I belong to 47 46 groups on LinkedIn. Some are fairly large (>100K members) and consequently have a lot of activity. Usually over 100 new discussions per day accompanied by over 100 comments per day. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have the time to sift through 100+ titles to find the one or two discussions that are worth reading.
Take this example. It started this way.
“Do you have a company on Facebook? Let’s Network! Post your FB link here and so we can remember to return the like 
Started by ________”
It’s had 22 comments, most of which obliged by entering their Facebook link. Here’s two of the most recent comments.
“I too have “liked” all of the sites that I have a page listed. Thank you to the two of you who have reciprocated thus far!”
“Finally added a cover picture to my Facebook page: _________ I’ve liked all of your pages so far. Some reciprocal “Likes” would be nice. “
“First, doesn’t the initial entry represent fraud? Isn’t the intention to ‘fake’ a following? Maybe you should read this article?
Second, don’t the comments indicate that some of the commenters want to be ‘liked’, but don’t want to ‘like’? Are they saying that they don’t want to lie, but don’t mind if you do?
Seriously, how can you tell the difference between a real ‘like’ and a lie ‘like’? Caveat emptor!
It’s not just happening on LinkedIn. Did you see this article about Un-Selling using Twitter?
Another example of misuse of the discussion groups might be a good example of SMS (Social Media Stupidity). Don’t get me wrong. There are some great blogs and some awesome articles, but many of them are just sales pitches. In many cases, the pitch isn’t even veiled. It’s blatant, obvious and typically has no place being used to start a discussion. Why do they do it? Because it’s free and they can. Bravo to the group managers that delete the sales pitches. (but shame on those managers that delete everyone’s sales pitches but their own. 
)
)One last rant and example of SMS. How about those people that don’t know who their audience is or where they hang out? Even if they happen to write an article that has some content in it, placement matters. Are you writing to attract potential customers or are you writing to educate your competitors? If you’re trying to attract customers, why are you posting to your industry groups? I join groups that my clients join. So, my stuff is going to be seen by more people like them. Isn’t it interesting that members of those groups write articles that would attract customers, but are shared with their competitors.
So, let me close with two thoughts.
- If this doesn’t put some companies out of business, lying, stealing or SMS probably will.
- Clearly, this isn’t a complete list. What’s your pet peeve? Post it in the comments or write an article about it and include the link.
Thanks for reading and don’t let it get to you!
RainMakers & Sales Rock Stars 
One of my biggest pet peeves would have to be a failure to share pricing… I’ve been doing the phone/email dance with countless sales people this week who refuse to even give me a low end of their pricing scale!
Sheesh, I’m just trying to save us both time by weeding out the products that won’t fit… but they insist on setting up an appointment so they can walk me through their sales script.
The best one this week? She wouldn’t give me her phone number…. only an appointment!
Julie, if a salesperson sells to a customer that’s not a fit, it could lead to a dissatisfied customer which could lead to a huge waste of time and a bad reputation. Sometimes a customer’s buying process saves time for both by eliminating potential mismatches before they happen.
Hi you are having a nice Web Blog with good design and content, really I appreciate to your blog. So I would like to say thanks for it. For more information please visit us:-http://www.trituracionymolienda.com/
Hi you are having a nice Web Blog with good design and content, really I appreciate to your blog. So I would like to say thanks for it. For more information please visit us:-http://www.trituracionymolienda.com/