Today people choose what they want to hear. They certainly choose what they care to remember. Tell them less and they will recall more precisely and will appreciate your respect and brevity [0] By trading value for attention, you can keep earning their attention. It’s totally permission based. Done right, your audience will listen for longer. Enage them in a conversation and you are building trust and credibility. Find out about them. Ask questions. Tell them just what they need to know now. Let them come and ask for more.



When people spend more time, they spend more money. It’s that simple. [1] [2] [3]



We guard time. It’s our most prescious resource. When we give it, it’s becasuse were interested and we spend money on things that interest us. It’s no more complicated than that. Excluding Dentists & Lawyers (I joke), when was the last time you spent money on something you didn’t like? (Of course we can all regret a purchase and discover we don’t life something later, but that’s a distinct issue)



Purchasing at work is really no different than personal consumption. We’re just as busy at work as at home. We’re equally overloaded with too much information. Too many calls on our time. I’d argue time spent on serious business purchases gets filtered even faster than perhaps some fun social content. All the more reason to be respectful and earn your audience’s attention to keep them engaged.

• Do you spend time with people you don’t like?
• Do you read a book to the end if it’s not grabbed you by page 50?
• Do you read all of a blog post or do you skim?
• Do you sit on a Webinar and pay attention?
• Can you make it through a meeting without checking emails and voicemail?

I seriously doubt you can answer yes to all or any of these questions. So why do you expect your customer to do that too. At the end of the day were all people. Being human matters most. So respect it, encourage people to be human. Tell them how much you appreciate their humanity, their uniqueness. Tell people how you feel. By sharing you become more human. Today, people simply don’t go deep, they stay in the shallow [4] so you need to adapt your communications to match and to deliver your value in chunks, permission-based.



Do you want people to engage? Well ask them questions. Get interested in them, their pains, their challenges. And you want to be really smart, customize your responses. We’re all looking to cut things out. If you want to get cut, give cookie cutter answers. Want to get cut, sound like a cookie!



Do you listen when someone talks to you like a marketing brochure? Do you want to give them any time, more time, no time? Are you regretting agreeing to the meeting? Sure you are. Don’t use cliches. Talk like you would in a conversation not a catalog. There is a huge difference. Don’t agree with me? Well just listen to people. Start observing.



So if you are, don’t behave differently when you are selling. Don’t sell. share what you know. That’s how you earn trust, that’s how you win attention, that’s how you earn permission to progress to next base.



The time someone afford you is direct correlation to their opinion of you.



More time = High value. Don’t abuse it. Keeping checking in for feedback Keep being respectful of time and you will keep receiving.



One Caveat. The way to think of attention is as a simple trade for value. Attention is doled in ever smaller parcels of time. Bring value to the table every time and you will secure your next portion of attention.



It’s the same with people, books, music, website.



Look out for it. Watch others manage their attention. Become more conscious of your own attention.

So where now?

This post is connected to four other short hyper-linked posts. It’s more like a conversation. You are in control. It kinds of emulates conversational video, but via a blog post using text. You choose how and what you consume. So let’s explore, but on your terms. Where next? What do you want to know next? You choose?

1. Intro – Tribes Share, Conversations Engage. Listening’s Social Dimensions – Channels x Attention x Reach
   
2. Channels – Listening across all Media (opening your mind to listening everywhere)
3. Attention – Listening to grow the time your audience spend watching/reading
4. Reach/Sharing – Listening inside social sales cycles. Creating customer tornados via open sharing
5. Dummies Guide to Creating Interactive Conversational Video from Linear Video Clips