Being Thankful is a Powerful Currency Online

Have you ever thought about why some launches get all the hype and then some launches are like ghost towns?

You might be struggling to get attention to your creation and think that what you've built is not good enough. I'm here to tell you that what you've built is probably good, you just haven't thought about how friends and gratitude can help take you to the next stage.

Our online world is insanely people-driven these days! Community-driven, audience-driven, whatever. They mean the same thing: people.

Let's take a quick look at Product Hunt.

It used to be a platform where you put up your product, and the community would support and bring the best products into the spotlights. After so many years, it doesn't work like that anymore.

Anyone who have launched on Product Hunt learns that in order to have a successful launch, you need to bring your own party there. This means you need to send invitations or nudge all your friends online, and get them to go to Product Hunt to support you.

You see, the game has changed.

You might ask "why do I need to launch on Product Hunt then if they're all my friends?" It's more like a special occasion so your friends can help you spread the word via their own circles.

Another example is Clubhouse.

The app launched in 2020 and got the world so excited during COVID-19. Did you know how they started?

They kept it exclusive and they gave access to a lot of the Silicon Valley influencers who have strong voices on the Internet. They got something pretty unique going on at that moment and these influencers helped to build up the momentum

Without them, I don't think Clubhouse would have the same success.

You get my point.

I'm a believer that your product has to be excellent (no doubt), but most products don't get enough traction because the founder(s) doesn't have enough friends cheering for him or her.

And this brings us to what I want to talk about today: how you can strategize gratitude

and make it a powerful tool in your arsenal.

Real-world thankfulness

Let's start by looking at how we are thankful to people in real-life.

In business, you take clients or partners out for dinner and drinks

Some even take them to play golf. You also host gatherings and invite a number of important people so they can meet one another.

In leisure, you buy coffee to thank someone for their time. You buy dinner or presents for someone who helps or inspires you

There are just so many ways to be thankful in real-life, but on the Internet, it feels ....restricted. What can you possibly do in front of a computer?

Navigate digital gratitude

I want to show you a few quick ways (from easy to hard) you can learn to level up your gratitude game instantly.

Practice and build them into your daily habit and you'll make so many friends which can help you find success in whatever you do.

1. Thank someone in public (using tweets)

On social media, we're all fighting for attention. So if someone has done something meaningful to you, scream their names loudly to everyone around you. Let the world know he/she is a great person and give them the spotlight!

2. Sum up your chat and share publicly (using tweets)

1:1 chat is the best, isn't it? Most people hang up and go back to doing their things.

But did you learn something on the call? If you did, you can spend 60 seconds writing about the learnings and again, give the spotlight to this person. Thank him/her for the inspirations!

P.S. he/she will likely retweet it.

3. Give has to go with take (using $)

Steph Smith is a popular name on the Internet.

One day, I took out my wallet and paid full price $100 USD to buy Steph Smith's Doing Content Right even though I didn't need the content or I had a 30% off discount code. Why?

1. I really admire her work around #BuildinPublic - being so transparent and sharing her progress with us
2. When I invited her to be my next guest to speak at the Public Lab community, she said yes without hesitation

I know her time is precious, and I don't want to be a taker without being a giver. I strive to be fair to everyone and possibly give > take.

4. Bring important people together (using time)

Remember I said in real-life, people often host gatherings and invite important people together?

Why do they do that? It is because when important people get to know important people via you, you're the important connection in these relationships. Your courtesy is not to be forgotten.

How can you do something similar on the Internet?

Whenever you have conversations with friends or new friends, they might ask questions. Instead of answering everything yourself, sometimes it is more effective to point them to a friend.

Let me show you:

I love chatting with people via email so that I can help them. I get a question here.

So I recommended Welly who I've been learning ton about email marketing from.

But - don't stop here. I quickly let Welly know about it  because

1. Otherwise how would he know I help?
2. If this person reaches out to him, he has a tiny bit of info to work with.

No doubt all this takes up a lot of time. But I can tell you that they are as important as improving your products.

I'd like to bring back a line I said in my free email course Making Twitter Friends:

When you understand humans, you can do all the right things.