One of the most significant turning points of my life was the evening of my high school graduation. It suddenly hit me that evening that I would not be seeing a lot of these people again for a long time or even ever. Mine as not a large class, a class or 42 in small private Christian school. Even though I made a lot of close friends in college, church and jobs the time spend with this group of people in classes, senior trips, etc. My parents who recently retired also are extremely tied to their high school friends who they are now spending more and more time with in their retirement years. In those two extremes is easier to have the proverbial “social life.” We go to work, do what we like to do and often like to retreat into our homes or if we do have a social outlet like business network or church their is a tendency to restrict oneself to those few groups of people.

Other than what I am doing now in my own business one of the best and most memorable jobs I ever had was when I worked 7 summers at Camp Old Indian, a Boy Scout camp in northern Greenville County, SC. I worked with and enjoyed the friendship with about 40 other staff members each summer in addition to meeting the visiting scoutmasters and teaching the scout campers. If fact one of my main motivations for working their was not the money (camp work rarely is) but the friendships and social life developed.

One big lesson I have learned as a business owner is the importance of a social life. When we first got started we did not network and meet new people in social situations as we should have. In the past few years we have become involved local business network groups like the Chamber of Commerce, Professional Network Connections, GSATC, etc. In addition to those local in-person groups our involvement in online social networks has increased and brought significant rewards not only in terms of new business but also in more positive relationships with others in our own industry. Some of that online “social life” includes involvement with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Flickr and of course commenting on the many blogs we read or start the conversation by writing our own articles and opening them up to comments.

A great temptation for companies to stay behind their own walls to “protect themselves” or not “waste time” away from the office but a great deal of “customer feedback” can be gained from meeting and talking to others. Gil Gerretsen made a great point on his blog about presenting a “face” and more personable view to the public that can be gained by building facades and official advertising. If you are a business owner/ entrepreneur the most important thing you can do is be the face of your company. It’s you that has the driving passion. How are you growing your business by seeking out new ideas and opportunities through others you meet? How many opportunities are you seeking to grow your social life and expand you ideas and area of influence?

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 1:45 pm and is filed under Internet, Tips, networking, social networks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.