If You Spam Your Friends…

Posted by parkejladd on Oct 19, 2009 in Featured {Article} | 2 comments

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…they will stop paying attention to you.

If you like your friends, and you have even the slightest desire to keep them around, don’t spam them or pressure them into purchasing something that not even you are genuinely passionate about. Friends don’t want your spam; they want to help you become successful. Friends don’t want to be pressured into buying trinkets; they want to be a part of your movement. Friends don’t want to invest in your side projects; they want to invest in what you’re vivaciously passionate about. Your friends are your friends; don’t abuse them.

The remarkable thing about friends is when they do what friends intrinsically do, they willing spread your message to lots of other people. Your friends do this because they actually care about you. They love you because they know you, have a relationship with you, and they have a real desire to help you. Great ideas never spread through spam or off-beat pressure selling. Great ideas spread because they are great and lots of people love talking about them.

When you share an idea with friends with preconceived notions of your time together resulting in more than the relaying of a sincere passion, without your friends knowing other-wise, you are guilty of spamming.

True friends are incredibly valuable because they’ll always tell you the truth regardless of the circumstances. If they aren’t true friends, they’ll only tell you the truth when it’s comfortable for them and not offensive to you. Seek out people who are willing to be infallible friends, and never forget that their friendship is more valuable than making a sale or forcing a message. If your story is worth telling, your friends will be the first to voluntarily share it for you. If your message isn’t worth sharing, your true friends will tell you so, saving you and their own selves a lot of time and resources. Cheers to outstanding friends.

2 Comments

  1. Avin Kline | October 19, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    Great post.

    One thing I’ll add is the idea of filtering.

    There are some very legit instances where you may want to give a friend the opportunity to buy something you’re providing or join you in the pursuit of something.

    As you alluded to, we all know people who have tried to sell us something or get us into something, even though we’re not looking for what they’re selling. Then they treat us as an outsider or less-of-a-friend because we didn’t buy/join/etc.

    I think from a sellers perspective, the best way is to act as a filter. Of course we shouldn’t avoid sharing a product/opportunity with someone just because they’re a friend and only work with people we don’t like :).

    Instead, when you have a product/service/opportunity, just Ask your friend if they’re looking for what you’re providing (see if they’re ‘in the market’). If they are looking, great, go to the next step. If they’re not looking, then hang out with them, go to concerts together, be normal with them, just don’t do business with them – they’re just not looking and that’s okay.

    Where people get in trouble is trying to get someone not looking for what they have to do something they don’t want to do. If you have a good product/service/opportunity, some people Will be looking for it (at least the result of it), and some of those people will be your friends. The key is to just ASK, not force.

    -avin

  2. parkejladd | October 19, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    Avin,

    Thanks for your input on this post!

    Filtering is a great concept, and I will definitely be sure to implement it in the future. Great addition to the conversation!

    Just ask, don’t force.

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