How to Make People Feel Appreciated on 10 Minutes A Day

People who succeed know that “all things being equal, people do business with and refer business to people they know, like, and trust.”  So how do we grow our “Know, Like, Trust Factor” or what I call our “Like-Ability”?  One way to do this is to compliment people.  And to do it sincerely.

For most people, the only recognition they receive is when they screw something up.  And ironically, most of the time they already know they screwed it up and don’t appreciate other people reminding them.  Any mediocre manager can point out what people have done wrong.  As Dale Carnegie said,”Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain.  And most fools do.”  There’s a huge difference between a manager and a leader but we’ll save that for another post.

In order to make people feel appreciated….ready….wait for it….appreciate them.  Rocket science, huh?  I’m not smart enough to learn Harvard Business Review and MBA-type things.  I just revert to the things my Mom and Dad taught me.  Simple truths.  They’re usually profound in their simplicity.  And don’t confuse simplicity with irrelevance.  Simplicity is extremely relevant.

When most folks get up in the morning and start their day, they usually check their email and more and more these days, their Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.  These Social Networking sites are gaining a lot more eyeballs than television and the newspaper.  I don’t know the accurate stats, so let’s just agree that people are looking at these sites.  All the time.

We all like seeing Status Updates on LinkedIn, our friends’ updates on Facebook and tweets from people we see value in following on Twitter.  But most people never show their appreciation.  When you see something you like, “like” it.  On Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter there’s an actual “like” or “favorite” button which indicates that you liked the posting.  Most people never hit that button even though they see value in the posting.  They’re missing out.  Huge doors of opportunity swing on little, tiny hinges.

When you see something you like, either hit the “like” button or shoot a quick message.  “Hey, thanks for posting that!”  This usually merits a reply from the person who posted the thing.  But only if the person who posted it also understands that huge doors of opportunity swing on little, tiny hinges.  Everything of value is a result of relationships.  Relationships start with communication of some form.  And that can start with something as simple as a “like”.

For the next week set a goal to “like” five things a day.  Get up in the morning and for only ten minutes scan your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts for things that either made you smile, laugh, or think.  Then either click the “like” button or post a comment showing your appreciation to the poster.  You never know where things may go from there.  Maybe nowhere.  In that case, at least you showed appreciation.  That’s good social karma.  Or, you may start a conversation and a friendship.  And knowing that all things being equal, people do business with and refer business to people they know, like, and trust, you can never have too many friends.  Throw out the high-fallutin’ MBA-type stuff and focus on friends.  It will serve you much better.