Is Your Contribution Worth $15?
Note to Self: Is Your Contribution Worth $15?
These days, we're tempted to share "what's on our mind" everywhere and constantly. Post our toes on Facebook, record a TikTok of your coffee shop, sling comments on news sites, be a nosy neighbor on NextDoor. Makes you wonder if all this sound and fury is really -
Worth it?
Recently I was checking into a hotel and the clerk asked me if I was a member of their loyalty group. "If you provide us your email you'll get free Wifi - worth $15 a day - during your stay."
"No thank you," I said. "I was a member once, but not anymore. You send too many emails and they were not very valuable."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," she asked. "Why?"
"The content didn't matter to me at all. They featured hotels in places I never visited, events that didn't interest me and mostly talked about discounts that made the hotel feel cheap. That's not the kind of relationship that resonates with me."
"I understand. Did you unsubscribe?"
"I tried for weeks, but it never worked," I replied. "Eventually, I blocked your domain. I probably won't even get my folio when I check out," I tried to laugh it off.
"Well, please stop by here when you leave, and I'll make sure you at least get your receipt," she nodded with a smile.
Imagine a client - someone paying you right now - being ready to pay $15 a day NOT TO HEAR FROM YOU. Sounds bizarre. Yet we might accidentally create this situation if we're too focused on what WE HAVE TO SAY rather than what THEY WANT TO HEAR. Even when we have a treasure-chest of information about what matters to our relationships. Yet when it's "time to turn our clocks back" I should stop and check before I send:
Am I'm creating a moment of -
Time, well spent?
I stayed at the hotel for a few days, often passing by the same clerk at the desk. She greeted me by name each time. I returned her smile with a happy wave. More than once, I wondered to myself: Imagine if they stopped trying to "market" to me, and instead gave their contributions the warmth of their staff. Maybe I'd be willing to trade some of my attention for $15 a day on my next stay.
Until then, I'll keep it in mind:
However I try to get you to see me,
I'll work hard to make my presence
Worth it, not just noticed, something of value,
Between YOU and me!