Win friends and influence people

If manners cost nothing, why is applying them viewed as an expense?

At a recent network meeting someone we’d never met before, on finding out that Chris and I are former journalists, asked for a list of our media contacts.

These are relationships carefully built over the past 20 years, yet were supposed to be handed over scot-free to someone whose probable intent was to bombard them with aimless marketing material.

This brash attitude also appears to be de rigeur on social media – where the sole tactic of some self proclaimed ‘gurus’ (n.b. anyone vain enough to call themselves a guru almost certainly isn’t!) is to inundate people with crass, impersonal sales messages on LinkedIn and Twitter.

What about establishing some credibility and building relationships first? At CGM we apply traditional marketing values to social media. The twin adages that people like to buy rather than be sold to – and that people buy from people – are preferable to cold calling messages.

To us, it is a two step process: establish credibility by having something worthwhile and relevant to say, be it blogging, social media or the content of press releases (stories are almost best), and communicate in a polite and friendly way.

This may not hold sway among the pushy, demanding or greedy gurus, whose frequent opening gambit is a putdown line about how poor you are at social media and why you need them (yeah, right). But where is the skill or provable success rate in that approach?

We pride ourselves in liaising with and representing our clients in a polite, friendly manner and developing working relationships with the media folks we contact with press releases other communications.

Being polite costs nothing. Doing otherwise can prove an expensive, time-wasting exercise.

Call us on 01905 453908 or emailinfo@chrisgreenmedia.co.uk to find out how our good manners can help your business.