Go ahead and take your product, service and business seriously. We expect you to. Just don’t expect your online present and future clients to become eager to return to your site unless you offer something fun and uplifting to look forward to each time they visit.
Keep forever in mind that the Internet is a global community filled with people who are usually not online to buy stuff. So join the existing online culture and relax.
- Engage, don’t promote
- Offer insights, don’t insist
- Become a soft place to fall
The people who are looking to buy what you have will find you. They’ll be pointed to you by your online friends and present clients if you’re treating them well and engaging appropriately the rest of the time.
The Internet is no place to launch a get-rich-quick scheme, despite the myriad of books written by people who are capitalizing handsomely on your desire to get rich quick!
If you visit car sites, the ones that are doing it right are having lots of fun. They’re not selling the old-fashioned way. They’re joining car forums and sharing insights based on their expertise. They’re creating fond bonds with other car enthusiasts. As time goes on, the people they interact with online begin to feel like family and the like/trust/crazy fun/do-business-with-you factor multiplies.
Memorize This: The Internet is NOT an advertising medium. It’s a networking community. Just as you shouldn’t go into a networking meeting with fists full of business cards and your 30-second commercial with the intent of cornering every person you see in the room, you shouldn’t go online acting like a desperate snake oil salesman.
Be sure your copy makes you feel approachable and friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. When you can add a cute cartoon or meme that is appropriate to your audience, do it.
Have fun online, wherever you appear: on your blog, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google +1. Leave a smile or some other good feeling wherever you go online.
And if/when you disagree with someone on social media, disagree agreeably. Your response will follow you forever and color the way people regard you.
Whatever you publish online becomes essentially eternal, so make sure that what you say will draw people back to you, not send them scrambling for the exits.
