“that grungy side door” Flickr CC image credit: Nick Welles

The following is a guest post from reader Landon Fears. Landon was the first reader to successfully use the 1:1 Facebook ad targeting technique in Chapter 10 to get my attention, and we’ve had a nice back-and-forth on Twitter.  He’s the creator of Salesvamps, “a story about vampire salesmen.” Follow him on Twitter: @landonfears.  -Ian

As soon as I finished reading The Social Media Side Door: How to Bypass the Gatekeepers to Gain Greater Access and Influence, I immediately thought about the memories that a side door brought to me.

Every time my family or a family friend had a barbecue, I’d enter the backyard through a side door.  The door was never pretty.  The doorframe’s paint was peeling, a stray nail stuck out of the hinge, and an army of ants would march in between the dirty cracks of the threshold.  But once I entered the backyard, the party began.  I’d eat hamburgers, usually getting barbecue sauce on my clothes.  I’d join in a game of football – I’d drop the ball multiple times because I’m clumsy.  As I finally left the barbecue, you know what I was? Sweaty.  Like, drenched.  But more importantly, I was care-free.  I was among friends and family.

I never carried this care-free attitude into my professional career, much less social media.  Like the people Ian describes in his book, I was one of the miserable spending all of my energy trying to open the front door wider.  At one point in my career, I was a door-to-door salesman.  It was an excruciating three weeks.  Do you know how I felt every time I had to knock on a door to sell whatever it was I sold?  Yes, sweaty.  But really, I was stressed.  The complete opposite of how I felt in those backyard barbecues.

Yes, I learned a lot of technical things from Ian’s book.  I’ve already implemented a few Facebook Ads, and plan to experiment with Twitter Ads.  I am working on strategies for creative ways to use Tumblr and Google+.  But the biggest takeaway I got from the book was to approach social media – and my career – with a social attitude.  Have fun.  Simply get to know people.  When I log into my account, I want the same frame of mind as I had going through that grungy side door to a fun outing.  I’ve gotten too used to waiting in line and staring at a front door – while much better-looking than a side door, it is a front door that may never open, but also a door that brings little joy as I approach it.

Chances are you have a side door in your life that leads to an entertaining get-together.  If you’re normal, your get-together involves barbecue sauce, but I guess it’s okay if it doesn’t.  Regardless of what your idea of care-free is, bring that mentality to your social media space.  Have conversations with who you want, play around with who you want.

I’d start by talking to Ian with a blog comment, Twitter mention, or Amazon review.

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