A Dying Art

The practice of remembering someone for no other reason other than to say, “I am thinking of you.” It is pretty much dead in today’s world. Though unintentional as it may be, we have forgotten the power of reaching outside of ourselves and putting someone else in the forefront first.

In previous times, the written word in the form of a little note or a small gift to remind others that they are important to us, that we are thinking of them, is for all intensive purposes finished. We no longer have the time nor do we give importance to this very important gesture. On those rare occasions in today’s world, when we are inspired enough to say “thank you”, people are so taken aback by this demonstration of generosity and sincerity that they place us in an entirely new category of human beings in today’s world.

This brings up another point and that has to do with customer service. Why don’t retailers go that extra mile with their customers to thank them for their patronage? After all it is the customers that sustain the retailers. Those businesses that do manage to personally thank their customers often, gain a level of respect and confidence that keeps people coming back. It’s true that it is extremely difficult for some very large businesses to always be thanking their customers for purchasing from them, but they must be constantly reminded of the importance surrounding this practice.

I now want to speak about personal branding and the importance of separating oneself from everyone else. What better way to gain people’s trust, respect and confidence other than teaching by example.

We are all looking for ways to make money on line. There are thousands of individuals and web sites out there offering us the latest and greatest ways to make money. Whether it is building a list or joining a matrix, everyone is looking for ways to entice us to come on board. They all swear that they have the secret to make money easy, fast and in bundles. The problem with this is they all sound the same - very little originality and a lot of fluff, but most of all an undercurrent of incredible impatience’s and urgency for us to join up with them.

What none of them seem to realize is that people hate to be sold anything and the premise that what they are offering is “the system” that is going to change their lives. People want to learn and not be sold anything. They want to decide for themselves that what they are reading appeals to them, before moving forward to follow someone else’s advice.

How does one create a loyal following? The answer is personal branding. How do you personally brand yourself? SLOWLY! You start out by creating an image of yourself through your personal character, blogs and forums. And you then let people decide for themselves what you are all about. If you are true in both gesture and word, people will begin to trust you, and by trusting you they will begin to look for you and listen to what you have to say. At this point, the advice you give must always be from your heart. People can see through you very quickly, if you are not sincere. Once you have reached a level where you have a loyal following, you together with your group, can begin to discuss what as a group is really out there for you to do together. You in the mean time, and as your group’s leader, have already been looking at which direction you want to take your group. Don’t forget that you, as your group’s leader, must lead.

I started out by talking about the dying art of saying thank you. I want to finish this piece by saying that this gesture of putting people first, though old as it may be, should be remembered as something that will give us many miles of positive feedback and good will. And you as a true leader should tell people how important it really is. It will definitely make you stand out as someone who cares and really knows the importance of the little things in life. It is by far one of the best examples of branding yourself for the world to see and take notice of.