Saying thanks is so simple. Why doesn’t it happen more often? Are brands and people too busy? Or, do they just plain old forget they asked for something?
As a public relations practitioner with a media relations core, my job was pitching media every day for eight hours straight in Chicago’s agencies. I don’t recall if I thanked the reporters for running my story back in the day; but I sure as heck do it now.
When someone works in earnest to reach a reporter and speak upwards of 3-4 times to get a story to run, there’s a bit of professional ‘raderie going on. A relationship gets launched, and someone is asking the other for a major consideration.
If that work is rewarded, it would seem obvious a “thank you” is in order. A simple email would suffice, right?
Last fall a very personable PR woman connected with me about her client’s book. She pitched me the story, sent me a book, and I delayed writing a post on it. With little time to read much around the holidays, I forced myself to dive in gladly as the book was worth the read.
A blog post ensued and another reference followed with tweets and likes, and posts throughout the interwebz. What was the result? The author said, “You’re too kind” on a Google+ post and the PR person is nowhere to be found; no acknowledgment.
I’m not a reporter; I’m a professional blogger with a large community. As a result of that blog post, I helped push sales of that book; probably 10 I can tap from my community alone. In this day of oodles of books and budding authors, I’d say 10 is decent.
I wrote awhile ago about thanking Twitter followers for RTs, something I did up until I joined 25 tribes on Triberr. I couldn’t take the hour a day it would take to thank folks, and that always makes me cringe. When you’re trying to build community, it’s so helpful to acknowledge those who give.
This isn’t a whine or rant.
This is a reminder to everyone in business that the words “thank you” are not overdone, unexpected or unwanted.
Please say thank you in business. It’s more than just common courtesy; it’s the stuff relationships are made of.
My Sincere Thanks
And, with that said, I owe deep gratitude to several business partners who assisted and continue to assist on my nightmare tech journeys:
- Heather Solos, community manager with Feedblitz, has been a savior helping me rectify Feedblitz issues with my site. Did I bring those issues onto myself? Yep, most likely; that didn’t stop her from sorting through my issues and getting me up and running. Thank you, Heather.
- Ginny Soskey, is a doll (she looks like one, too), with Shareaholic. I’m using Shareaholic sharing toolbar on this blog and site. I’ve tried many, and each has issues. I’m in love with this tool for bloggers, and the options and variety of sharing features is amazing. They’re getting bigger by the day, but that didn’t stop Ginny from helping me immediately when my share bar went awry. She was on it, learning how to troubleshoot while sending me screen shares and tips on what to fix over here. (Turns out it was Chrome cache; a problem as I had no idea we need to clean our cache on a consistent basis otherwise funky things happen.)
- Adrianne Mayshar of HubSpot is a gem. She’s been riding herd as lead cowboy (isn’t that word like actor…you don’t need to say cowgirl?) through a serious set of integration issues I’m having and continue to have. I appreciate her customer service and that of senior support tech Victoria.
- Scott Quillin, of New England Multimedia, has given undying and relentless support and encouragement as well as ears, eyes and dedication to my tech needs. Not only has he designed this site for me, he has become my IT liaison to help free me from the confines of tech nasty. I cannot say enough good about this man and his client service; astonishing.
I thank them; I thank my readers and this community. I thank you. I appreciate deeply.
Jayme, thank you for including me in such a thoughtful, passionate and sweet post! I agree–saying thank you is not always expected, but definitely appreciated. I’m lucky to be able to work with wonderful people (including you!). Glad we could get everything working again for ya!
Oh and P.S. about the Chrome cache–no need to clean it out all the time. It was just to get your blog to show the fix that we had made more quickly than if you had let the cache update on its own. 🙂
Thanks again for including me–I’m touched.
@Ginny Soskey Ginny, you’re a breath of fresh air with your passion for what you’re doing. Your interest in helping your “customers” and bloggers is obvious and heartfelt.
I will always encourage my peers to use Shareaholic; it goes way deeper than Sexy Sharing!! LOL.
Jayme, I see you standing at a podium before a national audience, receiving a top peer-voted award for your accomplishments, and then hearing you thank those who have helped you get there. I’ll be sure to pass this on to Scott, who I know will be humbled to be included in this list of behind-the-scenes assistants and allies in your pursuit of excellence.
And what a fantastic way to show gratitude! Kaarina’s going to love this post.
@New England Multimedia Michelle, it’s been a journey from nowhere to friendship. Social media and Twitter are what I have to thank for introducing me to you and then Scott. Thank you — my heart.
@Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing That is exactly what he says about you — that what began as a professional relationship has become a real friendship. I knew he’d love you. Who wouldn’t?
@New England Multimedia <3 U
Jayme, thank you so much for your kind words for me and for your other business partners. It’s a pleasure working you. I have really enjoyed getting to know you and I’m blessed to have you as a friend. I look forward to 2013 for both of us!Rock on!
@Scott Quillin | Web – Video – Original Music! It’s a pleasure “working you” too, Friend! Teasing!!! I have enjoyed your coaching and am learning a ton too much about IT. Yuch.
@Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing LOL – now that’s friendly! 🙂 I type faster than my brain works!
I couldn’t agree more with you. I hate getting a RT from someone and no thank you. It’s classless.
@geoffliving Oh, Geoff. I’ve been meaning to come over to your house. I see all the good stuff you’re writing. So sorry for my absence. You’re wonderful for stopping in here. Thank you.
Hi Jayme,
I completely agree. Heck for me, just responding is enough, after all nobody likes being ignored, right? Also wanted to mention that I love your new look! Great job and love the colors. You and Scott did a great job here.
@Craig McBreen Hi, Craig! I have to say, I visited your site more often than not admiring the design and colors. It was an inspiration for me, although I haven’t been back in awhile. All of this tech nightmare has kept me close to home; I think after this week, I’ll finally be seeing the light.
I need to come visit and see all the good things you’re doing. Who did I just read who said you had designed their logo? Was it Jens for his book cover? Not sure…shoot. I read too much! Thanks for coming over!
@Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing Not sure who you talked to, I’ve been that busy lately 🙂 I did help out Jens though. Glad you found some inspiration in my site … it’ll go through a redesign of its own sometime in the near future.
Yep, nothing beats a thank you.
It is the single easiest way to give and is one of the most powerful ways to build relationships. At least I think so.
Thanking everyone who RT’s your post on Twitter? Well, I have a hard time not doing it but when it takes hours each time I have to wonder. I have gotten some good results (responses and conversation) from replying with something more than a “thanks” like a quick question. I have to ask, what’s the value of that? Dunno.
@rdopping As said, I used to thank everyone for RTs. Now, I have to do it when someone adds a personal note to that tweet b/c of all the tribes I’ve joined. This journey is about relationships. Twitter remains a positive force in social media; in face, Mashable expects them to go IPO in 2014 with 1 million registered users.
Oh Jayme, the problem with tweeting from here using Sharaholic is that the @sharaholic is who gets the acknowledgement and not @soulati I wonder if they can change that? or do you care?
@rdopping @sharaholic @soulati Understood! I always tweet my first tweet under Shareaholic and then I alter that to my name or leave it off entirely.
As I’ve been honored by Shareaholic as a Top 25 Social Media Publisher blog, you can bet I am going to promote them. And, they are responsive and real people, too.
When you are a blogger and you find business partners from which you’re using free apps and plugins, it’s really your accountability to showcase that in as many ways as possible. That’s why I’m always so pleased to promote @livefyre as well. That group is continually available to me whenever I have issues over here.
I think many comments are set up that way; especially WordPress.com.
Make sense, Ralph?
@Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing @rdopping Jayme, you are one classy lady. I, and the rest of the team, appreciate your deliberate intentions when sharing. We’re working hard to make tools that help bloggers do their job even better, and it means a lot to have your support. As always, thank you for all that you do!
Ralph, totally understand where you are coming from–it’s really easy to change @Shareaholic to be your Twitter handle. It’s a simple option in the WordPress Panel under “Twitter configuration.”
And Jayme, if you want to have the best of both worlds, you can put both of our Twitter handles: https://blog.shareaholic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Screen-Shot-2013-01-16-at-9.45.23-AM.png 😉
Dear Jamye ~ Gratitude for all we have, our partnerships, friendships and everything that brings us to this moment will boost our health and make everyone feel good. We all mean well and sometimes the ‘thank you’ falls through the cracks of time. On those occasions, it may come back in other forms unexpectedly. A special retweet, or an angel message through a friend of a friend. We all understand that social networking stretches us to our limits and capacity to reply immediately to everyone who ‘connects’ ‘tweets’ or ‘shares’ on social networks. Blessings, Debby P.S. I want to thank @ShellyKramer for tweeting “Please Say Thank You In Businessgoo.gl/xTkrI via @Soulati” for me to find you.
@DebbyBruck @ShellyKramer And, I am so thrilled I have a friend in Shelly who believes in my content enough to share and find you, too! (There, how’s that for Friday mush and gush?!)
Seriously, when we appreciate, the gifts come back to us generously. I so know this, as I live by this every day.
My child, 10 then, said, “Mom, there’s something about XX; she’s just too nice!” Was interesting, but you do see through it! Thanks for coming over and looking forward to seeing you more. Where do you blog, please?