You Know What I Hate? Being an Umbrella

I freely admit that the above headline was created to confuse and entice you. But I promise it’s going somewhere that just might be of help. I’m willing to bet you hate being someone’s umbrella too.

It’s another way of saying that you’re someone’s foul-weather friend, with a built-in piece of imagery to help you do a quick test if you’re ever confused by someone who is straddling the line.

See, an umbrella is a lonely piece of equipment, unless of course you live in Seattle. We use umbrellas to cover us from the rain.

(Well I don’t. I hardly ever get caught in heavy rain for whatever reason. Rarely carry an umbrella. Still works though…)

Then when it stops raining, we close up our umbrellas, and put them away, never to be seen again until, of course, it rains again.

A foul-weather friend is the same.

Now, of course, we’re not all going to the movies with our customers and clients – that is, we may not be friends in the truest sense of the word.

It’s still a relationship though.

And with all the friending, following, circling, and other types of connecting that happens in social media, you should periodically evaluate yourself to see if YOU are being a foul-weather friend to your audience.

So here are 3 signs, and 3 ways to course-correct.

tworm /Foter

• You only send a newsletter/ write a blog post when there’s a promotion coming up.

To make it fair, keep in consistent touch.

Consistent doesn’t have to mean constant. If you’re maintaining an audience rather than growing one, or don’t really care about search positioning, you can focus on just sending a message out at a regular interval.

• You’re only active on social media channels when there’s a complaint or a problem.

Even if you’re maintaining a customer service channel of communication through social media, send out the occasional tip and ask for customer stories.

I know it’s a challenge when problems seems to constantly be coming at you. So collect 30, 52, 366 in advance and space them out over the appropriate length of time.

• There are certain peers you only contact when you need help.

I have some great and powerful friends who I liken to the Wizard of Oz. I am so in awe of them that I feel like I’m bothering them, which used to make me limit how much I kept in touch.

Then one day a friend of mine who only approaches me when they need a retweet sent me a message.

And I responded to say that I felt used by them because they only seem to want to talk to me when they want free promotion. “It’s not that. I just know you’re very busy  so I don’t want to waste your time.”

Wow. Pot, I’d like you to meet kettle.

I thought, wow, is that how I seem to the people I admire?

(Since then that person and I have met in person, and are on our way to becoming genuine friends.)

The moral of that story?

Touch base in all directions – people you look up to, people who look up to you, peers, colleagues, friends of friends who may not need you now, but might in the future, as often as you can. If you’re new to this, you might want to try some of our recent awkward penetration tips for social media.

Being an umbrella to your friends, customers and peers is just as bad as having someone treat you like one. And more often than not, we don’t mean to mistreat others – we may actually mean well. To overcome this paradox, just take a few minutes out from time to time and think about what you’re doing from the other person’s perspective.