I've been doing a lot of traveling lately. I've been from California to New York, to Utah and Seattle, and to Denver more times than I can count.
In theory, none of that traveling should be necessary. Twitter, after all, is the ultimate networking tool. I can be sitting anywhere and by firing up Tweetie on my iPhone, find myself swapping tweets with Tim O'Brien of the New York Times or exchanging ideas with best-selling author David Bach.
In fact, anyone can. That's what makes Twitter such a fantastic tool. All of the barriers are down. Anyone can now get directly in touch with all of the leading experts in their field. They can make the connections that lead to job offers, business leads, sales and contracts.
It's incredibly valuable - and that's before you even start to talk about branding, customer service, viral marketing and all of the other amazing things that Twitter can do.
But while I do believe that Twitter is fantastic, it does have its limitations.
It still hasn't replaced the value of a real, face-to-face meeting.
I've managed to get in touch with some amazing people on Twitter, people I don't believe I would have contacted any other way. But I've also met some amazing people at conferences, at book signings and at the media interviews I've been doing recently. Sure, some of those people I met on Twitter beforehand. We've read each other's tweets, maybe tweeted to each other directly a few times.
But meeting them in person moved the relationship to a whole new level. Instead of restricting contact to 140 characters or trying to broker a deal through email, we're able to explore issues in depth, provide full answers and look for opportunities.
Twitter has revolutionized networking. It's the place to make contacts and tell the world who you are. But it's only the beginning. You still have to move off Twitter to close the deal. That's why you'll continue to see me at conferences and seminars, giving talks and doing readings.
And that's why you'll also see me on Twitter, making new contacts and telling everyone where I'm going next.
WOW...I WISH TO TRAVEL SOME DAY...FIRST STOP! SIX FLAGS WITH MY FAM...NEVER DID LEAVE THIS ISLAND CALLED OAHU...SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD FOR MY FIRST TRIP OFF...IN THE FUTURE...BUT ANYWAYS I JUST JOINED TWITTER AND I NOTICED THAT I ALREADY HAVE PEOPLE ON MY LIST...THAT'S AMAZING!!! THIS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER DONE THIS AND I'M REALLY MOTIVATED EVERYDAY TO LOOKING FORWARD FOR ANYTHING THAT IS RESOURCEFUL...THANKS JOEL!!! LOOKING FORWARD FOR YOUR NEXT POST.
I'm not there yet. I have been on Twitter a few times and have several hundred friends but have not really connected with anyone regularly.
There is so much hype going on about the site but the majority of people I have talked to, face to face, just don't get it either.
Maybe I'm way out in left field here but I'm starting to view Twitter as a collection of Internet marketers posting a bunch of links.
Twitter rocks, i'm a relative newbie using it, but i'm in love with it...why? I get to connect with tons of "fans" who appreciate what i'm doing as a fitness professional, and I get to network with other fitness pros who I otherwise would probably rarely get to hang with.
Twitter works...but you're exactly right...nothing beats the "here I am, give me a handshake, look me in the eyes" connection that comes from putting yourself out there in person.
I'm just happy I get to do both! There are fitness pros out there who say online marketing and promos are means of "selling out"...to them, I say "I used to think that way, but thank goodness I saw the light, lol!"
Connecting in ANY way is a blast, and i'm all about it!
Keep it up!
Yours in Health,
Sarah E. Rippel
Aloha Joel,
Can I just say DITTO!? In person networking + Twitter is the Ultimate combo for business owners!
I suppose the only thing I'd add is that sometimes the deal really is closed on Twitter just through the social interaction with a person. The in=person meeting thereafter is just a "bonus" confirmation.
Who knows what I mean here? Ya' know how it goes... When you just sense that the person you're tweeting or DM-ing is someone you've GOT to do business with, and it's that MOMENT that you close the deal in your mind and decide to work with them.
Twitter is a great tool, yes. But nothing beats actually seeing your contact, especially if it's a client.
Online networking is easy with great tools like Twitter but actually meeting someone in person is much better.
All of us internet marketers need to come out of the basement and have some face to face.
Good points Joel. I always advocate to take Twitter relationships offline (or any online relationships for that matter). That is where the real value comes in. Online is great for soaking up content, learning, sharing. But the real actions happens off the court I guess you could say.
You're right, as usuall. Social media sites are very powerfull to create and develop relations, but at the and of the day, some parts of success is counted in number of direct relations ...
Unfortunately, there's this thing called "distance" which is so hard to get over it .. sometimes ..
Anyway .. in order to not spam allover your blog, while recently you had a post about a weird twitter "feature" (the one with very long message), here's another strange thing about twitter .. in fact about one user ...
http://twitter.com/crunchbid
Pay a bit attention :
nickname - crunchbid
Name crunchy
4,412 Following
4,031 Followers
Nothing special by now ...
but ..
0 Updates
Earlyer (just 3-4 hours before) page looks like this :
http://five4all.com/m/crunchy_twitter.jpg
50 new followers in few hours and never posted anything ??????
I agree there are benefits to doing things both 'virtually' and 'in person'. We are fortunate that we have the technology that can get things started virtually like meeting people and networking. However when it comes to closing deals or meetings of great proportion with what are potentially heavy hitters (a.k.a. 'big wigs') it is necessary to do this face to face. Sure you can get out the webcam and all and still do it virtually, but the face to face encounter will tell you what a webcam won't. You can't shake their hand, look into their eye, notice any nervous twitches which may indicate something, you can't schmooze over dinner and drinks, get to really know someone and build a level of trust.
Having a new friend or meeting somebody inspiring is priceless =] But yeap, nothing beats the sincerity of communicating face to face. And this applies to everything, good or bad.
I think of social sites like Twitter as the chance encounter that leads to the first date (face to face meetings). That's almost exactly what it is- though in a business relationship more than a personal one. You find and connect with new friends and business partners on social sites- you wheel, deal, and build real relationships in person.
Has Twitter really revolutionized anything? Couldn't you have just as easily traded text messages? Was Twitter really necessary? I think that Twitter gets too much credit here.