How to Know if You’re “That Guy” in Social Media.

 

 

“Hi, I’m here to have the conversation.”

“What presentation? Who are you again?”

“No, no. I said ‘conversation’. The one about – ”

“Here’s my link. I don’t think it’s necessary for us to ever have a whole conversation. So here’s my link.”

“Maybe later, first let me answer your- ”

“Here’s my link. It’s not enough that you’ll see it in my profile.”

“Um. No? Like I was saying it’s the conversation about how not to- ”

“Not to interrupt, again, but I have to tell you something.”

“What? And don’t say ‘here’s my link’ again. Because now the answer is HELL No.”

“Oh no, don’t be silly! It’s a thinly disguised version of here’s my link interspersed in fake conversation, or a question I think is clever. See how cunning I am as a marketer? I bet that makes you want to buy my stuff, doesn’t it? And by the way, here’s my affiliate link.”

“UNFOLLOW! DE-FRIEND! BLOCK! REPORT AS SPAM!”

*silence*

(BTW, if you didn’t get why the ‘here’s my link” thing is a joke, or if you’re not the person who wants to have the conversation, you’re probably “That Guy – or Gal.)

  • hy tinu

    nice article, hopefully you can continue to share advice with our readers. Thank for sharing
  • Lois
    Love it! ahahahh!

    Now here's my link...

    (KIDDING!)
  • Hey Warren,

    Thanks for the feedback on the popup, that's the first negative comment we've gotten about it and up until now it's been testing really well on the 2 minute delay.

    Truth is, I've seen almost everyone I know be "That Guy", including me, including you. The key is balance. We're all trying to keep our businesses profitable, and at times, we'll all err on the side of the marketer in us. And that's actually okay. Some business mixes with social media.

    But I'm not talking about "the fine line" here. I'm talking about, out and out, blatant self-promotion without even the *attempt* to connect.

    Tinu
  • The majority of people are not "that guy" and think that people that come to sites like this are pushy marketers.

    The fact that we are here identifies as as people who need to be careful about being seen at "that guy"

    We all know the kind of guy Tinu is talking about, and any normal person shuns him... but WE all have to watch for this too. (like that pop up that came up in the middle of me writing this ).

    I don't want to be "that guy"
  • Hey,

    I love your blog, thanks for stopping by. It's gone so far beyond the blog comment spam though, hasn't it? It's to the point where you're getting spam on Twitter, Facebook, Plurk... it's crazy.
  • SBA
    Here, here! I totally agree. Bloggers are implementing captcha images on their comments but still miss these guys who act like 'bots' but have very good eyesight. I sympathize with you and others --- my blog is new so I've had only one spammer, sort of a milestone (lol). Very little we can do but try to reflect back on them with articles like this.
  • Hi Haroun,

    I try to do what I say I will. Glad you're getting the emails but no I'm really not "better". Just doing what I can while I can to wrap up some old business and follow through on my word as far as this daily newsletter.

    Thanks, and great to see you.

    Tinu
  • Yay, you are writing your emails now Tinu and I'm getting it.
    Good to hear that you are feeling better. Look forward to your newsletters :)
  • nice post and this is freshing my mind :)
  • Tinu,

    I love the dialogue you've written out here- and the illustration for that matter. I also really appreciate the fact that you're trying to help people see that this isn't the best way to achieve their goals.

    I think a lot of especially "clever" marketers like to see themselves as rule-breakers. I've found that telling them there is a better way of behaving to be a waste of time -- they laugh off my advice like I'm some uptight school marm.

    This approach works better I think -- illustrating that rather than thinking about their approach to social media as right or wrong, they need to think about what works and what doesn't. Being that guy certainly *doesn't* work.
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