How can you Influence people you have never met?
https://soundcloud.com/dljbeats/i-care-about-you
Be interested in other people, smile, and help the other person be happy doing what you suggest. These are just a few of the lessons Dale Carnegie teaches us in his classic book, How To Win Friends And Influence People. This article will help translate these classic lessons for the digital age to help grow your influence in the online world.
Be A Good Listener
Your reputation is created by what others say about you. One tip Carnegie gives us is to genuinely be interested in other people. You can show them you care by being a good listener. Carnegie suggests we encourage people to talk about themselves… everyone’s favorite subject!
Listening begins with going to the same forums and social platforms your target audience goes to. What topics do they talk about the most? What problems do they most need help solving? This process is actively listening online. Follow and engage with conversations your audience seems especially invested in.
What does this look like in an online context? When people are talking online, they are creating User-Generated Content (UGC) in the form of comments, text reviews, video reviews, and more! This leaves a digital trail of UGC positively pointing at your brand.
Smile With Your Content
Another lesson we learned from Win Friends And Influence People is short, sweet, and simple – Smile. Your first impression online is just as important as your first impression in real life. This goes back to listening. If you don’t listen to your audience and provide them with content they want and find valuable, you won’t be able to make a good first impression. To smile with your content, provide motivational, inspirational, valuable tips and tricks that apply to their life.
Simulate how your online customers may first encounter your online business. Do a search of your brand name. Does your company rank in the first page? How about social media? Is your Facebook page give your first-time viewers the digital equivalent of a warm smile? Remember smartphone optimization for your website too. Majority of people do searches on-the-go with their phones!
Make The Other Person Happy
“I like what Kim Dadlec from Johnson & Johnson said, “We’re entering an era of reciprocity. We now have to engage people in a way that’s useful or helpful to their lives. The consumer is looking to satisfy their needs, and we have to be there to help them with that. To put it another way: How can we exchange value instead of just sending a message?”
Influence is based on reciprocity. And to earn the trust of your online audience it helps to give value, give value, give value, and then give more value. Doing so will prove to online users that you genuinely care for them and aren’t just out to make a quick buck off them.
Carnegie teaches us to make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest. They will be happy to leave a review, give a positive word of mouth for your business, and purchase your products and services because your provided them with so much value.
Word Up:
Your influence in the online world is only as good as your online reputation. Dale Carnegie shows us in his classic book to put others first. By focusing on how you may provide value for others, you build your online trust while simultaneously influencing a positive online reputation for your brand. In the online world, your trust and social currency are worth more than anything.
sources: booksamillion
