Email Thanks

Those that follow me on Twitter know that I read a ton of blogs. And for this, I sincerely appreciate the countless hours bloggers invest to share their experiences and knowledge. These writers open our eyes to new ideas that change the way we design products, build companies, and understand ourselves.

And we should say thanks.

I almost always provide attribution when sharing articles on Twitter:

Coffee meetings by @lenkendall: bit.ly/YTbje4 Read this before taking your next coffee meeting. via @danmartell

— Ryan Hoover (@rrhoover) April 14, 2013

But these bloggers deserve more. Lately I’ve been emailing writers directly to express my appreciation. Here’s why:

• It’s Personal - Email is a private, one-to-one communication medium. It is much more personal than Twitter, blog comments, and other public channels.
• It’s Meaningful - It takes more effort to dig up someone’s email address[1] and express appreciation beyond 140 characters.
• Cuts Through the Noise - Successful bloggers are inundated with tweets and other social media notifications to the point where they all look the same. In comparison, email is quiet, a free-range for expressing thanks.
• Can Lead to Conversation or More - Email is designed for conversation. Simple thank you’s can result in further conversation with interesting individuals or in-person meetings.
• It’s Enjoyable - It feels good to give thanks. :)

As with any personal message, I never send a cookie-cutter thank you. Authenticity is important. I keep the email succinct and relevant to a post recently published or general observation about their writing. Here’s an email I sent to Nathan Kontny after reading his post, During:

Sometimes these correspondences don’t go any further than this - and that’s fine! Other times it has lead to interesting conversation and in-person coffee meetings

Expressing appreciation and reciprocating other’s hard work is the right thing to do and email is a great way to do so. Try it out. You’ll be glad you did.

And if you want to connect, please drop me a line at ryan [at] ryanhoover.me. :)

——

Special thanks to Nate Kontny, D. Keith Robinson, and Adii Pienaar for reading early versions of this post.

[1] Finding blogger’s email address can be challenging so here’s a useful article on the topic (h/t Andrew Chen).