I worked in IT for over a decade and still, there’s nothing I love more than spending the day in front of my computer. I am a very social person but in my day to day life, if I can communicate with people without actually having to speak to them I’m thrilled! I can get my point across with a bulleted email, a short post on Facebook or an update on Twitter in less than 140 characters…a phone call can take hours and accomplish nothing more.

In hopes of promoting my new business, I’ve spent months developing my “brand” and presence in the Social Media universe. In the process I have made some great contacts, built solid relationships and have learned the power and benefits of Social Networking. To know that I can connect with millions of people all over the world for free is truly amazing and what’s even more amazing is that more businesses are not taking advantage of it.

While I was making friends and familiarizing the world with my name, I was not building my business.  So I read more articles, followed more people, and posted more often but I still wasn’t getting the publicity I wanted and needed.  Then I asked myself…what is my target audience and how can I get in front of them to pitch my business? Well, since my target audience is local small businesses the best way to introduce my services to them would be to meet them face to face…what a concept!

The next day I scoured our local paper looking for business socials coming up and saw that the Chamber of Commerce was having a mixer.  I called a couple friends that are active in the community and asked if they would meet me there to introduce me to anybody they knew, to my delight they both agreed! At that mixer I met a gentleman that pretty much spends all his time at local business events and asked if I could tag along to some of them, amazingly he also agreed.  I spent the next two weeks going to mixers almost nightly and was introduced to what seemed like half the town.  I traded cards with people, generally asking questions about their business and always followed up with an email simply saying “it was a pleasure to meet you last night at the…”.

The response to my efforts was immediate and surprising.  I’d gotten farther with a few handshakes than I did with hundreds of hours on-line.  The phenomenon brought to mind how authors do signing tours after their books hit the shelves, and movie stars run the talk show circuit when their movies debut.  So why do they do that, if we like them we’re going to buy the book or see their movie regardless right?  They do it because they want us to connect with ‘them’ and not the character they’re playing or writing about.  Business is no different, we want to build a relationship with the people we do business with and we need to develop a trust.

So am I saying social networking isn’t worthwhile? Not at all, I’m saying you have to do both.  With social media you have a voice that spans the world enabling you to connect to people you wouldn’t be able to otherwise, but nothing will ever replace the power of a handshake and a smile.