Being human (and showing it) is a competitive advantage
👉 if you're brave enough, it *will* pay off
I ended up spending a bit of time on Twitter recently, looking at how to use it for lead generation without getting lost in the swamp.
Unfortunately, I got lost in the swamp :)
What you see on Twitter is very much driven by who you follow so I recently tidied up my account rather radically and brute-force unfollowed pretty much everyone.
I then started following a handful of accounts who seemed to be tweeting interesting stuff related to the areas I work in.
So the good news is my feed is pretty clear of politics and vitriol and anger.
The bad news is it can get a bit dull and businessy.
There seems to be a gang of folks on Twitter who delight in the idea that you should be spending 100% of your waking hours super-focused and super-productive and only ever doing work-related stuff.
Or exercising. They're obsessed by exercising too.
Apparently watching TV shows or reading for fun or, god-forbid, drinking alcohol is a huge no-no.
What they miss, I think, is that it's hard for normal people to connect with superhumans.
It's a lot easier to empathise, connect and communicate with other human beings if you do the things that they do.
You have common cultural references. They get your jokes. They get you and you get them.
Showing your humanity, your weaknesses, your guilty pleasure TV shows and what you care about allows people to connect with you.
And that's true of business-to-business type communication as much as business-to-consumer. Even more so I reckon as so much business-to-business comms is so deathly dull that even a glimpse of humanity in there means you really stand out.
I guess what I'm saying is that when it comes to writing emails (or Linkedin posts or Tweets) be a little brave.
Be a little bit more you.