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To connect using social networking, make it personal
LinkedIn and Facebook as well as most other social networking sites have marvelous tools for inviting everyone in your different mailing lists to join you on their sites. If I know you personally, especially in the non-virtual or physical world of daily living, then you can get away with an impersonal automated request – and I will probably join you because you are my friend out here.
Even then, however, taking a moment to write a little bit extra about why you want me, or everyone else in your database, to join you on this latest social networking site would be nice. For example, “I find that LinkedIn is really popular with business people and has lots of useful forum or groups that I think you might find as useful as I do” would help me to understand it’s value to me.
If, on the other hand, we’ve never met, then I would appreciate knowing why you want to be friends. What do we have in common? Are you a writer too, an Internet marketer, in sales and marketing, in my religion, appreciate SciFi/Fantasy or just reading, love to travel, enjoy photography, are a graduate of a school I attended, met at a seminar, or you like my restaurant reviews as the Anaheim Restaurant Examiner? The choices are numerous.
In my daily life, I’m not friends with everyone I meet. I’m friendly, yes. But I rarely take the time to develop close relationships. Social networking gives me the opportunity to actually get to know more people in bits and pieces. But if creating a new friendship isn’t important enough to jot a very short note as to why you would like to be friends on Facebook or connect on LinkedIn or any of the other social networking sites, then you don’t really want my friendship. You are just trying to attract numbers. That’s all right. It’s just not what I want in a friend or a connection.
Social networking done with integrity and authenticity is a powerful tool for heart-centered, soft sell salespeople and marketers because it enables you to reveal a human side to your personality. My heart-centered social networking tip is this: if you want to write to invite me or anyone else to be part of your community, make it personal. Jot a note. Write to me, or anyone else, like you really wanted to connect with me and not just make another notch on your gun belt or tick mark on your score card.
I would love to hear your comments on this. Please post a comment specific to this article so I know it’s not spam – or on Facebook, you can flag it thumbs up or thumbs down or mark it however your favorite bookmarking site allows. And if you want to connect, here are three of my links:
Heart Centered Selling’s not for Wimps
Have You Heard the MLM Lies?
In Emails, Should You Greet or Not Greet?
How to Avoid Looking Stupid When Asking Questions
Social Networking Tip – How to Comment on Other Sites
Old Selling Secret Improves Sales
Hard Sell Intervention Ad Disrespects Customers
Appeal to Prospectors Instead of Prospects
