Ouch!

Your best friends won’t tell you. Your target audience won’t tell you. Directly anyway. You forget that you’re supposed to be having a conversation, providing value and sharing your expertise with your tribe. It’s like being stuck in the corner at a cocktail party or a networking meeting and being talked to death by someone who is in love with the sound of his or her own voice.

Only in your on-line case, you can’t see your victim’s discomfort or catch the eye rolls as you prattle on and on about how wonderful you are. Your therapist will gladly listen to you as long as you can pay.

Who gives a shit about your last “team” pizza party or mug swap? Awww, isn’t that cute? That’s fine for internal use but no one outside of your organization cares about how much you love each other. What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? As my mother used to say. What value or interest does that have to an existing or potential client? It’s not about you! Get it?

“We’re so dedicated we come to work even when it snows”. Well, whoopee friggin’ ding. I’m using real world examples here, no jive. And it pisses me off. I have a dog in this hunt, I am an E-Vangelist and I don’t like what I’m seeing for the most part. Connecting and keeping customers is no easy feat, you have to find what interests them, what issues they are facing and provide valuable and “free” information to make their missions more attainable. No tin ears, thank you.

 Stop providing solutions to problems I don’t have. Bring up issues I can relate to. Know my business if you’re trying to get it. Talk to me. Make me feel like you understand my business. Stop trying to be all things to everyone.

Knock off the nonsense and contribute, then I might take you serious. It’s hard work but I think you’ll find it’s worth it.