On Friday morning, Pat Egan sent out an SOS on Twitter which read, “Does anyone know a good dog trainer in the Boulder, CO area?” A couple of hours later, it hit me that I did, indeed, know such a person. In fact, dog trainer Pat Blocker had driven me to the Denver airport last Saturday. So I sent her info on to Pat (via Twitter) and a couple of hours later got a message from Pat (via Twitter) saying, “Thanks for the referral.”
I’m telling you this not because it’s such an unusual occurrence, but because it’s the kind of thing I do all day, every day. In fact, one of my favorite hobbies is matching up people who have a problem with someone who has a solution. I might see a request on Help a Reporter Out, for instance, that is a fit for someone I know so I pass it along. It doesn’t take much time to do this, but it does take knowing more about a person than just their name.
I’m not the only one who recognizes that, of course. A few years ago I heard an editor say that if she had two equally good articles to choose from she was inclined to buy the one from the author whom she knew. I’m guessing it wasn’t the editor who made the effort to create the relationship to begin with.
Yesterday I was going through my Twitter follower list and noticed that at least one third of the folks who signed up to follow me have never posted a single message of their own. What’s up with that? Why are so many people not bothering to get to know each other? Same thing goes for the Follow Through Camp group on Facebook. How have I failed to explain that building a business is really about building relationships?
Happily there are lots of folks sharing their journey on a regular basis. Some do it as a marketing ploy, of course, but I see plenty of others who are just delighted to connect with others simply because it feels good to connect. It can also inspire.
As I was thinking about all this, Lynn Girardi wrote to tell me of her Sunday outing. She said, “ I checked out a suburban town a couple of hours train ride away from Brooklyn today, to help lift my spirits and get some inspiration/relaxation. It helped. While strolling around the stores on my own, I read an old newsletter of yours where you mentioned how sometimes it’s even better to learn among people also interested in learning the same thing…like that yoga class you went to of your niece’s which was easier to stick to then just a DVD. Funny, but I was just saying something similar to the teacher when I went to a dance exercise class at the ballroom studio this week…I loved it and it helped uplift my spirits and was so much easier and more pleasurable to stick to, doing it with others rather than solo with my television! Thanks for confirming that idea!”
This weekend was the annual River Run in Laughlin, NV which brings in thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts every year. The local news was doing a piece from Laughlin and interviewed a man who had ridden in from Palm Springs. He mentioned that he never misses the Laughlin event, nor the one in Sturgis, SD. “It’s a matter of priorities,” he said. “If you want to be part of this, you have to find a way to make it happen. If that means putting away a little money all year long, that’s what you’ve got to do.” Then he added, “If you’re into bikes, you’ve got to get on and ride.”
And get into the conversation with your fellow travelers.
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