In the movie, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character heard, “If you build it, they will come.” He built it and they came. They came…in droves. The movie ends there...now what?
I remember watching the end of this movie wondering what they would do now. What would they charge? How would they collect the money? What if someone could see it from the road and didn't want to pay? Where would all those hundreds of fans stay after the game?
So many adopted this tag line after that movie came out. If you build it, they will come. I remember an internet marketer who began using it as a way of letting his clients know that it didn't end there for websites either. If you build a website, they won't come until you advertise it. And many a marketing guru tells us that once they do come, we have to have our websites ready for them to entice them to order and to have a reason to come back.
So, if you build a blog and they come...and comment, what now? If you build a fan page and they come...and comment, now what? And if you build an online community and they come...and comment, what do we do now? We REPLY! Why? Because if you build it and they come and comment and you don’t respond, they will LEAVE!
If you post a bunch of things on your Facebook wall, blog, website, community, it’s just as if you were having a conversation with someone at a party. If you begin a conversation and the other guests comment and you stop talking, what do you think they would do? That’s exactly what they’ll do online too! How do you think your guests would feel if you stopped answering them at a party? How do you think the person on the other end of the telephone would feel if you suddenly stopped talking? That’s how your Facebook, Twitter, blog, online community and fan page commenters feel! ANSWER THEM!
Remember that just because you don’t see people face to face when you are online, doesn’t’ mean they don’t feel the same way they would if you were. If you post and they come and comment, it’s rude not to respond. They make it easy on Facebook so do it! Click “like.” It only takes a second! Respond with a :D. It only takes two. Answer their questions, respond to their comments. The more you do, the more they will engage. The more you ignore people, the less they will even read what you post!
I am amazed at all the people who post a ton of stuff on their wall or blog, invite comments and then NEVER go back and acknowledge the people who took the time to respond—especially the ones who took a great deal of time to write a thoughtful and helpful post.
I hear some of you thinking, “I just don’t have time to respond.” Then don’t post so much. Don’t ask from others what you are unwilling or unable to reciprocate.
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If you liked this post, read…Seven Reasons Why YOU Should Sign Up for the Art of Eloquence Newsletter!
If you build it and they come, then what?
In the movie, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character heard, “If you build it, they will come.” He built it and they came. They came…in droves. The movie ends there...now what?
I remember watching the end of this movie wondering what they would do now. What would they charge? How would they collect the money? What if someone could see it from the road and didn't want to pay? Where would all those hundreds of fans stay after the game?
So many adopted this tag line after that movie came out. If you build it, they will come. I remember an internet marketer who began using it as a way of letting his clients know that it didn't end there for websites either. If you build a website, they won't come until you advertise it. And many a marketing guru tells us that once they do come, we have to have our websites ready for them to entice them to order and to have a reason to come back.
So, if you build a blog and they come...and comment, what now? If you build a fan page and they come...and comment, now what? And if you build an online community and they come...and comment, what do we do now? We REPLY! Why? Because if you build it and they come and comment and you don’t respond, they will LEAVE!
If you post a bunch of things on your Facebook wall, blog, website, community, it’s just as if you were having a conversation with someone at a party. If you begin a conversation and the other guests comment and you stop talking, what do you think they would do? That’s exactly what they’ll do online too! How do you think your guests would feel if you stopped answering them at a party? How do you think the person on the other end of the telephone would feel if you suddenly stopped talking? That’s how your Facebook, Twitter, blog, online community and fan page commenters feel! ANSWER THEM!
Remember that just because you don’t see people face to face when you are online, doesn’t’ mean they don’t feel the same way they would if you were. If you post and they come and comment, it’s rude not to respond. They make it easy on Facebook so do it! Click “like.” It only takes a second! Respond with a :D. It only takes two. Answer their questions, respond to their comments. The more you do, the more they will engage. The more you ignore people, the less they will even read what you post!
I am amazed at all the people who post a ton of stuff on their wall or blog, invite comments and then NEVER go back and acknowledge the people who took the time to respond—especially the ones who took a great deal of time to write a thoughtful and helpful post.
I hear some of you thinking, “I just don’t have time to respond.” Then don’t post so much. Don’t ask from others what you are unwilling or unable to reciprocate.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
If you liked this post, read…Seven Reasons Why YOU Should Sign Up for the Art of Eloquence Newsletter!
4 comments
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Excellent point! It can be very frustrating to post and think you are providing some type of valuable service or just being friendly and then you get nada, zippo, nuttin’ honey in return. One thing that really helps cement relationships is taking the 3-4 seconds to write Happy Birthday! on someone’s wall when you see it come up on your sidebar. You don’t even have to go to their page now. You simply do it on your sidebar and it will post to their wall automatically.
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I’m not talking about posting things and not getting a reply. I’m taking about posting things, getting a reply and then not responding to them or asking a question, getting replies and not responding to them.
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Thank you for the encouragement. I have only recently been purposeful about making sure I continue the dialog with readers and not just become a “listening ear” after an initial post. It changes the whole reason I write.
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You are welcome. This topic has been on my heart for a long while. Thanks for sharing your insight, Lisa. It’s so important to respond to people. If you think about a blog post or a fan page post or a community post as a conversation, you would be hard pressed to see responding as optional. Nobody would ever think of ignoring someone in a face-to-face conversation.