Imagine trying to help your mom or dad, husband or wife, brother or sister, child or friend.
Picture a stranger jumping between you two and screaming: "HIRE ME!!!" or "BUY MY STUFF!!!"
This happens to me often on social media. I publish detailed, targeted, in-depth blogging tips on Facebook Groups and LinkedIn Groups. Like clockwork, someone will reply with a comment that says BUY MY STUFF or HIRE ME, for all intents or purposes.
I find it funny because I think of this offline analogy and see spam for what it is: a person who knows not what they do assumes that breaking up the value-content party with a brutal business pitch is the best way to make money online.
Unfortunately, not too many bloggers and/or readers share my emotional intelligence.
Imagine inviting a friend of a friend over for dinner. You've never met them before.
When the stranger arrives that individual shakes your hand and the first words out of their mouth are: "HIRE ME!!!" or "BUY MY STUFF!!!"
When you give them an odd look they walk out of the door and leave, for good.
This happens to me every single day on social media after I approve friends or connections. Strangers who've never spoken to me use their first contact and words to pitch me their business.
If this approach is insane offline it is equally insane online, blogging-wise. When I say "insane" I simply mean that it is not sane. You cannot be thinking sanely to do such ridiculous things. Even worse? You actually believe that the insane approach builds lasting business success when everything business-wise hinges on gaining trust, earning credibility and building relationships slowly but surely.
Spamming never works.
Be truly helpful, publish highly detailed, targeted content and make friends by helping bloggers in your niche.
Business flows to patient, persistent creators and connectors.
Detailed blog posts hit the mark. Thorough social media updates draw quality traffic to your blog. Helpful forum posts drive blogging business. Again and again, revisiting these basics inspires you to help people more, and any urge to spam pops up in your mind less and less.
The trick is to surround yourself only with pro bloggers who remind you with their example that being helpful and thorough works well over the long haul and trying to get something for nothing thru spamming never works to drive real business, but, of course, always works to help you lose your credibility and demolish your trust factor.
