Taking Networking Offline

I know for many of you, networking is solely offline.  You attend your local BNI or Chamber meeting, rub elbows and trade cards.

But for me, and a growing number of entrepreneurs, our networking is done online. We become “friends” on Facebook. We swap stories and links on Twitter. It gets to a point where many of us have never spoken on the phone, but know each other pretty well.

So that’s why I was “eggcited” last week to attend my first Tweetup. For the unaware, a Tweetup is a get together of people who communicate on Twitter that are in a given area. I’m in Orlando, so it was people who either live here or were here visiting. We met at a bar.

Me ‘n Jim Kukral

Some of the people, like Chris Brogan, Ted Murphy and Wendy Piersall, I already knew. Others I had only communicated with online, like Jim Kukral and Melanie Edwards. Still others I knew just because of their fame in the blogging realm, like Jeremy Shoemaker and Neil Patel. So it was a great opportunity to have in-person conversations with all of these people and learn from them.

So give it a shot. You’re Twittering now, aren’t you? Of course you are. So search for a Tweetup in  your area or start one!

And remember: no one goes by their real names. When I introduce myself as Susan Payton, I get blank stares. When I intro myself as the Marketing Eggspert, I get faint recognition!