arial of AttackDepression.com learned a great lesson about anonymity.

Even though her site has been around for 2 years, she just added an About The Author page in June.

Due to the fact her site includes a lot of personal information about her own depression, she didn’t want her family and friends to find out about her condition from the web.

So she registered a private domain and chose to remain anonymous.

After reading numerous blogs and websites that discuss the importance and advantages of getting more personal, she realized it may be doing her site a disservice to remain anonymous.

So she created an “About The Author” page that includes a few details about herself.

Even though Arial does not disclose her real name, she tells her story about her battles with depression.

You won’t find a photo of Arial on her site, but she uses her Yahoo Avatar and playfully promises her audience, “It looks pretty close to the real me.”

Arial admits a real-life photo would be better, but due to her situation, I can certainly understand why she chose not to go there.

Nevertheless, she believes telling her story and being honest about her situation is much better than having no information about herself at all.

I asked if she’s noticed a difference since she added her “About The Author” page. Here is her reply…

The first thing I noticed was how I am able to connect with my readers better than before. Now that I’ve told my story, many people have emailed me because they can relate to my story, and they’ve given me ideas for other topics.

Feedback from my About The Author page has provided greater insight to what my audience wants to learn about so my content will be more relevant and useful going forward.

And the best thing is, my affiliate commissions have gone up by about 30% even though my traffic has remained steady.

While I have no proof it’s all because of my About The Author page, it’s hard to believe that doesn’t have some impact.

I also just updated my design using your free 3 column template, so I’m sure that helped as well. My old layout was pretty drab.

Nevertheless, I still believe people are more likely to buy things you recommend when they know about your relationship with the topic. That’s hard to accomplish when your website is anonymous and you don’t explain how you’re connected with your subject matter.

My site may not be completely un-anonymous (Is that a word?), but it’s better than before.

Arial’s right. Telling your audience about yourself and how you relate to your topic can do a world of good for your credibility.

People want to know what qualifies you to be the “expert” on the subject, so adding a few sentences about yourself can breathe some life into your site or blog.

I encourage you to think of ways you can connect with your readers better. If you’re not comfortable adding a picture, it’s not a necessity but definitely helps.

Also explain how you got involved with your topic and why you created your site or blog. Small changes like this can make a big difference in the long-run.

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6 Responses

DrHowell

August 9th, 2008 at 4:36 am
1

I wish depression did not carry such a heavy social stigma. I understand and respect her need for privacy. However if we could just think of mental disease like we think of the cold or flu we wouldn’t hesitate so much to get the help we need and millions would suffer less.
SocialMind

August 10th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
2

What a wonderful post and timely considering my creation of an about me page for my site. Your points will be kept in mind when creating my profile. I choose anonymity myself for many reasons, but feel that describing ones “point of view” truthfully brings the possibility of a stronger connection with the reader.
Natural

August 12th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
3

I agree knowing who a person is can connect you with them, but for personally, it doesn’t matter. You can call yourself Buddah, I’m fine with that.

I’m strictly there for content, not to “make friends”..who’s to say the picture we put up is even really us when we see a picture or if we’re using our real name.

I liken blogging to being on stage, I’m a performer, I have a stage name…that person is not necessarily me all the time. I do not blog anonymously on my main blog, Valerie Morrison, is my real name and that’s my face on my blog.

However, I recently set up a blog though where I don’t give my real name. It’s there for entertainment purposes only…it’s liberating in that I can speak freely. I can’t do that on my other blog.

I do reveal as much as I can about myself on my main blog though, but depending on what type of blog you have, it doesn’t always matter if you blog under your real or fake name.

Good post, food for thought.
JaneDeere

August 12th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
4

Timely post. I am also anonymous on my site about anxiety, panic and depression because of the social stigma. Yes, I am embarrassed about my “condition”. I do have a little something on my about page, but I don’t have a picture and obviously I don’t use my real name. Also, I went to Arial’s site which was interesting but I didn’t see any comment section anywhere?
coosbaytv

August 17th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
5

Lisa:

You bring up a very good point on this and that is, “if we are genuine, we are most likely also honest in what we have to offer a reader which also makes our site less intimidating to not only practice the advice but also more comfortable to do business with and buy the services or products offered.
I have made a note to make a priority of adding some more personal info (and photo) on one of my new sites I am launching.
You have also given me an idea that I am going to experiment with. If it works out, i will report back as to what it was and how it worked.

Thanks again!
Chris H.

August 20th, 2008 at 3:06 am
6

Thanks for another excellent post. I suffer from depression and anxiety as well. All too well, I can understand the stigma associated with mental illness. Thus, I can understand why Arial doesn’t include a picture of herself in her blog. That is really interesting how her affiliate income increased by 30% when she included the “About the Author” page. I know that when I visit sites and blogs, knowing a little bit about the author certainly increases their credibility. My blog is probably too new to have earned much credibility yet, but I do have an “About Me” page. I soon plan on taking the brave leap of adding a picture of myself. Hopefully it won’t scare to many viewers away! LOL!