Think About Your Reader

I advocate reading what you share but, to save time, I have a short list of experts that I share without reading first. They are experts I have vetted and trust. For the most part, they have the same philosophy that I do. One of the experts on my list was a bulk email software company that shares great statistics, infographics and a few good tips.

I received an email from them that had an awesome download full of updated email statistics. I was immediately excited to have something to share quickly. Ooops. No sharing buttons in the email - which meant I did not share it. I went on to the next email. I can't afford to get distracted from my inbox. I went from excitement about sharing their content, to not sharing it at all. In 10 seconds.

Later, I came back to that email and clicked through to their website. My intent was to follow them on social media to easily share their content that way. It took me far too long to find their buried social media links and when I did, there were no social media connection links. I could Like or Tweet, but not click through to their profiles to browse, like and follow. Suddenly, they didn't seem so expert anymore. That change of heart took 20 seconds.

The result was that I removed them from my list of experts I share without reading first. They went from sending me something I was excited to share to being removed from my list of experts with one email, in 30 seconds.

I've said it many times. Think about your reader before you publish any content. Why are they reading? What is keeping them engaged with you? What do they expect from you? A single email can change everything from your reader's perspective.

Yes, I made a too quick, too harsh judgment, but the result affects the quality of my content. My reputation rides on my content. And the truth is, making sharing easy is basic email marketing. If they were experts, they would know that.

originally published Work Better, Not Harder February 19, 2015

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zone 3 gardening, bird watching, chasing dogs and snapping photos somewhere around sleepy hollow road

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