Should You Get People to Feel Sorry for You?

Good Morning, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.

I read a blog post last week which was a long list of things about LinkedIn, what I found interesting was that in the very first paragraph they said that the post took 40 hours to write, initially I didn’t think much of it, but it’s been in my head all week wondering why they said that, was it so…

• I felt sorry for them and shared the article?
• I felt obliged to read it?
• I thought “wow” imagine putting in that much effort to a blog post?
• I thought have these guys got no other work to do?

I was feeling cynical and the more and more I think about it, I am convinced that they are using it as an emotional trick to get me to feel sorry for them and share the article, or make me feel like I owe them something so I hit share.  Well it’s worked hasn’t it!!!

Often in social media I (and you probably as well) spend hours putting together a post, a freebee or whatever, but we don’t preface giving it away with a “oh woe is me this just took me 20 hours”, but I am wondering if in fact that is exactly what I should be doing and in fact getting the sympathy read, share or purchase.

I know that when I put together the social media site stats and recommendations list  it took me hours to do, then I got asked last week when I was bringing out a more updated one!  My first thoughts were oh no that took hours when can I fit it in!

I think I read on the Content Marketing Institute’s website that each piece of free content you produce should be used 7 times, which is really really hard to do.  Hence why anything you put time and effort into you want to really work, but the question is should I put in the hours and hours and then tell people, or not tell them?

Why Tell them?

• Sympathy shares/purchases/comments
• You want to explain EXACTLY how hard you are working
• You want it to sound like this has to be worth reading because so much effort was put in
• You are showing off to an extent by saying look how dedicated I am to my audience….
• It opens people’s eyes to how long it actually takes to do x, and then when they decide to outsource they appreciate the time that goes in

Why Not to Tell

• Others might look at what you have done and think “how on earth did it take you that long”
• It looks unprofessional
• It sounds like you are moaning….

It is funny how we still as a society measure effort in terms of time taken to achieve a task, rather than the actual fact we achieved the task.  I think just because it takes a long time it doesn’t mean it’s good.  It’s quality of results not time spent!

To answer my question, I won’t from now on be starting my posts with “this one took me 4 hours 27 minutes” etc.  I choose to blog, I don’t have to and you choose to read it.  Will you be going for the sympathy vote?