Month: September 2012

Please and Thank You – It Matters

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Does it sound like your nagging mom?
“Johnny, be sure to say “Thank You” … to someone who buys you dinner (even if it’s your parents) or gives you an interview for a job opportunity (duh) or -YES – refers a potential client to you for no fee or financial gain.

Yeah, well, you know what? YOUR MOM IS RIGHT. If you want your friends and your associates through social networks to think fondly of you and CLICK to your website, be sure they hear your appreciation when they do. Whether it works out or NOT, their peer-to-peer referral is a high confidence cold call on your behalf. It’s a foot in the door that you cannot buy, so yes, you MUST say thank you. This doesn’t have to be War and Peace, it can be as simple as a text message or quick email that says “Charlie, Acme Mfg. called today about some biz and said you sent them –  thanks! – Joe”

Was that so hard? After a recent turn at snagging a hot lead for a friend on some consulting and getting not only no gratitude but no info when he got the job, I had a bad taste in my mouth, like maybe I shouldn’t have recommended him. That’s going to count next time not out of malice … but rather because who I refer reflects on me.

So when you say to your colleagues “Please recommend me” remember that “Thank You” is the bookend to that request. Besides, if Thank You Notes are cool enough for Jimmy Fallon, they should be good enough for you and me.

-JB

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Dorothy and Friends were RIGHT

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So when you’re thinking about sending that next Tweet or posting something funny on Facebook, think of Dorothy Gale (of Kansas) and apply some of those good old mid-western values.
Apply the four-pronged Wizard of Oz test:

1) Have you used your brain? Remember, the scarecrow didn’t really learn new facts after he met the Wizard, he simply came to appreciate the value of what he already knew. He gained wisdom. Before you blast something onto the Internet on behalf of your company (or yourself), think through how it reflects on you. If you won’t be proud of it tomorrow, don’t do it today.

2) Are you speaking from your heart? The tin man said he knew he had a real heart because he felt it breaking. Are you putting forth ideas that you really agree with and stand behind? Your heart is more than just a pump in your chest … it’s where you passion lives. Be sure you’re being true to it.

3) Do you have courage? My favorite character was the cowardly lion because he revealed to me, an impressionable child when I first saw the Wizard of Oz, that being brave doesn’t mean you’re never afraid. The fact that you might risk something by telling the truth doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, it means your should take great care and be sure you’re on the right side of the argument.

4) Will this get you home? When you’re opining for the world to review, is this going to advance your cause and do something constructive? Are you working toward a goal, advancing a mission? Unlike Dorothy, clicking your heels together probably won’t transport you to where you’re trying to go. You’re just gonna have to put one foot in front of the other, link arms with your best friends and follow the yellow brick road.

Oh, and one more thing … about the yellow brick road — you surely noticed that when Dorothy meets the scarecrow, it’s at a crossroad — an apparent intersection where the yellow brick road goes in every direction. Did you ever think about that? If you’re with your friends, doing what you believe in, acting with courage and integrity and using your head, the road of opportunity lies before you in every direction.
-JB