Tips for newbies in the off-line world

I know some will argue that being connected is not necessarily a good thing, but I for one love it and find that it reduces my stress because I don't have to worry about what's going on - I know what's going on.

This^ for sure

Go to a Business Mixer or Chamber event, on your white name badge, don't put your name or business. Just put the word "Google" or "Facebook Marketing" You will have people flocking around you wanting to know more. Trust me...it works VERY well....

While that is absolutely correct, many people often confuse patience with procrastination. Patiently waiting for yourself to do something is not a virtue!


LOL. Good Job. I might just try that one. Got business matters from the chamber in front of me now, but I guess I need to go finally get my own membership.


It's sort of like a drug. You get hooked in and find yourself mising or being late for family events because some client had this or some outsourcer needed that, server down here or wicked sale up there. The more you ignore it the worse the 'withdrawls' the more you feed it the more the problem grows. Trick is you have to do the drug, don't let it do you. By getting connected that doesn't mean giving others full access to your life. Get the right devices to suit your needs so that it's always arms length away but never disturbing your environment. Practice texting without looking at the keys, then you can continue your conversation with the spouse's parents while sorting out your client support issues without looking. lol. Bluetooth is your friend. Remember that technology is your slave, not the other way around. Make it work for you.


I'll leave you with one more. Don't underestimate your friends and family, neighbors and other people that see you or you see regularly. When it comes to the "offliners" sometimes they are very easily impressed, either that or us technically inclined and Internet saavy forget how really cool and new age we are (no matter how many birthday's you've had). Sometimes wasting 15 minutes to show somebody something you see as completely useless and a waste of time, could be just the fuel your local word of mouth viral engine needs. The moment you "WOW" somebody, they want to tell everyone around them because it's cool, if they think it's really cool they want to share it, especially if they know who made it or who's behind it, kind of like if you were friends with somebody famous you grew up with as kids and never see anymore. They call you and say they will be in town next week and in t minus 1 hour the whole city knows that person is coming to town. This is where social networking marketing strategies come from, and why and how social networks work, because they exist offline and have for centuries, they just didn't always put up signs and wear t-shirts advertising them.