Why People Aren't Listening to You Online

If you are sending bulk emails or throwing up promo messages everywhere online, nobody is listening to you.  In fact, when you do have something of value to share with potential partners, customers, investors, employees or friends you will be ignored. 

It takes one lazy moment where you send a message that might appeal to a select few people but instead you send it to all of your contacts and you are found out and labelled.  You don't care enough about building a genuine relationship with your audience. You have proven you would rather irritate a large audience in hopes that one or two will respond favourably.

Guess what? Everybody is sick of this.  Email inboxes have turned into a cesspool that busy people reluctantly wade through to find content they need.  They don't like it and if you continually add to the information pollution they must manage they will categorize you and all your future messages as garbage.

Online tools have made us too lazy.  Don't foster relationships, just build long lists or broadcast your selfish message everywhere you can.  Imagine all of those messages were billboards?  Everywhere you looked would be ugly signs blocking the scenery.  

Online forums are another great example of people spamming a general audience with some ill thought expectation that it will lead to business.  Telling people that the services you offer are important is just a waste of time.  If it really is important your prospects already know about it so don't tick them off with a lazy, self-serving message.  It hurts your reputation and damages the platform.  

Would you watch a TV channel that was all commercials?  Of course not and if the only messages you are sending out or posting online are strictly promotional with no value, everybody will tune you out.

With just a little bit of thought the people putting up those posts and sending emails to "lists" would have realized how unlikely it is that somebody will stumble upon a commercial message in a forum or an email and act on it. Since it's free and easy, they figure there is no harm in it. 

They overlook that it harms both their reputation and future relationships.  Had they provided value by posting something that potential clients could read and learn from or implement immediately and improve their business or personal life, the likelihood of them thinking favourably of the poster/sender is exponentially increased.  

Effective communications requires a dialogue and if you don't provide value and are too lazy to communicate carefully then you are talking to yourself. Are you building relationships or lists? Are you having a dialogue or are you the crazy person talking to yourself that people cross the street to avoid?

I'll make you a deal, if you ever get something from me that you think is spam.  I'll buy you lunch and we can chat about it some more…maybe it will strengthen our relationship and if I'm sending you anything that is what I'm trying to accomplish anyway :)