Earning More Than a Vote

One of the most-used features of Linkedin Premium is the ability to see everyone who has viewed your profile. It's always amusing to me when I get a message that's obviously been copy + pasted saying "I saw your profile and..." or some variation thereof before attempting to sell me something or asking me to visit their website, etc.

Now if they actually took the time to read my profile and see if what they want to discuss is relevant, I would pick up on it right away. Instead, I mentally file them away into the "never do businesses" box for not only sending spam, but for not being willing to do basic work necessary to establish a relationship.

If someone doesn't believe it's worth the 30 seconds to see if another person actually is part of their target audience or not, why would they take 30 minutes, hours, or days to make sure that the work itself is relevant to someone else's needs? What's to keep them from just blindly throwing darts at the next target in hopes of making another quick, lazy sale?

This is why when it comes to social media, you’ll often hear me saying “Don’t treat it like a megaphone. Treat it like a telephone instead.” Give dignity to the recipient by going a step further and starting that conversation, not with what you're hoping to sell/offer, but what they'd like from the relationship.

Whether it is business or elections, people have to work to earn my vote. But once they do, they will much more than a supporter. They'll have a true partner.