How I Flawed and Why I Seek Your Help

I received a one-line message a few days ago in my LinkedIn inbox:

Learn more and more from you everyday. Thank you!

I’ve been seeing a lot of these messages over the past few months–by email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and in person–which make me blush and cause me to follow-up with something like this, which I returned to the message sender:

What do you learn? Where do you learn it?

The most frequent responses include my Twitter updates or my blog.

In this case, the paraphrased response was:

Where do I begin? Seems like I run across you on most every venue preaching best practices in social media. Your comments/posts always come as timely kernels of practical information that help clarify the seemingly unlimited nuances of the medium.

I adore this language. This is meaningful to me.

But, I committed a flaw.

Looking back, I shouldn’t have asked John what he learned or Mary where she learned it. I try to live my life without regrets, so the next time someone praises me or tells me they follow me, I will follow the advice of Jeremiah Owyang and ask a new question:

How can I improve?

If you care to share your thoughts, please:

  1. Add a comment below; or
  2. Email me at [ariherzog at gmail.com]; or
  3. Submit an idea on my new customer service form at Uservoice.

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About Ari Herzog

Ari Herzog teaches digital marketing and is available to speak to you or your organization. He is looking for a full-time position in communications. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Comments

  1. I actually wrote a blog post yesterday about how it seems like everyone is trying some form of internet marketing/get rich quick schemes. It seems like more people than ever are sending one liners to try to entice you into their “programs”. They seem to be everyone. What do you think is causing this shift?

    CJ Bowker´s last blog post..The New American Entrepreneur?

  2. it’s because the attention spam of online folk is getting shorter and shorter…..

    And kudos to the author for being so helpful!

    Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog post..Internet use triples in decade; broadband surges

  3. That is a great question to ask! It shows that you really are dedicated to being as helpful and informative as possible, which is something any reader of a blog can truly appreciate!

    ~ Kristi

    Kikolani´s last blog post..Out on the Ballroom Floor

  4. In reply to your tweet.

    The comment to views ratio can be disappointing sometimes. I think that when people read posts with really thought provoking questions, it can be difficult to come up with an insightful reply which the question deserves.

    ~ Kristi

    Kikolani´s last blog post..Out on the Ballroom Floor

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