Writing is my freelance gig. In my day job, I'm a marketer in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction industry. A friend of mine--also in the industry--recommended a marketing blog to me recently. It was Matt Handal's Help Everybody Everyday. I checked it out and liked it enough to subscribe. Immediately I received an e-mail back (assumably automated) asking "What are you struggling with?"
And so I thought about it. And I quipped off a response.
What I didn't expect, was to recieve an e-mail from Matt asking me specific questions about my response. Not a "sell" on his book. Not a canned paragraph telling me how his blog could improve my life. Genuine questions that required me to give a more thoughtful response.
What was interesting is that his questions were about me. My struggles professionally, related to the world I work in. That personal interest immediately created a connection. (And, I did in fact buy his book.)
What if the best way to make social media personal is to be....well...personal? At the end of the day, there is still a real person at the end of that keyboard, and it shouldn't be surprising when we treat them as such.
