Last week my good friend Tim Hayden was in town. Over drinks and dinner we caught up and as usual, I was astounded by how good he is at getting meetings with prospect companies. I mean, really great companies. The kind we'd all like to know and work with one day. So of course, I asked for his secret sauce. Wait for it......
Get offline.
That's it. His secret sauce advice was that if you're wanting to meet people that need help people with their digital strategy stop being virtual and start being physical.
Now I'm sure there is more to his success than just that... I think he's just damn good at networking, but his comment is one we should all take to heart. It's a great reminder that while you really can get to know folks online in places like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, as well as by reading/commenting on their blog, there is just something special about meeting IRL. It gives you a sense of the person and an opportunity to form a bond. And I'm not just talking about prospecting for business... I'm talking about building and nuturing that network of friends, associates and supporters that are so important in life. Believe me, I found out in August 2005 how important a network can be to surviving a catastrophic life event.
So today, do yourself a favor. Put down the mouse (unless of course you're using it to book a plane ticket to go meet people in real life) and go out and invest in your network by meeting folks for real.
Luckily for me, Tim wasn't the only one suggesting that real life is real powerful, so my plane ticket is already booked. That's right, next week I'll be popping over to Birmingham, AL just for the hell of it. I'm going to catch up with the great crowd I met at Social South last year: Mack Collier, Jamie (I'll pick you up at the airport in the Tesla) Sandford, Scott Schablow, Stacey Hood, Ike Piggot and I hope a host of others.
Why Birmingham you might ask? Well if that list of smarties up there isn't reason enough, Southwest had a ding fare so the flight was dirt cheap. Which by the way, is a great use of Ding Fares from Southwest. Pick a city you want to go to and meet up with your online buddies IRL and then when it goes on sale, ping your buddies on Twitter to do a quick scheduling of something and book it. That's how my trip came about and frankly, think it is going to be one of the best ones of the summer.
So that's what I'm going to do... what about you? Are you going to keep hiding behind that mouse or go out and meet folks the old fashioned way? Let me know.
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