WOMEN! Business Etiquette Moves Online! Netiquette for Female Executives

For many years businessmen and women were known to follow professional body languages and a specific etiquette norm in businesses to build an image and fulfill respect amongst their social surroundings and partners.

For the past 5 years the diversion from traditional etiquette, applied face to face, have immensely moved to online and many women in business statuses “specifically”, have lost their respect due to wrong approaches used online (eg: abusing Digital Media in a wrong way”. Therefore, Netiquette was introduced to take offline approaches to online in the business world in a better ethical manner.

Netiquette is a combination of the word ’net’ (from internet) and ’etiquette’. It means respecting other users’ opinions and displaying common civility when posting your views to online discussions be it personal or in groups.

As we all know; if you are not online today you are nothing. Therefore, if a woman entrepreneur becomes involved online, she then needs to be careful on how she portrays herself from all aspects, what she communicates and what she shows. Basically, every lady should follow specific rules of behavior and apply those to sustain the image built with others.

Some tips that should be taken into consideration when applying Netiquette:

- Keep your followers and people in line with what you are doing and working on. Showcase your success and express failures. People respect that

- Engage with your followers! Reply and follow back; it will build admiration

- Utilize IGTV, as it’s the next online TV to showcase your business and talents. You can always provide tips in relation to your business targeted to people who want to learn

-  Never use bad words, phrases or silly moves that are personally provoking. You may express what you feel but never get too personal and use unnecessary ways of portraying what is not you!

- Write clearly and succinctly. Never use wrong spelling or words; it will demote your caliber.

-  Remember that your posts are public. They can be read by your business partners, your family, your client and others. So keep it clean, simple and informative.

-  Stay on-topic, especially when you're new. Don’t talk about topics not related to your business. Always use examples and references.

-  Don't expect other people to do your homework for you. If you're looking for technical, ask for then for help. This include details of what attempts you've made to solve the problem. It will save time and also show people that you are making an effort to help yourself.

-  Do not post copyrighted material to which you do not own the rights for

-  Never use your kids or children to increase following. They are too little for public exposure and wrong medium to your business

-  Work on online PR exposure and personal profiling; as it will help you get verified on many digital platforms that will make you credible.

Written by: Zeina Akkawi

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