Zoom is dead and I was happy to kill it: 7 learnings from my 24 meetings in 30 days

Sorry for the long post, but I’ve pushed myself recently over the last 30-45 days and taken my own advice to “be comfortable in the uncomfortable”.? I tried to have 30 coffees/lunches in person with new networking partners or existing business partners.? I identified specific people that pique my social and business interests.?

1. I was initially cautious about this idea.? All of these fears were foolish after 2-3 meetings.? Everyone met with me and we found ourselves talking for more than 45-60 minutes as planned. The lesson here was “You likely have way more in common than you think, we (humans) really aren’t that different.”
2. The in-person nature of the meetings allowed for so much casual conversation and interactions. ? All of these silly mundane things (coffees, lunches, parking, etc)? allow you to get to know someone in a unique and special way.? It allows for commonality that we all seek. Lesson here was: “Don’t assume you know someone until you truly spend time with them.”
3. My friend Steve Beecham uses a phrase that rang in my head during several meetings, he says, “Paint the picture” of what you want.? This doesn’t mean we are selfish and talk about ourselves the whole time but the people in your network need to know exactly what you want.? I guess I was shocked that a lot of my circle didn’t know until I described in detail what I want for 2024 and beyond.? Wait, people are thinking about me all of the time? (Ha, insert stupid grin here) So the lesson is: “Don’t assume everyone knows what you want or need.”??
4. The meetings led to conversations off of business and then back to business.? Until I was a small business owner I didn’t realize how much business is personal and vice versa.? Our conversations went from caring for an elderly parent, to painting warehouses to worrying about the next generation and their high sensitivities.? The lesson here was: Business is personal.? Business 100% affects our personal lives; not just in the obvious nature of our income, but our ability to to sleep at night, to relate to people and their current situation.
5. This might be a weird one, but I was surprised when reconnecting with several networking partners, that their life circumstances really changed.? Meaning I was meeting with people that have gone through serious family issues like health problems, surgeries and life altering accidents.? The phrase “never take your health for granted” is 100% spot on.? Some people in your circle are really struggling and you don’t even know it. Lesson here: “You really don’t know what someone is going through until you ask or they share.”
6. Networking leads to more networking.? Writers of business books often quote other writers or are inspired by other books.? Reading leads to more reading.? Well, the exact same thing can be said about networking. Many times I heard with excitement, “You have to meet XYZ person, they share the same passion as you on this topic.”? Lesson here: Networking leads to more networking.
7. Initially my meetings might have started awkwardly, but as the meetings went on, we never reached that point after chit-chatting, “So you called this meeting, what’s up”.? If it did get to that point (mostly at their asking) I was prepared.? My friend Jason Lastinger had the best response, “If I could introduce you to 1 or 2 people that could drastically change your year, who would that be?”? This learning assumes each of you has vast networks, and trust me, when real thought is given to this question, magic happens!

So in summary, I did not get to 30 meetings, so did I fail?? Far from it.? Aside from all of the new connections and business that came from these meetings, 24 more people know more about me, and that is a good thing. 24 people are getting help from my network in a unique and personal way.? 24 people had my undivided attention for 24 hours in total.? 24 people wished Sharon and I well as I announced that we are working remotely in February and laughed at us when I expressed my concern about being away from my business.? I heard, “You have amazing people and you have worked for 10 years to get to this point, relax, the internet is everywhere, ha!”