Yesterday I met a client in her office. We had a good meeting and came up with some business ideas for the future. I’m glad I made the drive across town to meet with her.
She has a nice office in a building with other businesses. Each business has an outside door to the sidewalk.
As I left her office I noticed that one of the businesses in the building is one I know. I had just sent the owner of this business a LinkedIn message congratulating her for a business milestone.
It was a rainy and cold morning. My next appointment was an hour drive away and I had nearly two hours to get there. I thought for a moment about going in to say hello to the owner of this business.
I let the weather, the need to make some phone calls, emails to reply to and a proposal to send out lead me to keep walking to my car. I did not need to stop in and say hello, remember, I’d already sent him a LinkedIn message. Why should I stop?
I almost let my list of tasks and previous social media engagement discourage me from stopping in and visiting the business owner.
No, I was in front of his building. I would be making a serious mistake if I did not knock on the door.
I turned and walked up the sidewalk to his office.
When I knocked on the door, he opened it with the biggest smile on his face.
His wife, who I also know, joined into our conversations for 20-30 minutes. It was a great conversation.
The best part of the our chat is they shared with me three great public speaking opportunities.
I did not ask for anything. I asked about them, about their business, about their travels and family.
During the conversation they asked me about my business. When I mentioned I was a public speaker the conversation turned into the opportunities. They promised to introduce me to the people who needed to hire speakers.
Here is my point.
I could have believed that my relationship with these good people was fine because I had talked with them via LinkedIn message.
I could have let my perception of important phone calls, messages and hurry to get to my next appointment take me down the road.
Rather, I decided, correctly, that when the chance to stop and visit someone IRL (in real life) arises, I must take it.
Social Media is a great way to touch people. It’s a fabulous way to share, engage and keep people aware of who you are and what you do.
Meeting people in real life is the best way to build relationships, get into real conversations and discover ideas that generally do not appear between computer screens or mobile devices.
Take Social Networking to IRL (In Real Life). The benefits and rewards can be significant.
One reply on “Social Networking includes knocking on the door”
What a fantastic lesson, Teddy. It’s right in the spirit of what I always try to teach my small business clients: “Before you can sell, you have to connect,” and — as you teach too —the connection needs to be authentic and, as often as possible, IRL – in real life. Thanks for the reminder!