Stop saying hello!

Hi Reader,

I discovered a fun website the other day, nohello.net, which offers some contrarian netiquette.

When you’re DM-ing or messaging someone, stop saying hello, hola, heya or Dia Dhuit (that’s Irish for hello).

Excessive politeness is the equivalent of answering a ringing phone, greeting the caller, and putting them on hold.

It’s maddeningly frustrating.

I’m on board with the contrarian piece of netiquette for two reasons.

Reason 1: It rings alarm bells

I get messages from scammers via X, email, my DMs, and comments almost every day.

They use maddingly polite openers like “Hello dear” alongside AI-brushed profile pics of their sun-drenched avatars lounging at the beach.

I engaged with a few of them for kicks. After about twenty minutes, they were making promises about crypto coins with billion-dollar tech and asking for my funds asap.

People I know and trust? They get to the point.

“Beers later?”

or

“Can you pick up the kids at 2?“

Reason 2: It’s throat-clearing
​When I was a freelance writer years ago, an editor took one of my articles and slashed out 20% with his red pen.

“Stop clearing your throat,” he said. “It’s boring to read. Cut out that filler and get to the point.”

Usually, I can cut the first 20% of whatever I write.

The DM message template I’m using to grow my account on LinkedIn with clients uses this no-fluff approach. I even code my ChatGPT bots to avoid fluff and pre-amble.

Politeness has its place, but the most polite thing a creator can do is respect the time of their audience or clients.

So, the next time you’re DM-ing someone, get to the point. Your potential clients are busy. They want the equivalent of the skip intro button on Netflix.

What can you do for them?

If you want me to get to the point, you’ll love my Telegram group for creators. There’s no charge for joining and no preamble once you’re inside. 100+ people joined over the past week or two. I share insights about how I’m scaling my creator business.

​Join​

Write on,

Bryan Collins