patio11 already gave you awesome points, as usual. Below are some of my personal points/experience. I have helped a lot of small businesses with their techno

patio11 already gave you awesome points, as usual. Below are some of my personal points/experience. I have helped a lot of small businesses with their technology, positioning and marketing and this is one of the most common issues owners bring up. Typically they will say they don't want to be "known" or be out if front because they worry about their identity and the issues around it. Sometimes they say they want their brand to be known not them, but in the early days their brand and themselves are the same which people don't understand a lot of times. However, it is the #1 mistake I think people make if they want their business, or personal brand to grow. You cannot hide, you cannot turn down press, you must be out there and be genuine. I do advise clients though, that if you are posting what you know to be controversial content on a forum, blog etc and you feel it would be damaging to your brand then first, don't; but if you must, do it anonymously. The problem I see is that rarely is anything ever anonymous, even when you think you are, so its easier just to be you. On the controversial comments, I don't mean that you simply disagree with another view point i.e. you think Ruby rocks and node sucks. I mean when someone has a view that is anti-pattern to common polite society, e.g. racist comments, sexist comments etc.