Go Ahead, Make my Day! I may make it worth your while.

How often have you been made to feel special? Really special ? Important, valued, respected, and appreciated? If you’re like me, then most likely it just doesn’t happen often enough. It’s funny how in our rush to collect contacts, to get noticed, to drive traffic, we often forget the most important thing: the human element. Who cares how many followers you have or friends you have if you get nothing from them? But if you aren’t getting anything from them, it is probably because you aren’t giving anything to them.

I went to a SND meeting for the first time last Friday, Stephen Komives  met me at the door. When I met him at the door, he said, “Hello, Greg. It is great to see you here today. Let me get your badge for you.” The enthusiasm and sincerity were real. I don’t know if he took the time to research a little about each of the 1^st time visitors that were at that meeting or not, but it certainly made me feel like he was genuinely interested in me, as a person.

Following a post or a blog, I sent a friend request to Bruce Ramsay  because his comments really seemed interesting and useful. I received an e-mail back that stated “Greg, you're an amazing person. It is my honor to be friends.” Wow, talking about making someone’s day! Yes, I want to be fiends with someone who is that thoughtful.

Of all the people I follow on Twitter, three have extended the hand of friendship with a direct message, just to say hello. Guess who I follow most closely?

And finally, from my campus president 5 minutes ago, “First of All – YOU ROCK and your students ROCK!  I love these. “ It is because of comments like these that our program is always willing to help out other departments on campus, the front office,  and the Chancellor’s office. Thanks, President Rogers.

The point is, the reason social networking became such a popular phenomenon is that we all got tired of feeling like, and being treated like, a number. We wanted to express ourselves, be noticed, connect with new people, learn and experience new things. But without the connection, are we accomplishing any of that?

It doesn’t take long to say thank you. It doesn’t take long to let someone know you appreciate them. It doesn’t take long to turn a chance meeting in cyberspace into an ally, a loyal customer, or even a good friend. Take the time to say thank you, take the time to recognize each contact as a valued, human being. It’s that little step that will do more for your career or business than all the friend collecting and retweeting in the world.

Here are a couple of other blogs that you might also find useful.

• Web 2.0 is better than ME 2.0
  
• Customer Loyalty — Why You Need It and How To Get It 
  

So, when was the last time an online friend made you feel special? How do you let your online contacts know how much they really mean to you?

A Revolution takes Action

Contrary to popular opinion, your voice does count and yes you can make a difference. That is one of the great things about the communications revolution over the past decade or so. Many of the barriers to making a difference have been or are being removed.

This may be a long blog.  I am specifically writing for my youngest daughter who is furious that once more the public education system is limiting her choices and inhibiting her ability to get the best education she can.   But it certainly has implication for anyone who is trying to be heard. Be it a political cause, a new branding campaign, or a campaign to find a new job, the  many to many marketing approach is changing the landscape of our world.

Step Number 1 –  Have an idea. Write it down. Be passionate about it.  If you don’t know what you want to accomplish, there is very little chance of accomplishing this. Thanks Phil for the reminder. Sometimes we get so distracted by the numerous opportunities that surround us that we fail to remain focused on what we are really hoping to accomplish. By writing down a mission statement, you can keep yourself ,  your efforts, and your message from getting lost in the noise.

• This is where you come up with your domain name, your blog name, etc…
• The idea helps us define our strategy and our design.

Step  Number 2 – Begin by Taking Action… TODAY! Quite often we are not confident as to what we are doing and wait until we do before moving forward. As rapidly as the communications channels are transforming themselves, if you wait until you know everything, it will be obsolete.

• Go ahead and jump in. Start a blog, set-up your Facebook, Twitter, del.icio.us, and Digg accounts and start using them.
• Be willing to add original comments and content.  If  all you do is provide links to pre-published material, why are you necessary? There are already million of sites and posts that do that for us.

Step Number 3 – Be willing to make a mistake. We learn more by making mistakes than we do from getting right the first time. The nice thing about beginning our campaign is that if you make mistakes, you probably won’t have too many people taking notice, yet.

• Write your first blog. Request friends. Respond to some other posts.
• Ask your friends, family members, and colleagues to join your cause.
• Ask these people to recommend friends, to tweet your posts, and to provide honest feedback.
• Include your blog url, your twitter account, etc. to the signature of your e-mails.

Step Number 4 – Recruit like-minded allies. If you’re coming to be heard you need an army behind you. This is where the social networking phenomenon becomes you’re best friend.

• Start checking out and joining Facebook groups and fan pages.  Send friend requests to people who are very socially active.
• Tie your twitter, Digg, Blog, YouTube,  Flicker and Del.icio.us accounts into your Facebook profile.
• Make sure to include a ShareThis  button on your posts to make it easier for others to follow and share your information.

Step Number 5 – Give back. If you want others to help you, be willing to help them. Recognize the efforts and passions of others and make sure that you let them know how much you appreciate their efforts on your behalf.

• Comment on other people’s blogs, posts, and twits. Let them know there voice is being heard.
• Re-tweet great posts.
• Write to those who choose to follow you. 

Step Number 6 – Get out of your Comfort Zone. If you are to succeed, you need to identify and make connections with the people who can take your efforts to a larger audience.  This may mean interacting with, communicating with, and getting to know others who may seem to be out of your league. Remember that we will eventually become like the people with whom we choose to spend time. Your current associations only got you so far, you need to learn and grow.

Step Number 7 – Be consistent with your efforts. We all want to see an immediate result from our actions, but that’s not very likely.  An hour a day, done religiously, will get greater results than a Blitzkrieg that wears you out and fizzles in a few weeks.

• Posting your blog every Monday morning and Thursday morning will result in more followers than will posting multiple blogs in a single day, or just posting at random times.
• Treat your campaign like a job and dedicate a certain amount of time each day to productive activities.

Step Number 8 – Don’t forget traditional methods of sharing your information and building relationships. These tools may not be as glamorous, but they are often still the most effective.

• Join social groups and professional organizations. Meetup.com.  Facebook Events. Facebook Groups.
• Write letters to the editors of traditional media. Furnish press releases. Call or write your senators and congressmen. Attend rallies. 
• For a list of  Florida news and political contacts, check out http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=93965691360&topic=9928.

Step Number 9– Remember to say thank you.  Whether we get the results we want or not, recognizing those who made an effort, not only lets them know their energy was not in vain, but it also says an awful lot about your own character.  All people want to be appreciated and the big shift we are seeing as we move to the many to many marketing model, is that individual recognition and appreciation makes for loyal friends and lifetime customers.