Building Relationships in the Digital Age: My Thank You Story

Over the past few months, I have been thinking a lot of about gratitude and the simple art of saying thank you. Especially in the digital world, we can get caught up between the computer version of ourselves instead of the live version - so much so, there seems to be something missing.

I am sure you can attest, I'd rather get a phone call or have a coffee than completely rely on an email to have a conversation. I realize that it's not always an option and the convenience to turn on your Mac can be so much easier, but as we leverage digital media to build our personal and professional brand, we need to keep it real.

In this digital communications world, it really boils down to this:

Start conversations and build the relationships online to eventually take them offline.

And that includes saying thank you.

I once read about an experiment where someone spent a year thanking people through emails. My son's girlfriend even told me about a woman who baked a pie a day for 365 days as a means of saying thank you. I had to laugh thinking about my baking skills - or lack thereof - with that challenge. However, that's what I call gratitude!

Overall, it's about staying sincere and tending to these new relationships.

In this digital age, it's important to remember that the computer screen does not replace the face to face interactions we have day to day.

However, the start of the conversation can come through an inbox or email. But you have to remember to keep them personable. Take it to the next level. This rang true for me last week.

I was asked to connect via LinkedIn with someone last week to whom I had briefly met about six years ago. He used to live in my area and owned a business in town. After he sent me the LinkedIn invitation, I thanked him for the connection. I told him how I enjoyed meeting him back in the day and we started a conversation.

This led to a "call me" via inbox that eventually turned into a meeting scheduled for later this month to work on a digital branding strategy for my now new client and his business.

A heartfelt thank you can take you places.

Social media marketing offers so much more than meets the eye. I tell this to my clients all the time. At it's core, it's an avenue to build (and in this case re-build) relationships to take them offline.

It's not about selling yourself to your audience. It's not about posting and telling everyone how great your business is. It's much deeper than that.

It's about authentically building relationships and engaging with your network on a real level.

Don't replace face to face interaction with computer time. Use your digital communication savvy to bring those online relationships to a new level.

It's that simple.

For sales professionals, people who are looking for a new career and those who want to simply get the word out about their new business, LinkedIn (among other social platforms) gives you the ability to build your online relationships for purpose. The key is to give them - your network - the attention and general care it deserves to AUTHENTICALLY build those relationships and start conversations.

In my case, this meant saying thank you in real time.

I'm excited to head to the city next week to re-meet my new LinkedIn connection and I have plans to visit some other ones, as well. Putting in the time to say thank you for being part of network - or rather on a grander scale - my life - is something that is important to me.

Spend some time reaching out to those who have impacted your life - past and present. Say thank you to that person who sees value in connecting to you after the invitation has been sent. Pick up the phone and reach out to a friend or colleague who has made a difference. Tell your employees that you appreciate them.

A thank you goes a long way.

To my awesome LinkedIn network, I cannot thank you all enough for the avenues you have led me and the friendships that have been created. Although a pie may not be a the mail to you in the near future, my sincerest appreciation for each and every one of you is heartfelt.

I hope to connect with you in REAL TIME this year.

Thank you!

About Patti Phelan Clapp

As a digital strategist and online branding consultant, I assist sales professionals, executives in transition as well as various businesses and corporations to creatively market their brand online while continually focusing on overall goals and target audience. I use digital storytelling to build a network for purpose which will yield a successful return on investment.

My passion is to combine my experience teaching as an adjunct college professor, writer, entrepreneur and marketing with my love of online media.

In addition, I train employees at select corporations as to how to put a strategy together to systematically share their content and tell their story amongst their vast array of employees that will directly build more traffic to their website. To read more about this, refer to my Social Media Executive Training Program.

Simply put, I help my clients to tell their story to build an online referral network in a unique and creative manner to find new business. Feel free to send me an inbox or an email at [email protected]. I would be happy to talk to you about how to leverage your online branding campaign.