Image by: Christian Siedler
By John Cace

Way back in high school, man I hate how that sounds, I had a Physics teacher who used to raise his hand and in a wooden Texas accent shout, “Gimmy five people, gimmy five!”

It basically meant, everybody shut up and listen because you’re going to want to hear this, but it sounded nicer. So if you’ll do me a solid and “gimmy five” I promise you’ll leave a better man.

• In case you didn’t know, you can now optimize your audience on Facebook
• Which means new avenues for your marketing capabilities
• And a new way of thinking in your approach to delivering your message
• Then learn the 12 things that confident men do differently
• How’s the love life? Find out if you’re in a healthy relationship

A Popularity Contest You Actually Care About

When I was in high school, there was no Facebook and the internet was just becoming a thing. And something else was way more prevalent than cell phones.

Anybody remember pagers?

Of course, not much has probably changed regarding the popularity system in high schools since then.

Let’s just say I had more Facebook friends within the first four days of making a profile than in four years of high school.

I mention it because recently Facebook rolled out an audience optimization feature that allows users to hand pick the types of people who get to see a certain post.

For instance, if you have a specific service or product that you market using Facebook, then instead of just hoping ‘someone’ sees it, you can ensure that the exact type of people you want to see it will.

Socialmediaexaminer.com did a great how to piece called, Facebook Audience Optimization: What Marketers Need to Know, that gets right to meat of the new feature.

By setting interest tags that target specific topics, your posts have a better chance of reaching an interested audience. And once your posts have reached certain milestones, you can access the collected data that shows you vital engagement statistics. Like who, what, where, when, and how much someone interacted with your post.

Take that high school!

Now the one thing you always have to keep in mind when engaging your audience and customers, is what?

Actually it’s the why part that matters first. More specifically, why does your customer want what you have? It’s their story and reasoning that will give you more insight into the why that will help you better determine the what.

Writer and entrepreneur Jeff Shore gives you three simple thoughts to guide your thinking into that frame of mind. Stop talking about what you can offer your customer and start listening to what they need.

This goes for any kind of business you are in.

Own a restaurant? Give out comment cards with diners’ receipts and instead of asking how their experience was ask them why they chose your place and what they like about coming there.

And if it’s an audience we’re talking about, I don’t care if you play video games, showcase your collection of state magnets, make parody’s, or interview dogs, there is a way for you to interact with your viewers.

Once you have established your way of understanding the why part, you’ll be able to provide your customers with more than just a sale.

Need a Boost In Confidence?

If you think having confidence only applies to certain situations like talking to girls in a bar or manning up to a dare or challenge, then I have a few tips for you.

Confidence is when you know how to be a leader without being the center of attention. It’s about NOT always stepping into the spotlight and needing to be everybody’s friend.

I made that mistake when I started dating my girlfriend three years ago. She has an endless group of friends and as I would meet them I always felt like I had to be Johnny Charisma and get everyone to like me.

Well after a few embarrassing situations I began to realize that I didn’t have to go out of the way to impress people so much. Mainly because I was kind of being fake and it just wasn’t working.

Instead, I started to keep quieter and listen more. I stopped worrying about comparing myself or my accomplishments to others and just relished in the real me. Not arrogant like, but with a new self-respect.

Simply put, a confident man never needs outside affirmation from anyone because he can create his own happiness by always maintaining a positive outlook and keeping a sound mind.

And part of creating that happiness comes from having a healthy relationship. One where the two of you can not only love and appreciate each other, but also own your own happiness, let each other be, and enjoy the journey.

See? I said you would leave a better man and I was right!