Can we talk?
Posted: February 18, 2005 Filed under: Uncategorized 2 Comments »There’s been a lot of talk about relationships lately. Ever seen Church of the Customer? The entire blog is about customer evangelists. And Jeff Risley had a great post yesterday about a college course about relationship-building. But Jeff did something else, too. He started listing people and companies with which he has relationships and would recommend. Kind of like Linked-In in a much more personal way. I like it. Not just because I’m on the list, but because it speaks to this medium. I don’t know about you, but I have definitely found the most interesting blogs by following the recommended blogs from the blogs I like. So why not follow the links from the people we’ve “gotten to know” from their blogs? It makes sense. We build these relationships online and sometimes we even feel we know each other. I know I do.
In fact, I got an email today from a client that mentioned Andrea Learned. My first reaction? “I know her.” Well, I don’t really. I’ve been reading her for some time. I’ve exchanged a couple emails. But it feels more personal than that to me. Reading her blog regularly feels like I’ve had a cup of coffee with her each morning.
But back to recommending people…just the other day, I needed a photographer to do a headshot in a D.C. office on short notice. I called someone I trusted in D.C., got a recommendation and made the call. Hired him on the spot. Would I have done that out of the phonebook? No way. So as seasoned professionals, doesn’t it make sense to use our experience to help steer our collegues to top notch talent? I think so. I despise those networking breakfasts. But I suppose the goal is the same. I just prefer it online.
Wendy – I’m enjoying your blog. Great title, and the story behind it makes it even better!
I agree that relationship forming is one of the most important results of blogging. It’s probably number 1. The snowballing nature of blog reading – that once you discover one new blog that leads to at least three others – makes it a phenomonen as far as marketing is concerned. How many people do you know who have an enormous amount of knowledge in their field, but don’t get a chance to use it? By blogging they could be taking part in a creative exercise, and build relationships and improve their business at the same time.
But it’s also an important reason for the ‘amateur’ to blog. Everyone knows a lot about something, some know a lot about lots of things. Blogs provide a platform for people to be creative, and provide an audience for that – if you are interesting enough!
Thank you.
I totally agree with you. I also find that blogging has forced me to think a little differently (and maybe more often?) – which is a total bonus.
I’ll keep reading your blog now that I’ve found it!