A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill
365 Days of Gratitude
Now that the turkey leftovers are just about gone, itâs tempting to start hanging holiday decorations and move on. But we should cultivate an attitude of gratitude all year long. Itâs one of the best ways to separate human-centered businesses from the robot army. Humans care about elevating others; robots only care about processing bits and bytes.
Here are 15 simple (but concrete) ways to show appreciation online.
- Give a Klout +K – you can debate whether Klout means anything or not, and CEO Joe Fernandez has said that +Ks donât directly contribute to a higher score, but it sure feels nice when someone gives you a +K, especially in a relevant topic area.
- Facebook Like – an oldie but a goodie, some people obsess over their number of âlikes,â so itâs a nice way to give a pat on the back.
- Follow or subscribe – following someone on any social network or subscribing to their feed (blog or status updates) means you are interested in what they have to say. What better way to show you care?
- RT or Mention on Twitter – the ReTweet is the highest compliment you can give someone on Twitter, and it contributes to their Klout score, so double score! Mentioning someone, in status updates or comments on other networks is like name-dropping. Often the object of the name-drop is notified, and most people enjoy being recognized publicly.
- #FollowFriday – this one has had its ups and downs, but done correctly, a nice FollowFriday on Twitter can be a nice perk for someone. I think Gini Dietrich does it best; she picks one person, writes about him/her on her blog, Spin Sucks, and then Tweets it out. Itâs meaningful, succinct, and likely to result in more followers.
- LinkedIn Recommend – for a business connection, a nice recommendation for the individual or for their products/services is a great way to say thanks. Itâs like getting a gold nugget in the mail!
- Empire Avenue buy or recommend – if your contact is on Empire Avenue, buying some shares or giving an endorsement or recommendation is a nice recognition.
- Google +1 – this is a very important one. When you give a Google +1 to a personâs content, it shows up in search results, and it means that their content is more likely to continue showing up in your search results going forward. Thatâs power.
- Twitter or Klout list – itâs pretty easy to set up lists in Twitter and Klout, and itâs a way to publicly pull the cream of the crop to the forefront. Would you like to be included in a list of âSmart Peopleâ or âPeople Who Inspire?â Yeah, me too.
- Paper.li inclusion – this is another service that has supporters and detractors, but I always feel a nice boost when someone includes my feed in a Paper.li or any other of the aggregator services (Storify too).
- Comment on their blog – this is where the action is. Offering an intelligent comment that contributes to someone elseâs blog is a sincere compliment.
- Blog roll – kick it old school; honor someone by including their blog in your âlinksâ list. Ever heard of âlink juice?â Itâs hard to come by, and a much-appreciated gift.
- Thank on Quora – if you participate on Quora (and itâs a great place to get answers directly âfrom the horseâs mouthâ), the best thank you is a âthank you.â When you give a thanks, the person is notified.
- Reply to a forum topic – it takes courage to stop lurking and start a topic in a busy forum. When you choose to reply, and add your own thoughts to the conversation, you are supporting the orginal poster and the community itself.
- Comment âlikeâ – several blog commenting systems support âlikesâ now, so you can select particular comments and single them out for praise.
My suggestion is to start every day by handing out a few of these, without any expectation of return. A day that starts with gratitude is already a success.
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Author’s Bio: Rosemary OâNeill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee
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