I can't stand when marketers do this...
Why do entrepreneurs avoid building relationships online?
Because building relationships takes time, that's why.
Is it just me, or is it that this practice of blindly reaching out - i.e. spamming the shit out of people - in order to make a sale one of the most annoying things about the internet?
They irritate me because I know that this is the lazy-ass way of building relationships. Rather than looking to engage someone’s content organically and authentically, they mask their quick and dirty sale with a “great feed” or “love this post” or some other generic, and oftentimes, automated, response.
Long story short, it’s bullshit and I can smell it from a mile away.
Normally, when I come across one of these lame comments, I sigh very loudly, eye roll uncontrollably, and reply with a shoulder shrugging 👍.
I’m not much of a fan of the thumbs up, so, this response represents my passive-aggressive FU to their laziness.
But, in this case, I decided to shout them out in order to share this teachable moment with you.
I was inspired to do this because of speaker/podcaster and hilarious guy, Jay Acunzo.
You see, the day before this comment, I was scanning his feed, reading a comment thread attached to a post about his Unthinkable Podcast, he made a point to call out someone who was randomly soliciting him to listen to their podcast.
I thought Jay’s response was awesome, so I commented in that same thread that it inspired me to want to do the same.
Mission accomplished!
Thanks for showing me the way, Jay!
Let this serve as a lesson for you all.
There are no shortcuts when building relationships with your followers. Have genuine interest and engage people’s social media posts with curiosity, genuine interest and honesty.
And remember, no one likes it when someone tries to bullshit them!
What are your thoughts on people who directly solicit you without having a conversation first? Do you ignore these posts and move on, or, do you take the “shout out” approach?
PS - Did you find this article interesting? Well, there’s more where that came from!
PPS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you...because I care, :)