ShareThis targeted me on Twitter

I recently got a @ tweet from ShareThis after I had a tweet conversation about deciding to stop using the ShareThis plugin in favour of SexyBookMarks. I was having a conversation with NotAProBlog (Jordan) about how sexybookmarks felt and looked better than the share this plugin. Please note that I used the ShareThis plugin to great effect and still really like it, I just think sexybookmarks suits my style more.

ShareThis then sent me an @tweet giving me advice how to change it to suit what I needed. They also give me an example of what it could look like.

• Surprise

This tweet surprised me massively, but it was a welcome surprise. I absolutely wanted to change my plugin back to sharethis straight away. If you help your readers like this, genuine and without prompting you are going to be remembered for being exactly that, helpful and proactive. By getting that tweet I wrote a whole post which is pretty much singing their praises, so get out their and help people without wanting anything in return.

• Retention

By helping your readers and even people who haven’t even found your site yet, you are going to stop the natural attrition rate that all websites deal with. You can keep the natural wastage of readers to near zero by helping them when they aren’t on your site reading your latest post. You can never help too much if you are helping in the right way.

People have to want help and they have to want to help themselves. If they are asking for help or admit they are struggling with something then give them advice without asking for anything in return.

I try and do it a lot, but it’s important to remember that not everyone wants help and not to spend too much time helping. Ultimately you need to make sure you have done all your jobs, before you go out and help others. Another important thing to remember is that readers are not stupid, they will know when someone is being false to be in their face.

If you have spare time on your hands, get out their and provide solutions.

What does everyone think?

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Tagged as: Blogging, sharethis, social media, social media tips, targeted, twitter