Don't be a jerk - a "no, thank you" will suffice

I was the jerk referred to in the title. And when I realized what I had done, I made an intentional decision to make amends. Quickly.

Sometimes I forget.

I forget that for 10 years (next month, 11) I have used social media to build my personal business. And Since 2018, I’ve supported small businesses through the adventure over at Underground Events.

So, what the heck happened?

I got snarky.

I have learned a LOT about social media since my earliest days of making black & white statements or passive-aggressive remarks to competitors. In the beginning, I cared a ton about my competitors. Too much. My energy was wasted on taking competitors down.

It wasn’t until I actually took a hard look at what pieces of my business actually gave ME energy, resulting in my “niching-down” what I offer to potential clients, that I gained confidence about my unique brand. Having done so, I left the ring – leaving my competitors (the ones I had created in my own mind) behind.

And then, a small, family-owned company posted a link to their product on my carefully crafted and curated Instagram page.

I hopped back in the ring.

I was trying to be helpful. (So I thought.)

Truly, I thought I was trying to help this company out with some social media etiquette. I mean, I wouldn’t hop on another Moxie instructor’s IG page and boldly invite her followers to check out my classes. Thus, using what I thought was “gentle” language (that should have been the first clue that I was “off” . . . I’m not known for my “gentleness”), I remarked,

“Awww, shucks. You are NOT posting a link to your product on my business page, right?”

They removed the comment. And blocked me from their page.

VICTORY!

At first, I thought I had won. And then I thought . . . what exactly had I won? A small, family-owned business was now pissed at me. Was my second-guessing fueled by thoughts of, “Shoot, now I have lost a potential customer”?

Quite the opposite. Imagine my embarrassment when I recognized what I had done.

“I was super arrogant to a SMALL, FAMILY-OWNED company during a FRIGGIN’ PANDEMIC.”

(Which was disappointingly ironic, considering I am the co-creator of a business whose model is focused on supporting small business owners.)

I took the high road and contacted the company via Facebook, expressing my apology and offering a social media tip. See, their product was indeed a solution to a problem I had posted. Within that apology, I suggested that contacting me first about posting their product OR sharing my content (a super amazing way to support small businesses on social media) would have been a better step. However, that still did not excuse how unprofessionally I had originally reacted to their enthusiasm about their product.

I then waited for the “seen” notification to pop-up.

VICTORY (Part 2)!

They started following me on IG again. Then, sent a direct message apologizing. We both agreed we were happy to start over.

How about that? Social media can be a positive place!

Since those exchanges, I’ve had several direct message inquiries from businesses asking me to connect. Rather than acting the arrogant fool, I’ve taken a new approach,