Whatever you say or do is being photographed and recorded
No matter how public or private you try to be, you are leaving a trail.
There are cameras everywhere, backup servers, mail relays, cell phone locaters, satellites and transaction records working hard to keep track of every aspect of modern life.
My friend Bill Ganz explains this as your digital tattoo. If you decide you don’t like what’s posted online, you can attempt to change it, but it will be a lot like removing a tattoo.
In other words, count on it being permanent.
It’s human nature to fight this. In the 90’s, Bill Gates wrote in Business @ the Speed of Thought about the idea that everything would be recorded in the future. When I read this, I remember putting down the book and freaking out over the possibility that some future government body would review tapes and jump to a conclusion on something I did.
I soon realized that this was exactly what I heard as a child. ![angel-writing[1]](http://profitablesocialmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/angel-writing1.jpg "angel-writing[1]")
God knows what you are up to. Angels are taking notes on everything you do.
Maybe that’s how we get scared about this digital tattoo. 
I won’t comment on the supposed value of scaring children into submission, but I do like to contemplate the idea of what the world would be like if everyone acted as if they were on a public stage. There’d be no reason to plot or plan a clandestine effort. We likely would not spend much time reviewing the tapes once we all got used to the knowledge that everyone knew what we were doing.
Choose To Be A Better Version of Yourself
I like to think that my awareness that my activities are making me treat people a little bit better and think a bit before I react. As Vicktor Frankl taught:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
This has been a liberating feeling as I’ve worked to be more open, share on social media, and build more personal relationships in business. It’s been profitable and a lot more fun.
I Regret to Inform You…
No matter how hard you try, you are going to make mistakes. Some small, and some gigantic screw ups.
Thanks to social media, I’m friends with an amazing story teller named Kathryn Schulz. (Get her book Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error. One of my favorites this year. Talk to her on Twitter). Kathryn was just picked as a TED featured talk for the second time this year.
Listen to Kathryn tell the story of a tattoo and explain the trouble with thinking you can have “no regrets”
Love Shines Through
You have a digital tattoo. Most of it is just raw data that will never be reviewed. You might want to take a look and begin to recognize patterns that support you and your goals.
I think we will learn to love this transparency.
Once we get over the idea that we might get caught, that we might be judged and the world might find out what they probably know and don’t care about, we are free to focus on what does matter.
The future of business and life can be summed up in my two word marketing strategy:
Listen & Love
We’ve talked about the “Listen” part before. The technology that allows all of this digital data to be created gives us the ability to focus on individuals and hear what they want and desire.
This isn’t an invitation to stalk and be creepy. Please don’t go turning on some automated bot message to pretend to listen. If you love your audience, appreciate your customers and desire to do good in the world, you will respond with love.
![butterfly-heart-colourful[1]](http://profitablesocialmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/butterfly-heart-colourful1.jpg "butterfly-heart-colourful[1]")
These bits of data circulating all over the Internet are not much by themselves. However, they build a precise representation of who you are.
Keep focused on adding authentic real value in conversations. Let the world know you can love by treating everyone you meet in every encounter like a important friend.
Serendipity will kick in when you least expect it. What you can expect is the law of reciprocity working in your favor. Do right by people, do it often and people will notice and respond to your digital lovemark.
Hi Warren,
thankful that you chosen to follow me and gave me the opportunity to read and think about the ‘digital tattoo’.
And as a bonus I got a chance to listen to Kathryn, whom I otherwise would not have heard.
I will surely come back for more 🙂
Kind regards,
Marjolein
I appreciate how serendipity has brought us together and made this profitable connection
Hi Warren,
Thanks for the “Listen and love” reminder. Words to live by. And since there’s hardly such a thing as “privacy” anymore, we may as well embrace it as “transparency”.
Also, thanks for the tip on Kathryn. But I think you may have the wrong Twitter link for her. (Ironic!) I found her at @kathrynschulz. Cheers!
Thanks Mitch
I’d like to justify how I got to be WRONG about Kathryn’s Twitter handle, but either she changed it without me noticing, or I’ve got some bad chemicals in my brain.
I met her from her first TEDtalk on her book “Being Wrong” (a must read). and have no regrets. One thing I’ve learned, I can EXPECT to be wrong often
🙂
I really enjoyed this story, Warren! In Portuguese, it is usual to say that “kindness generates kindness”. I use social network tools to distribute good and relevant information.
Kind regards,
Saymon
That’s not common enough English, but just as true
Warren, you present many beautiful and elegant ideas that I imagine well serving those with whom your digital tattoos touch.
Have you heard of Lovemarks by Kevin Roberts, or his new book The Lovemarks Effect: http://goo.gl/RvAjD
Will you check out my website and tell me in what ways I might better use digital tattoos to enable The Lovemarks Effect?
Thank You Greg
Yes, I am familiar with Kevin and his work.
I’m honored that you see value in my consulting and would be open to an engagement to find more profit in our social media promotions. Please contact me vie email at w@mbsbc.com and we can discuss specific and fee structure.
Great post! I find it a great reminder whenever I post something from a blog to a tweet. Thanks for sharing!
For many people learning how to be transparent in the social world will be freeing. Quantum logic has always been present. It dictates the faster we you go the faster we will see it. The truth is changes happening before our eyes, real time. This is a benefit to most businesses and people today. It’s funny that the only given in the universe is change, and what is it people generally don’t like….. Change.
Right Bill
Once I discovered that I didn’t have much of anything to hide it was easy to see that my worries and fears were irrational.
In those rare occasions when I don’t want something to be known, I first off avoid talking about it anywhere and then assume that those who I’m hiding from will know anyway 🙂
I heard Jeff Pulver once say something like “your yet to be born grandkids will be reading your tweets and posts.”
I can only imagine how cool it will be for our grandkids to read through our digital tattoos. Sure makes you think a bit before you post sometimes 🙂
Jeff I once discussed this. I was commenting about the wonder of talking to so many people on my birthday and he responded with a big smile that instantly told me he “got it” like very few yet do
Already I can see a difference in how my young adult children stay in touch with friends over the years. I’ve been through several life phases and each time lost contact with most everyone I met. I know a lot of people now, but imagine it would be several times the connections if we’d had this technology sooner.
you do have a digital tattoo…might as well use it to its fullest.
Right.. We say “You are what you tweet” LOL
Hi Warren – Hey loved these ideas. And wow got me thinking about my “digital tattoo.” Intense ideas and you are intensely correct! A great way to strive to be a better self…
thanks, Kathy
Hopefully this living in public idea will all keep us acting as if we have company for dinner
This is such a great post. I especially like the idea of looking back and recognizing patterns. If your tattoo is a bit distorted you can begin to redesign it. Who knows, maybe we’ll eventually return to practicing social etiquette in public.
The good news about all the digital tattoos is that no one has time to read everything on you. Once we are conscience of this, we can access our own memory and work at being a better version of ourselves.
As for the public etiquette: While I believe we are trending to nicer, it’s a two edge sword. We are more intimate with everyone, and just like roommates of families, some niceties fall by the wayside in our day to day conversations.
This is such a thought provoking and inspiring post. Thank-you for including Kathryn Schulz’ discussion on the topic of having personal regrets. Hearing her wise and positive message seems particularly timely as we each individually prepare to greet 2012 and reflect on the big and little choices we’ve made in 2011. I love how she was able to marry the concepts of regrets, accountability and self-love. Awesome!!! Thanks for this post!
Kathryn is one of the smartest people on the planet. Always so thought provoking. Have you read her book?