A Week of Appreciation

It's been such a busy year! Just this year, I've been introduced to Stumble, delicious, Digg, dmoz, Scour, LinkedIn, Qassia, WebRing, Twitter, Jason's Network, and gotten to understand and expand on Squidoo. I've learned html, embedding video, using tags, SEO, pinging, and all about backlinks. There’s been blogging, stumbling, tagging, and submitting all over the place. Whew!!

Have you had as much of a whirlwind year? A lot of people have, and it's not just in the business-building arena, but the rest of life, too. I don't think I've ever known so many people who ended a marriage in one year, myself included. More and more of us are returning to school and still trying to make time for our children. It's easy to lose track of the most important thing with all this activity going on.
The internet gives us more opportunities to connect with other people than ever before. It's fun to watch your friends, followers, and fans build up! But, then what? Do we use them all to promote our business? We can, but if that's all we do with our connections we'll soon find ourselves without any.

People are not numbers. They matter, and their feelings matter. If we don't treat our network connections like people who matter then we're not making the most of this opportunity. You never know who might be your next joint venture partner... or a new, close friend! You never will know if you don't treat them with kindness and respect.
The people I've connected with the most online are the ones who've taken a few minutes to write a personal note. It doesn't even matter what the note says. It's just the thought that they cared enough to write something personal, to make a real connection.

This is the area where I've fallen a little short. I haven't had (or made) the time to personally contact the people in my various networks. Well, that changes right now. Actually, it changed last night. I decided that its time for Follower/Friend/Fan Appreciation Week. I started on Jason’s Network and on Twitter by looking at my list of friends/followers and going to each one of their profiles. Obviously, I can't do it all at once, but I can do a page a day.

We all want people to rate us, favorite us, and bookmark us, so it's only right that we give others the same blessing. It's an old success secret that if you help other people get what they want, you will end up getting what you want. Neale Donald Walsch puts it another way: What ever you wish to receive, help someone else to receive. This isn't about ratings swaps. It's about letting people know we appreciate them and giving them a boost in the process. If they reciprocate, great! But if we do it expecting that, it's not sincere.

The best things that have happened for me this year have come from supporting others just because I believe in what they're doing. I didn't expect anything from them. I wanted to support the value they bring and share it with others. The blessings that have come of it make up a long list of surprises.
Let's make an effort to let people know we appreciate them and value them. Make this week Friend/Fan/Follower Appreciation Week. See how many people you can lift up and support in one week. You'll be glad you did!