Business-Building Action From Terry Brock
Social media gives us the ability to connect with a lot of people around the world quickly, easily and inexpensively. I love it! Does that mean we don’t need to have that physical meeting? Does it mean we can stay home, peck away on our smartphones, tablets and laptops and never see another person live and direct (not just with Skype, but with a real handshake, kind of meeting)?
Well, I just got back from a meeting in Dallas for one of my tribes. It was the National Speakers Association Workshop. It was fabulous seeing people. The learning was top-notch from people like Randy Gage @Randy_Gage, Jeff Hayzlett @JeffreyHayzlett , Brendon Burchard, Lisa Sasevich and many others. All that was very good.
However, the best part of the meeting was seeing people and connecting. There is nothing that can take the place of building a stronger relationship with someone you already know, meeting someone fabulous for that first time, or just catching up with dear friends you’ve known for a long time.
It is not either/or but it is both/and. This is true for many aspects of life, but especially true in our Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/YouTube/Google+/new shiny object of the week world (whew!). Yes we can (and should) do a lot with social media. It is where the world lives today. However, even the best Skype video connection (and I’ve had a lot of them and love them!) can’t take the place of breaking bread with friends or sharing some drinks “talking about things that matter, with people who care” (to borrow the theme from “McCuistion and Company” a public TV show based in Dallas and hosted by Dennis McCuistion).
Embrace social media (soc med is the cool way to say it!). Spend time on it. If you’re in sales (and aren’t we all today?) you need to know it and use soc med. However, we can never replace that face-to-face, shaking hands and hugging that comes from being in the same place, at the same time.
I’ll leave you with a great quote from my buddy Corbin Ball. No matter how good the technology, the video conferencing or the electronics, “You can’t share a virtual beer.”
