Oh, Be Nice!

Marc Berry's Profile Photo

All across the various social networks, the same contact/friend request is sent time and time again, something to the effect of, “Hi, my name is Blah Blah, and I am a Blahblaher specializing in blahing. Lets be friends!”

As a matter of course, I will usually check out their profile and decide from there whether or not I am interesting in adding another blaher to my growing network, or if this person really is worth adding in the first place. And then there’s Mary D. Moore over at Ecademy.com. Her contact request read as follows: “Nice smile, nice face, nice career.” Followed by a request to be added to my network. Ridiculous in its simplicity, really.

Yet there I was, dashing off to check out her profile and add her to my network. Mentally I had already added her, just because she said something nice, and didn’t pitch me right off the bat. Silly, but true. This sort of thing has happened more than once, and every time I am far more inclined to add them to my circle,than I would otherwise be.

The popular advice to bloggers and would be social mavens is to be helpful and not ask for things right off the bat. Establish a relationship before trying for the sale. I would add, be nice. Extend a compliment, thank them for something, if appropriate. If you don’t think that being nice works, consider the following factoid: it wasn’t until somewhat later that I realized that I am not smiling in my profile photo. Well done Mary.

Are you on Ecademy? Add me to your contacts! Just be nice about it