Social Networking or Social Playtime?

Have you met my friend Kenneth Fron? If you haven't heard of him yet, you will soon. He is an amazing jewelry designer in Chicago whose breathtaking creations have adorned the necks of Hollywood A-Listers from Teri Hatcher to Cindy Margolis.

I originally met Kenneth by visiting a business networking site online hoping to learn and possibly find new clients at the same time. I have a habit of reading profiles of people who post questions and answers on these sites and happened to come across Kenneth's. I noticed he was a jewelry designer in Chicago. On a whim I decided to visit his website because I'm a jewelry lover and dabble in jewelry making myself so why wouldn't I? I was highly impressed with his work from the very beginning and not only loved his jewelry but also loved the look of his website. I felt compelled to drop him a line and tell him so. I thought it wouldn't hurt to introduce myself and my business at the same time.

I didn't think anything of it and went about my business but lo and behold the very next day I received an email back from Kenneth thanking me for the compliments and telling me more about himself. We hit it off instantly and the rest is history. All because of a little social networking.

I have since joined several other networks and learned a valuable lesson from meeting Kenneth. I had started social networking because I heard it was "good for growing your business". But I was so busy searching for new clients I had missed the most important part of social networking. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS! Business isn't necessarily what you're selling or what you're buying, it's about building lasting relationships along the way. Even if someone doesn't turn into a client or customer, they may know someone along the highway of life that may need what you have to offer someday and chances are they will recommend you because of your relationship with them, and if they don't you still have one more friend than you did before.

"But Friends Don't Pay the Bills" you say? Think again! In addition to Kenneth, I've met several other people through networking online who I consider very good friends. They write to ask how my day is going, wondering when the next blog post will be or just to say hi. And guess what else? They recommend me. Whenever someone asks them if they know of anyone who does what I do, they give out my name and email address immediately! So you see, even if you meet someone that doesn't turn into a client, you never know where or who your next client may come from!

There is a lot of debate over whether social networking is really networking or if it's just a good excuse to goof off and play online. I say it's a bit of both. I'll admit, sometimes I hit the networking sites just to update my friends on what I'm doing or catch up on the latest with them. Sometimes I learn something new that could help my business from someone who has posted a great link. Sometimes I search for people who might need my services. And sometimes, I spend five minutes online and meet someone like Kenneth who has become a dear friend in a very short time. You just never know. I think it's good to use social networking as an outlet to focus on something besides business once in awhile. Sometimes that's when you just might be surprised!

Have a great week everyone!!