There has been some unrest and much said in the last two weeks about college admissions.  While the story isn’t new – bribes, test cheating, false credentials, waiving of standards,  it’s happened on a much, much larger scale than we’ve been aware of in the past.   [And, why is it,  I wonder, that many of these current and past admissions fiascos involve athletics departments rather than, say, the math department or English?  Just wondering….]

Early one morning, 7:00 am, I read a column in which the commentator reflected on the events and expressed an opinion about how the students whose admissions were gained through these fabrications should be treated by their universities.

I was touched by his column; I shared one of my campus experiences as a comment under his column, sharply remembered even at a distance and crisply recounted.

I will spare you that story, lest it change our relationship, you thinking that I’m either raging with the radical left  or riding  just to the right of Genghis Khan. 

In any event, within about 90 minutes of my posting the response, I had 18 “likes” and one comment. I was flabbergasted. Who reads political columns at 7 AM in the morning? Which time zone were they in? Much less, who “likes” the responses? As of the following day,  people were still “liking” my  response.

Lest we doubt that people are reading what we write online, evidence that they do. Not necessarily our target prospects or clients (that’s a matter of targeting)… and people are reading. I now have 18 people about whom I know something (they “liked” my point of view), 18 people with whom I could engage in dialogue – 18 more than I had before.  

Nick Miller is President of Clarity Advantage based in Concord, MA. He assists banks and credit unions to generate more and more profitable relationships, faster, with business clients, their owners, and their employees. Additional articles on Clarity’s web site.