How To Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age

It's a new world out there and the way to win friends and influence people digitally is a relatively new idea. In some ways it may be easier to win friends and influence people over the electronic wires, since there are many things that you really don't need to worry about so much. Your appearance doesn't have to be perfect all the time since you can just post the perfect picture and you're there. You also don't have to worry about body odor. You may have not taken a shower in weeks, but your digital "friends" probably won't notice.

But those very things that might make digital friendship easier, could also make it harder. For instance, you can't literally go out to your favorite coffee shop with someone online so that makes things quite different. You also have to be more conscious of things that you may otherwise not think of, like "when I write this, how will it 'sound' when they read it online?"

It's not hard to set up a Facebook account and a Twitter account and a blog or two. But the real thing is how do you make connections that will turn into relationships which will ultimately work out for the advancement of your idea. Afterall, that's where influence comes in, when you've successfully built a relationship with someone who before was just a mere connection. That's what we will explore on The Jane Phillips blog–how you can make friends and influence people effectively in a big digital world.

The First Step: Connect

When you see someone who you think has a similar interest to you, you should connect with them. Say something to them. If they don't respond, your connection pretty much ends there. If they do respond (which if it's something that they're passionate about, they'll probably respond). If they respond respond back. That's a connection.

The Second Step: Connect Again

If you let a connection fizzle, you've wasted it. The best way to make friends online is to keep the conversation going. Once they respond, you respond back and repeat this process over and over again until you almost feel like you "know" who you're talking to. Now you're almost there.

The Third Step: Keep Communicating and Building the Relationship

The Third and final step is where the influencing people comes in. Once you've made a friend, you've got someone you can build a relationship with and relationships are about influence.