While the inclusion of this clip may seem like a sad  attempt to revive interest in the movie  Swingers,  I promise there is more to it.  There is a strong connection between the advice given in this scene and the key to success in social media.

Did you find it?  If not highlight the area between the quotation marks to see the answer.

“Faking doesn’t work”

It won’t help you get back with your ex, and it won’t help you build a social media following.

Until you start to genuinely care about the people you touch through your social media efforts, look forward to their feedback on your work, and start to seek out ways to help them meet their needs–even if that means recommending resources provided by your “competition,” it won’t matter how many people you follow or how many messages you retweet–your social media efforts will fall flat.

It’s ok to start by faking it

For some people, the ability (or desire) to  genuinely connect with people online comes naturally.  But that’s not always (or even usually) the case.

If you fall into the “I feel dumb” or “this is pointless” camp,  it’s ok to start by pretending.  Go through the motions of listening and responding.  Start by retweeting (or re-posting) links that you find interesting–without regard to whether they will resonate with your people.  Thank people for responding to your posts or sharing your content–even if doing so makes you feel silly.  Read social media advice columns and try out the recommendations for yourself.

I’m not suggesting these activities with fool your audience–they won’t.  But if you stick with them, eventually they will fool you.  By simply going through the motions of engagement, you will stumble across social media activities that really resonate for you and your people.  When that happens, you’ll start to experience what actual engagement feels like–and your results will show it.

Before long, you won’t have to fake it any more.

Your turn

Today there are two choices:

1. Share a link to a movie clip with a metaphor for your favorite bit of social media advice.
2. Share a story about a time you used the “fake it till you make it” theory of personal development

As always, I also look forward to your free-form comments 🙂