Whenever I have the opportunity to visit a city, I try to put together a dinner for a small group of people that I know only through social media. Sometimes the group can number as many as eight, and I have been invited to one lunch with about ten other people (all of whom are now my friends).
London is no exception (although I don’t know many Londoners). The picture above is Hanna and her boyfriend, Pete. Not pictured is Soren Powell-Holse, surely the only Dane I know anywhere in the world.
Before tonight, none of us knew each other outside of our blogs and Twitter.
The real value in social media is the ability to connect and create relationships. If you are living behind the screen and not going out and meeting the people with whom you are friends on social media, you are missing out on the real value.
The real value in social media isn’t measured in your Klout score, the number of followers you have on Twitter, or the number of friends you have on Facebook. It also isn’t measured in your new clients or your lead generation results, even those can all be valuable in some ways.
It’s not pleasant to think about, but at the end of your life, your 171,462 Twitter followers aren’t going to miss you. They aren’t going to know you are gone. There are far fewer relationships that really matter, which I suspect is the real reason two very prominent social media people (Broganand Hyatt) have deleted all of the people they follow and started over with a much smaller group.
Get out from behind the screen. Go and capture the real value of social media.
Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at thesalesblog.com for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success.
Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. You can reach Anthony at thesalesblog.com or email Beth@b2bsalescoach.com.
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