Is it me or is the internet full of annoying people?
Everywhere I turn there’s someone trying to convince me to give them my wallet, email address, or attention. The girl selling makeup via Instagram. The company trying to sign me up for their email newsletters. The guy convincing me to register for his webinar. The lady with an ebook telling me to download now.
It gets a little obnoxious after a while.
If you’re like me, you want to create an online presence and build up your personal brand but also want to be seen as polite and ‘non-creepy’. And yet, you do want to make sales, grow your network and encourage prospects.
So what’s a girl to do?
I am convinced that it is possible, and even strategic, to position yourself as a normal person online instead of a money sucking/list building machine. With everyone else aggressively peddling their wares, being more relaxed about your agenda will yield better results. Why? People want to do business with those they know, like and trust and trying your hardest to be ‘non-annoying’ will win them over. Also, annoying people get unfollowed or ignored after a while and no one wants that.
Like dating, appearing more aloof can work in your favor. Begging and bothering people online will only make you look desperate for attention and sales. A confident stance will show the world that you know your worth and don’t have to resort to ALL UPPERCASE AND EXCLAMATION MARKS TO PROVE IT!!!!! My apologies for shouting at you, but I was trying to make a point.
Besides for all uppercase and punctuation parties, another good idea is to stay away from anything that sounds like you’re a scammy con-artist. Words like “million” “money” “cash” “free” will have to be used with discretion to set you apart from the phonies who use them. Be careful with making promises too. Things like “make $5,000 a day” or “get rich fast” are all red flags for annoying scammers.
The path of ‘non-annoying’, also known as the road less taken, is one where promises don’t exist and guarantees are carefully doled out. With this method, you are simply a person who has some knowledge or a product that you believe will be of help to someone else. You use words like “helpful” or “useful” instead of the hyped, suspicious ‘AMAZING’ and ‘UNBELIEVABLE’.
The non-annoying person speaks honestly about their struggles and doesn’t promise anything will be easy or simple. As a non-annoying person, you are open to discussion, frank about your challenges and acknowledge that there is no quick path to achieving goals in your personal or professional life.
Most importantly, the non-annoying person considers what others want to hear; not just what they want to say. So while all you want to do is to blab about the event you’re promoting, others don’t want to hear about it every day, all day. They want insights, tips, and tools to make their life better.
Give them value and you’ll rise above all the annoying noise.
