23 May Is Your Digital Network Useless? Try Talking 2 More People

Do you find that many of the people who connect with you online are often wasting your precious time? Do you build mental clutter by avoiding and skipping over emails from people who you really don’t want to meet with or talk to?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to FLIP things so that more and more enjoyable, useful and interesting contacts came into your world?

There is.

          It’s simple.

                 And it’s fun.

Talk to more people.

                 And do it face to face.

Yes there’s advanced search options online within LinkedIn, yes we can reach thousands of people now with Google Adwords or Facebook advertising, but are those techniques really working for all of us?

No.

Have you ever invested in any of these very targeted forms of advertising, noticed your views go way up, only to have your click-throughs to your website or product page stay almost exactly the same? It happens, often.

The old-fashioned concept of talking to more people face to face is timeless and gaining in it’s importance as our society becomes so digitally connected. Jump on board before you get left behind.

Here’s the thing. We have so many digital ways to ‘connect’ with people these days that it’s become overwhelming, counter productive and sometimes even dangerous. This Guardian article addresses how another US State is attempting to legislate against “distracted walking”.

While these tools can be handy and effective, with option overload it’s very difficult for the business owner to know exactly what digital marketing tools to use when and how. I’ve heard many conflicting expert opinions.

I find that nowadays it’s easier to create a useful real-world connection with someone just by actually speaking to them in person. Yes, this takes some courage, but isn’t life supposed to be a bit scary?

Of course if you go out and just meet random people, they likely won’t be your target audience or client right off the bat, but if you can make this part of your regular routine – and you can – you will be pleasantly surprised at the opportunities that you uncover.

From time to time you will meet someone who is very much just the person who you were supposed to meet and connect with. You will hear yourself say things like, “Oh what a coincidence that we met”, or “I’m so pleased that I met you”, or as a recent new contact of mine stated, “I’ve never had a conversation like this before”.

It doesn’t matter that by meeting new people every day that many of them will not be ideal clients. This is because by doing this, you are flexing a very important and nowadays under-utilized social muscle of

connecting with new people.

You will benefit from this by being able to effortlessly strike up conversations with potential clients and customers in other settings down the road, not to mention the other social benefits that will come from being a better connector and listener. AND occasionally you will indeed meet exactly the right person at exactly the right time. So I say let’s put a spotlight on non-targeted marketing to see what we can create.

This is not discount the incredible value of the digital world of communication. I use it almost every day. I publish videos, tweet, like and share content all the time. I do get business from people who see what I’m up to online, but it’s not the predominant way that I promote myself. I do appreciate it when someone comments on something that I’ve published and I will be sharing this article digitally.

But the bottom line is that people need spend less time working the digital tools and invest more time and energy into our soft skills once again.

I am speaking from experience.

I’m currently experimenting with exactly this concept by intentionally meeting at least one new person every day for a full year through something I call the “Talk2MorePeople Project”. I am doing this to encourage other people to put down their devices at least once in a while and to approach and meet more people face to face to uncover possibilities.

What started as a 30 day challenge has evolved into a 365 day challenge and has been very worthwhile for me to date. I recently took this concept on tour with me to 4 countries in Europe. While there I:

• met new, amazing people daily
• had a surprise trip to France
• booked new clients in Canada
• had a lot of fun
• got introduced to many new ideas
• felt completely alive

It seems that the more I do this, the more amazing the scale of the opportunities that are coming up. Just yesterday I met a fellow on a train who may actually bring me to do some facilitation work in Bangladesh. Even if no actual work comes from the interaction, the new ideas about what I can offer internationally are of value to me. And just co-creating an offline conversation has value in itself.

There are many ways to get over the fear of approaching strangers and volumes have been written on the subject. From my life experience as well as the encounters through this project at this time I would like to offer this one practical tip.

To break the ice to meet a new person out there in public, just offer a genuine compliment.

This simple task will almost always open the door to small talk that can lead to bigger talk, that can lead to real talk. Try it. You won’t be disappointed. If it feels awkward or strange, congratulations, you are getting out of your comfort zone which means you are growing. You’ve got the courage to actually try this and you will succeed, if you keep at it.

How do you think you might you benefit from meeting and brining more people into your life on a regular basis?

Interested to experience more? Check out www.Facebook.com/talk2morepeople to learn about the T2MP 30 Day Challenge. Take it to change your life.

In Calgary this week? Join us at GetConnectedYYC with hosts Lynnell Ible and Tony Esteves to get connected in person with others who appreciate a good face-to-face conversation.

Now get out there and make some unexpected connections.