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Andy Black

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You may be tempted to lurk - in this forum, other forums, or in life.

You'll do better to participate instead.

Worried you don’t have value to add?

Start by giving thanks.

If you read something you like then don’t just hit the Like button.

Quote it, thank the poster, and explain why it helped you.

Here’s what’ll happen:

1) You’ll help the poster realise they’re not posting to the void.

2) You’ll encourage them to post again.

3) You’ll help them keep going, possibly through dark times.

4) You’ll get into the habit of “giving thanks” where you explain how it’s helped you.

5) You’ll start being seen as someone who appreciates and supports others.

6) You’ll slowly move from team consumer to team producer.

7) You’ll start making friends, building relationships, and creating win-wins (the essence of business).

Try it and see what happens.

Come back and thank me later.


Video version added Sep-2022:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/bVydKMkGj-E
 
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Antifragile

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Andy Black

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Oh Andy, how right you are!
Thanks for your reminder. I hope to get a Guiness with you somedays!
If you’re passing by just let me know.

Now then… what can you add when you give thanks? Get into the habit of continuing the conversation.

I like to start with “Thanks for …” and then give a takeaway or something I’ll now do different.

What’s been your experience in the forum with participating vs lurking?
 
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Andy Black

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Andy Black

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You may be tempted to lurk - in this forum, in other forums, or in life.

I urge you to participate instead.

Worried you don’t have value to add?

The easiest way to participate is to “give thanks”.

If you read something you like then quote it, thank the poster, and explain why it helped you.

Here’s what’ll happen:

1) You’ll help the poster realise they’re not posting to the void.

2) You’ll encourage them to post again.

3) You support them and help them keep going, possibly through dark times.

4) You’ll get into the habit of “giving thanks” properly (where you explain how it’s helped you).

5) You’ll start being seen as someone who appreciates and supports others.

6) You’ll slowly move from team consumer to team producer.

7) You’ll start making friends, building relationships, and creating win-wins (the essence of business).

Try it and see what happens.

Come back and thank me later.
In case you didn’t notice, I’m selling you on becoming a better version of yourself.

Like all sales, it works best when it’s “You focused” (as resident copywriters @Lex DeVille and @Bekit would call it).

Count how many times I use the word “you” in the opening post…
 

Mathew Verble

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In case you didn’t notice, I’m selling you a better version of you.

Like all sales, it works best when it’s “You focused” (as resident copywriters @Lex DeVille and @Bekit would call it).

Count how many times I use the word “you” in the opening post…

Thank you for directing towards involvement!

That's some solid wisdom in sales you freely offered. Reminds me that learning opportunities are abundant.
 
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jdm667

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Good point Andy.

A lot of people post valuable insights on the forum, but they might stop posting if they don't think anyone finds the information useful.

They might think "this info is easy to find, so no need to share it", but it might be helpful to someone just starting out. You could save that person hours, days, or weeks of struggle with a quick comment.

I will try this out - thanks in advance.
 

Andy Black

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Thank you for directing towards involvement!

That's some solid wisdom in sales you freely offered. Reminds me that learning opportunities are abundant.
What a great example of giving thanks. Thanks.

And yes, opportunity knocks so often it’s a drumroll on our door. We just have to be tuned to hear it.
 

Andy Black

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Good point Andy.

A lot of people post valuable insights on the forum, but they might stop posting if they don't think anyone finds the information useful.

They might think "this info is easy to find, so no need to share it", but it might be helpful to someone just starting out. You could save that person hours, days, or weeks of struggle with a quick comment.

I will try this out - thanks in advance.
The beauty of posting in communities and social media vs on a blog is that we get feedback. Without feedback we may stop producing.

Thanks for your reply. Looking forward to your update!
 
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MaxT

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Thank you very much Andy Black.
This is not the first time that I see you on the forum, you have even already helped me.
Good luck to you, you helped more than one !!
 

doster.zach

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You may be tempted to lurk - in this forum, in other forums, or in life.

I urge you to participate instead.
I started making myself post here because one aspect is accountability and another of learning to properly communicate.

Worried you don’t have value to add?
I ran in this to start, trying to comment on as many threads as possible. Like trying to make an essay reach 5000 words, I wasn't really adding any value.

If you have value, you should share it, if not no worries.

6) You’ll slowly move from team consumer to team producer.

The problem with most social media today! Reddit and Youtube are big platforms where most of the production is done by less than 1% of users and consumed by over 99%.

Can't expect much to happen if all you do is consume.


Thanks Andy ;)
 
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Antifragile

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I see what you did there @Antifragile!

What’s your thoughts on giving thanks and adding why it’s helped?
Haha, you got me!

I don’t think explaining how something is helping is the most important thing. I love learning new things and would prefer people post quality advice, new ways of thinking … or just thought provoking insightful posts.

this forum is a hybrid between a learning space and a social platform for entertainment. A good mix for someone like me (I’m not on FB or anything like that).
 

Andy Black

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I don’t think explaining how something is helping is the most important thing.
It always surprises me when people reply with their takeaways. I always learn.
 

Parks

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Thank you Andy, this surely can lead to some killer habits and more relationships on the forum.
 
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Conquest

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Worried you don’t have value to add?

The easiest way you can participate is to “give thanks”.


1) You’ll help the poster realise they’re not posting to the void.

2) You’ll encourage them to post again.

3) You’ll support them and help them keep going, possibly through dark times.

4) You’ll get into the habit of “giving thanks” properly (where you explain how it’s helped you).

5) You’ll start being seen as someone who appreciates and supports others.

6) You’ll slowly move from team consumer to team producer.

7) You’ll start making friends, building relationships, and creating win-wins (the essence of business).

Try it and see what happens.

Come back and thank me later.

Hey, thank you, Andy. You nailed it on the head mentioning there is concern about not having value to add. Being vocal just takes two minutes out of the day and is part of an impactful positive feedback loop for generating new ideas, and moving towards team producer.

Great post.
 

Vinz

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You may be tempted to lurk - in this forum, in other forums, or in life.

I urge you to participate instead.

Worried you don’t have value to add?

The easiest way you can participate is to “give thanks”.

If you read something you like then don’t just hit the Like button. Quote it, thank the poster, and explain why it helped you.

Here’s what’ll happen:

1) You’ll help the poster realise they’re not posting to the void.

2) You’ll encourage them to post again.

3) You’ll support them and help them keep going, possibly through dark times.

4) You’ll get into the habit of “giving thanks” properly (where you explain how it’s helped you).

5) You’ll start being seen as someone who appreciates and supports others.

6) You’ll slowly move from team consumer to team producer.

7) You’ll start making friends, building relationships, and creating win-wins (the essence of business).

Try it and see what happens.

Come back and thank me later.
Well, felt obligated to thank you ;)
I like how everytime I log into this forum I find a gem. It reminds me how this is really a goldmine.


Love the analogy of your post with sales. These little things can make the difference in your life and business
 

AceVentures

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Whenever I see a user on the forum asking for mentorship I see myself in their shoes when I first started here. To them I like to echo what you're saying here and encourage users here to engage with the people and ideas on this forum - in this exchange lies the magic they often seek.

The best way to learn is to participate. The best way to learn from other people is to engage them - and this forum, houses thousands of people and a broad spectrum of ideas. Learn to engage the ideas you resonate with, or those that simply draw your attention: not only will you bond with those that share the same vision, but the exchange of ideas leads to the transmutation of one person's idea through your perspective and back into the chamber, allowing for a more encompassing understanding and appreciation of the matter.

Make new friends and participate as a mode of operation: you will learn far more than you might have thought at first.
 
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Gary

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Here’s what’ll happen:

1) You’ll help the poster realise they’re not posting to the void.

2) You’ll encourage them to post again.

3) You’ll support them and help them keep going, possibly through dark times.

4) You’ll get into the habit of “giving thanks” properly (where you explain how it’s helped you).

5) You’ll start being seen as someone who appreciates and supports others.

6) You’ll slowly move from team consumer to team producer.

7) You’ll start making friends, building relationships, and creating win-wins (the essence of business).
This was needed. Thank you, @Andy Black
 

Paul David

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You may be tempted to lurk - in this forum, in other forums, or in life.

I urge you to participate instead.

Worried you don’t have value to add?

The easiest way you can participate is to “give thanks”.

If you read something you like then don’t just hit the Like button. Quote it, thank the poster, and explain why it helped you.

Here’s what’ll happen:

1) You’ll help the poster realise they’re not posting to the void.

2) You’ll encourage them to post again.

3) You’ll support them and help them keep going, possibly through dark times.

4) You’ll get into the habit of “giving thanks” properly (where you explain how it’s helped you).

5) You’ll start being seen as someone who appreciates and supports others.

6) You’ll slowly move from team consumer to team producer.

7) You’ll start making friends, building relationships, and creating win-wins (the essence of business).

Try it and see what happens.

Come back and thank me later.

Great post.

I'll never forget the time I was lurking on Periscope and someone was streaming live from a pub in Ireland, I clicked the video and low and behold it was you!

Small world my friend.
 

RexAnghelo

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Yeah wow, thanks for that insight Andy. I've been lurking here for several months now and still not able to introduce myself to the forum. I should really shift slowly from being a consumer to becoming a producer.
 
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Athena_

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Such a great post, I've been lurking here for months now, I dint post anything because I felt I have nothing to offer, not in just forums but in real life too, when I feel I have nothing important to say I keep my mouth shut, so this post makes me feel better, thank you! It's so hard to become a producer when you have been a consumer all your life, but I'm getting there slowly!
 
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jdm667

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The beauty of posting in communities and social media vs on a blog is that we get feedback. Without it we may stop producing.
Andy, I took your advice yesterday. You often say to take your posts from social media (where you helped people) and repurpose them into blog posts.

I did the exact opposite - I repurposed some of my blog posts to social media (in this case, my Quora account). I repurposed about 17 blog posts to answer some questions, and it only took me an hour yesterday afternoon (~3.5 minutes per post).

The result? Pretty good.

Here are the stats (crazy for less than a full day's worth of results). The graph is answer views on Quora for the last 30 days:
Quora Last 30 Days November 7.jpg
I also have a link to my website/blog in my Quora profile. This can lead to more visitors to my website and possibly more links, which will help my rankings in Google, allowing me to reach and help even more people.

Guys: this stuff works. Listen to Andy.
 

Andy Black

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Andy, I took your advice yesterday. You often say to take your posts from social media (where you helped people) and repurpose them into blog posts.

I did the exact opposite - I repurposed some of my blog posts to social media (in this case, my Quora account). I repurposed about 17 blog posts to answer some questions, and it only took me an hour yesterday afternoon (~3.5 minutes per post).

The result? Pretty good.

Here are the stats (crazy for less than a full day's worth of results). The graph is answer views on Quora for the last 30 days:
View attachment 40655
I also have a link to my website/blog in my Quora profile. This can lead to more visitors to my website and possibly more links, which will help my rankings in Google, allowing me to reach and help even more people.

Guys: this stuff works. Listen to Andy.
Whoa. That’s a crazy graph! You went from maybe averaging 50 Quora answer-views a day to 624?

Maybe you can start a progress thread documenting this?

I heard Nicolas Cole describe our biggest asset as not being our email list, but our library of content that built that email list. If you can take that library from one platform to another then you can rebuild your email list. Great to see you starting this.

Something to bear in mind is that it’s often better to say the same thing to different people than different things to the same people.

I’m also reminded of this chat:
 

MJ DeMarco

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The problem with most social media today! Reddit and Youtube are big platforms where most of the production is done by less than 1% of users and consumed by over 99%.

Can't expect much to happen if all you do is consume.

The forum has the same problem.

You wouldn't believe how many new users I delete because their first post is promotion, mediation spam, backlinking, and other no-value posts. You would not recognize this place if all that got thru.

Thanks Andy for a great post, marked GOLD. AND SOOOOOO TRUE.
 
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doster.zach

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You wouldn't believe how many new users I delete because their first post is promotion, mediation spam, backlinking, and other no-value posts. You would not recognize this place if all that got thru.

Sounds like a business opportunity with a first customer ;)
 

pat9000

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You may be tempted to lurk - in this forum, in other forums, or in life.

I urge you to participate instead.

Worried you don’t have value to add?

The easiest way you can participate is to “give thanks”.

If you read something you like then don’t just hit the Like button. Quote it, thank the poster, and explain why it helped you.

Here’s what’ll happen:

1) You’ll help the poster realise they’re not posting to the void.

2) You’ll encourage them to post again.

3) You’ll help them keep going, possibly through dark times.

4) You’ll get into the habit of “giving thanks” properly (where you explain how it’s helped you).

5) You’ll start being seen as someone who appreciates and supports others.

6) You’ll slowly move from team consumer to team producer.

7) You’ll start making friends, building relationships, and creating win-wins (the essence of business).

Try it and see what happens.

Come back and thank me later.

Thank you, as I am a hardcore lurker. I disqualify myself from posting a lot of times. I've been meditating to get rid of the negative voice in my head and I finished the book "The Surrender Experiment" recommended by MJ, which taught me a lot about not forcing things and just letting them flow.
 

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