Let me start with a disclaimer: I have absolutely no issues in using social media to connect with those who I’ve never met. In fact, I am of the firm belief that connecting with others who I don’t know is the sole premise of using social media. I’m not saying this for the sake of it – it’s been well-documented on my Connect FAQ’s page since years.
IMHO If I only must use social media to connect with those who I know or I’ve met, it defeats the entire purpose of using such networks.
But then, as it turns out, there’s a downside to it. And I’ve only come to learn it the hard way. Given my innate nature to accept most connect requests, I am often a target of being pitched with a proposal. To give you a sense, I have received more than 200 such emails starting 2017 – that’s roughly 3 emails a day and one email per 8 hours.
IMHO Despite ensuring the user profile is genuine and there are distinct overlaps in interest, the abuse of using social media for sending sales pitches is rampant.
One of the great aspects of social media is that it gives you the ability to reach people who otherwise were inaccessible to the world. But let’s not forget that one of the reasons why these people were put behind the walls in the first place is because of overbearing vendors trying to reach out and sell. So, don’t be that vendor and leave your old sales habits behind.
IMHO Let’s connect to engage and learn from each other and not abuse the online bridge to sell. If the buyer finds value in your engagement, then selling to them won’t be that difficult after all.
SVG World 