Day 23: You Are Invited

Susan Blake

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Invitation. Not specific invitations, but the idea of Invitation.

Despite the fact that I am confident in the beauty and the utility of my message, and confident in the value of the services I can provide, I have found marketing myself, well, frightening. Can you relate?

That started to change when I attended Mark Silver’s one-day virtual retreat in November. Much of the focus (that captured my attention, anyway) was on Connection. We are all connected, whether we realize it or not.

And it occurred to me, “What if I just reached out to people with love?” That’s very different from the traditional ideas of marketing and selling.

That’s when this whole Customer Love thing began to make sense on a gut level.

And what is the best way to connect with people? Why, to invite them to something!

So I am focusing this month on Inviting People.

Think about the word “invite.” According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, it comes from the Latin word “invitare,” “to summon.” But I love that it sounds like the words “vital” and “vitality,” which come from the Latin “vitalis” and “vita,” which mean “life.”

When we invite someone to something, we open the door to a connection between us. Our lives are connected.

Come with me for a moment, if you would. Think of a time you were invited to do something, whether it was to go to a party or to spend time with someone. How did you feel?

Now, think of a time when you were told you should do something. How did that feel?

Think of a time you found out your were not invited to something. How did that feel?

Now. Go back to the time you were invited to something, and how delicious that felt. Savor it for a moment.

Last exercise: Think of a time you invited people to come over. And they came! How did that feel?

The act of inviting does something to the person extending the invitation as well as the person receiving it – whether the invitation is accepted or not.

Consider the following: After two years of using the same goofy head-shot that I took of myself with my computer’s built-in camera, I finally had a photographer friend do professional shots of me. The first batch was definitely usable. But we decided to do another batch. And in the second batch, I consciously looked at the camera and sent out an invitation, thinking, “Call me.”

Those pictures look different.

Guess which ones I used?

My focus going forward is to invite every person I know, every person whose business card I’ve collected, every person who follows me (or I follow) on Twitter, every person I’ve connected with on LinkedIn or Facebook or the Global Brain Trust, to visit my site.

(Whooee. There. I’ve said it out loud. Now I’m committed.)

And, if they like what they see, they are invited to sign up for my List. The List to which I will announce the fabulous, glorious products that I am developing!

And I will invite them to invite someone to come along.

And you, Dear CustomerLovers, please come visit me at http://susantblake.com. Feel free to wonder around. Your voice is important to the conversation there, and I would love to hear what you have to say.