Imagine, for a moment, that you’ve just met an incredibly attractive person, someone you’d really like to get to know much, much better.
Would you rush up to them, blurt out all your strengths and qualities, give them your entire life history, and invite them back to your place?
Or would you try to be more subtle than that?
I hope, for the sake of both your love life and your sanity, that you would use the subtle approach. Perhaps you would try to intrigue the other person, engage with them, but leave plenty of mystery – things for them to find out about you in the future.
Well, social media is much the same. It’s a bit like a blind date at times. You don’t want to go rushing up to people on Twitter or Facebook and start inviting them back to your place (blog, website, whatever), on the first encounter. At least take the time to introduce yourself. Make conversation. It works wonders. And don’t forget to listen when they talk….
You need to establish a relationship, with plenty of trust, before you try to close the deal, and get them onto your sales page, or reading your blog posts, or subscribing to your RSS feed.
Entice people to come and find out more, create an irresistible urge to click through and explore your hidden depths.
You have to be open and honest, for sure, but don’t lay it all out on the table, leaving nothing left to discover.
Treat writing as a game of seduction: after all, it makes the chores of marketing much more fun.