Okay, okay, okay… so it’s not the most original of posts. I’ve seen the same posts from Chris Brogan, Scott Stratten, and Darren Rowse just to name a few. You’d think the message would’ve gotten out by now, right? But I still see it happening all the time.
We used to be cornered by That Guy at parties or (shudder) networking events. The guy that does nothing but talk about his business, his product, his this, his that… ad nauseum.
Now We Have the Online Version of That Guy.
You’ve seen him:
- The guy that answers a forum or blog post with, “Y’know, you’re absolutely right!” and has 15 links in his signature pointing to every conceivable way to follow him.
- The guy that just plops a link on your Facebook page. One that probably has absolutely nothing to do with your business and adds nothing to the conversation. Just a big, steaming bowl of “buy my crap!”
- The guy that auto-responds to your Twitter follow with, “Thanks for the follow! Follow me here and here and here and here, too!”
- The guy that sends out Facebook Event notices to every person he’s “friended” to hype his latest podcast, regardless that these people may not even care about his podcast or podcasts in general.
Engage With Your Prospective Audience
If your show discusses a certain niche, then search out where your niche lives and add to the conversation. Don’t sell your show!
There’s an old adage in advertising that you have to get the ad in front of your audience at least 5-10 times before they even notice it. Then another 5-10 times before they act on it.
Engaging with your audience works the same way. If people keep seeing your comments adding something important to the conversation, they’ll start anticipating the next time you comment. And if you’ve got them waiting for your comments, it’s just a matter of time before the click on that ONE link you’ve got in your signature to find out more about you. This works on Twitter, Facebook, forums and blog posts.
Before you decide to start shooting out your links like a wood chipper in a bad slasher movie, step back. Look at what you’re going to do and don’t be that guy.
