I had an uncomfortable experience in the last couple of weeks and bet you can relate. When you enjoy connecting others to their dreams and to those who can help them reach those dreams, like I do, you are easy to reach. I might not be able to spend a ton of time with all of my Tweeps and Peeps online but I’m always willing to help with an encouraging word, a resource, a targeted gold nugget to move your forward. Imagine my surprise when someone whom I respect and liked but had never met, privately messaged me on Twitter (DM) and asked me to share him with my followers.
He didn’t first give me a warm shoutout. He didn’t retweet any of my tweets and I get retweeted a lot! He didn’t even use my name in that Tweet, the most magical of all phrases to each of us. Nope, he just came out and asked. I direct messaged back and heard nothing and then a couple of days later, a second Tweet came through with the same request. Clearly, I thought, this has to be an automated message. By this time I was annoyed, he had leveraged none of the simple and surefire shortcuts to get my attention and warm me up before asking for a favor. Don’t make the mistake he did.
Before you ask someone for a favor, especially someone you don’t know, be sure that you use the three surefire shortcuts to getting ahead online here.
#1 SHARE
Retweet a comment they’ve made on Twitter or reshare a post they’ve made on Facebook. It is the ultimate virtual compliment to share another’s comments and content.
#2 EMAIL
Email a personal note either through Facebook, LinkedIN, or locate the person you want to reach through their website and send a message. Today we are all easy to reach in a manner of speaking, when you make the effort. (Now, I know that the “gurus” can be a bit tougher, but honestly, there are ways to reach them too and often the social networks give you direct access.)
#3 COMMENT
Find their blog and make a comment or two or three on a series of posts. This is always appreciated and unless they are getting hundreds of comments, your presence will be known and valued.
Had this person done any of these three things, I would have recognized him and been far more receptive. Ironically I am on his ezine subscription list, or was until all of this and then I promptly removed myself.
I emailed him through Facebook about this and got the reply that he couldn’t possibly keep up with all of the folks who follow him or are on his list. I bet he wasn’t asking
all of them for favors, just those of us who have audiences he wants to reach. After all he was asking for my sanctioning of his messages to my 43K Twitter followers. He has 15K followers and was looking for a way to get his message out farther.
Remember, whether your message is value content or politically based (I guess I see those as mutually exclusive), warm up your target before hitting them up for a favor. In this day and age there is no excuse for approaching anyone coldly, rudely, or without the courtesy of the shortcuts detailed here.
