This is a guest-post from Mary-Lynn and George of the Bigg Success Show where she and George share their life, their interviews and years of expertise to their audience/listenership/readers. Yup, they have talent AND good things for folks to grok on – a radio reality check.
It is with great appreciation and respect that I post this piece, which well – made me blush and Emily is always reminding me that real people are just as valuable as “friends“, if not more valuable.
This post is really timely, since I’m posting this right now from the cabin overlooking a great morning valley view, getting back to basics – people, family and the outdoors.
Thanks for the post, the reminder and kind words. I did decide to put a couple of reactions inline, in bold/Italics, which could be considered editing, but thought I should share a little bit my reaction and Emily’s for y’all.
Merging Your Networking Worlds
We sure are social! Social networking and social sharing sites are among the most popular on the internet. We can make friends all over the world. Yet some people haven’t jumped on the social networking bandwagon.
At the same time, business networking groups are also growing. We crave interaction with other people and we’ve realized that there is tremendous power in our network. Yet some people have abandoned traditional networking for the most part.
We think it’s best to use both methods because each of them has its own significant advantage. (@emmyeg: “Told you so Jon”)
Social networking is more transparent
Social networking offers a significant advantage over traditional networking – networks are more transparent. For the most part, we can see each other’s friends.
With offline networking, you may see someone you know with a few friends or colleagues. However, short of a significant event (e.g. a wedding), you usually don’t see his or her extended group.
With social networks, you can browse your friend’s entire list of connections. You know all the people they know within that particular site. You can grow your base of friends much more quickly than you may offline.
Traditional networking offers fuller communication
When you’re online, you can LOL. You can :). There are ways to communicate who you are, but your true personality doesn’t fully come out.
If we talk on the phone, more of “you” comes through. Even better, when we meet in-person, your full dynamic is on display. That’s the richest form of communication.
We have a great example of this. We subscribe to Jon’s RSS feed for Spatially Relevant. We read every post. While a lot of Jon’s personality comes through, we’re glad we’ve met him in person and witnessed him giving a great presentation. (JG: Thanks for the feedback, I was completely nervous as it was my first social media pitch in public, but it was good to have both George and Mary-Lynn from a confidence perspective)
That’s where you truly see how energetic he is. You get the full sense of his fun-loving spirit. You see how truly brilliant he is (JG:blushes, not quite sure about that). Blogs, e-mails, instant messages, social networks, and all other forms can’t duplicate the experience of meeting someone in person.
Merge your networking worlds
Our point is this – merge your networking worlds. The real power in a network comes when your online and offline efforts work seamlessly together. You may be part of a virtual group that organizes a meeting in the real world. You can easily stay in touch with people online that you met offline.
Don’t stick your head in the sand … explore a social network or two. Don’t hide behind a computer … get out where the people are.
Because that’s the bottom line – networking, whether online or offline, is about people. It’s about building meaningful relationships. The richness of the human experience lies in experiencing humans.
(Emily: “Yup, so glad we met them, good people without a doubt”)
