I was at a comedy show a while back, and the comedian got up and said he likes  new years resolutions ideas that are realistic and easy to accomplish. So, he commits to something small, like losing 10 pounds. The great part about these smaller commitments  is that he could wait til Mid-October to get started!”

Now, I am not just  getting started with last years resolution, but I am starting early on this coming new years ideas.

I know, I know, I am a few days early for starting my new years resolution, but I believe in continuity, so I would rather start my new years resolution during the end of this year.

A man wiser than me once said, “A Great Day Starts With a Good Night.”

Actually, I just made that up, although it could easily have been said by someone wiser than me before me…. It’s true though… how you go to sleep at night really sets the tone for the next day, so perhaps how to end the old year sets the tone for the new year.

I recently read Mark Cuban’s 12 rules for startups, an edited excerpt from his book, “How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. which I found from a link opportunity email from Eric Ward’s LinkMoses Private Newsletter (You should really sign up for this.) Mark Cuban’s 11th rule states…

11. Never hire a PR firm. A public relations firm will call or email people in the publications you already read, on the shows you already watch and at the websites you already surf. Those people publish their emails. Whenever you consume any information related to your field, get the email of the person publishing it and send them a message introducing yourself and the company. Their job is to find new stuff. They will welcome hearing from the founder instead of some PR flack. Once you establish communication with that person, make yourself available to answer their questions about the industry and be a source for them. If you are smart, they will use you.

Whether or not you agree with Mark Cubans opinion about PR Firms, the truth is, most legit link building, pr, and outreach firms do just this. They develop relationships with journalists, bloggers, authors and publishers related to your field, and leverage those relationships to get your press and provide news to the journalists. I personally agree with Mark Cuban, but think if you don’t do this yourself, you absolutely need to hire a PR firm to do it for you.

Many moons ago, Shoemoney wrote a great post about how to get press. It was a bit rough on journalists, but his main point was to nurture relationships before you need it. His basic strategy is choose your target, read their content, and engage them around that content… and several emails into the relationship, sharing your content with them.

People Can Sense a Sales Pitch From a Mile Away… and Up Goes The Brick Wall!

If you really want to get press, you need to build genuine relationships, and the best way to build these relationships is to start it off from a genuine place, with a genuine interest in the other person. People love talking about themselves, and their content is an extension of themselves. It is something they created, something they take pride in, and something they care about.

There was a time when I tried to build a powerful facebook following and audience. I remember cold friending and messaging countless people from top executives to noted journalists. When i had no agenda, they were receptive. When I had an agenda, they sensed it and ignored me.

It seems like when you are trying to get peoples attention, you can’t; but when you are genuinely interested in them, they are an open book, completely receptive to your genuine interest in them.

This morning I woke up to a cold email from someone who found an interview I did online with Aaron Davis from BusinessFrame about whether it is too late to get started in SEO. (It Isn’t, although today I would focus more on inbound marketing, and have SEO be part of a broader content promotion strategy.) The email thanked me for sharing my insights, and asked for some general guidance. Mostly though It thanked me. It felt Good. The truth is, that interview was a result of  Aaron Davis cold emailing me that he enjoyed my comments on Hacker News, and asked if I would do an interview (which is one of the nicer compliments someone can pay you.)

It feels good when something you put time into, something you consider to be an extension or expression of yourself is appreciated. I am probably not the only person who would appreciates such an email. My bet is that most people would greatly appreciate such an email.

I have heard that for every person who speaks up with a compliment or positive review, or negative review or complaint, anyone who speaks up… there are atleast 20 others who feel the same way but chose not to say anything.

Most people don’t share how they feel. Emotions drive actions.  Unless your content is emotionally charged, you can’t expect most people to share their thoughts.

Getting a thank you email makes me wonder who else out there enjoys my content. More importantly, it lets me know that there are certainly others reading this and my other posts, enjoying them, and getting value out of them. That is why I write, and emails, like the thank you one I got today, help drive the inspiration to continue writing posts like this one. In fact, if you emailed me with your questions, I would be happy to write blog posts answering them, and create the content you tell me will provide the most value.

Can You Guess What My Grand New Years Experiment Will Be?

I plan on taking the lessons from Mark Cuban, the man wiser than myself, along with the fellow who cold emailed me a thank you note, to do something completely novel and different, and probably  quite hard this year.

My New Years Resolution is to SAY THANK YOU to every author, blogger, journalist, writer, or publisher that I learn from, that I gain from, that I enjoy reading. To say thank you without expectations of anything in return other than hoping they continue cranking out the content I love and appreciate.

I’ll start today, a few days early, so by the time new years rolls around, it will almost be second nature; Habit enough that I won’t need to push it off til next October. I’ll start by thanking Mark Cuban for writing his book, and the edited excerpt that created his 12 rules for startups. I’ll continue with an email to Eric Ward appreciating his link opportunities newsletter, and continue to all the wonderful writers and authors of premium content that I love consuming.

I should note that this is no easy accomplishment. I read close to 100 new articles and blog posts a day. I have to in order to stay on top of SEO trends, and emerging marketing and advertising technology, both for my clients, and for my readers. I don’t know if every article or post I read will inspire me enough to say thanks…but if it inspires me enough to share it with anyone or to bookmark it, I will track down their email address and drop them a line.

I’ll use Buzzsteam to find the authors contact info, and only resort to twitter when I can’t find an email address.  Hopefully, if I follow through, for a month, or even for a week,or for that matter, even a day, I will have some interesting insights to share in a new blog post in the future.

Hopefully this new years resolution will pay off in spades, turning celebrities, famous people, and Mark Cuban into raving fans, driving web traffic, backlinks and SEO Rankings, but if not…if it only encourages one writer, to write one more blogpost, that only benefits one person, even if that someone is the author him or herself, it would have been worth it.

My personal philosophy that drives this belief is that we influence every person we come in contact with. That is a HUGE responsibility. Recognizing that every person I reach, I touch, I interact with will be somehow impacted by that interaction, means I have to be very careful TO LEAVE EVERYBODY BETTER OFF FOR HAVING MET ME, FOR HAVING KNOWN ME, FOR HAVING BEEN INFLUENCED EVEN EVER SO SLIGHTLY BY ME. I might not be the poster child for this philosophy, but I try to remember it, and keep it in mind here and there, and hopefully that’s enough to tilt the scales in a way that has me leaving the world slightly better off for having me around.

May this New Year bring you happiness, health, and prosperity, and most importantly…

Thank You For READING My Blog.

I Hope You Enjoyed Reading It as Much as I Enjoyed Creating It.

-David Melamed December 25th 2013

(P.S. I can’t really take credit for this idea or post. When I think back to my childhood, I remember my mother sending me to school with thank you notes to every teacher, the nurse, secretaries, and janitors. My parents nurtured in me and my family an appreciation for being appreciative, and I thank them dearly for that wonderful gift. It has served me well, and I can think of countless times  I wrote thank you notes, when no one expected it, and it always made them and me feel amazing. It is a great idea worth trying and spreading. Feel free to join me in this new years resolution of giving thanks to everyone who benefits us, especially those who put themselves out there and create content we love and consume.)