It's the Small Things

My sister-in-law is that person who sends a card for every holiday. Yes, a card. In the mail. With a stamp. And, I’m serious when I say *every* holiday — not just Christmas and Thanksgiving … but Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day and everything in between. She always takes a few minutes to write a personal note telling us what’s going on in their lives and asking about ours. Every time I get a card from her, I know she’s thinking about us. I love it! And, it’s a good reminder that those little gestures are the ones that mean the most.

Don’t you think that rule applies to your online life as well as your offline world? As you work on building and nurturing your community, it’s still the small things that matter, right? Two quick examples:

Last week, Jason Falls sent out his first Social Media Explorer e-newsletter. (Side note: If you’re not a subscriber, march on over to his blog right now and sign up!) I loved the tone, the links to other blogs, the content — pretty much everything about it. So, I tweeted the link to the e-newsletter. A few people retweeted it. Apparently, a lot of people opened the link. So, Jason shot me a quick message just to thank me for sharing his newsletter with my network. I thought that was fantastic. Jason’s a busy guy — he didn’t have to thank me for doing anything for him. But, he did. And that meant a lot to me. Going forward, I’ll be that much more likely to lend a hand to him if I can or share his blog posts with my network. He’s a good guy and took a minute to show some appreciation.

Likewise, Chris Brogan — who is crazy busy promoting his book, answering tweets from an insane amount of people and still working the day job — responded to an email my mom sent him after she finished Trust Agents. She sent him a note just to tell him that she enjoyed his book. That’s it. Well, he responded to her email, thanking her for the feedback. Seriously?!? Chris Brogan, who already had sold my mom the book, still took the time to answer this email. Stop for a minute and think about how many emails he receives. My mom was really impressed by his gesture.

One last thought: This applies to businesses as well as individuals. What are you doing to say thanks and let people know you appreciate them? I told you about Jason and Chris. Who have you seen adding that personal touch?