A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill
365 Days of Gratitude
Building a lasting online relationship is a lot like building a fire. You must lay down kindling, and shavings, and a little teepee of sticks, and patiently fan the little spark into flames. Then eventually, you can add the big logs, set them aflame, and warm yourself. If you need a fire that will last a long time, youâll want glowing coals that will produce serious heat. Building that type of fire takes time.
Following this line of thought, do you think itâs a good method to pile up a bunch of briquets, douse them with lighter fluid, and blow your eyebrows off?
Thatâs the mistake a lot of well-intentioned people make when they enter the social media world. They try to force a relationship out of nothing, from the merest contact, and then theyâre disappointed when it explodes in their face or doesnât ever catch fire.
Here are five tips that will save your eyebrows:
1. Donât keep asking for the âlike.â If they like you, they will âlikeâ you when theyâre ready.
2. If someone follows you back on Twitter, donât go hunt them down on 50 other social networks and follow them immediately. Establish some rapport on the first network, then you can branch out by mutual consent.
3. Stop the auto-reply that demands something from your new visitor (read my blog, visit my Facebook page, buy my new e-book). Instead, give a human welcome.
4. Always read a blog or forum for a week or two before you plunge into commenting; it will give you a sense of the tone and style of the community.
5. Just as in face-to-face relationship building, be interested in order to be interesting. Ask questions, listen, and then focus your replies on the person youâre talking with. Drop the agenda and make a true connection.
If you take the long term approach, your sparks of connection will light up the world.
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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
