Browsing Google Plus the other day, I saw a post from an acquaintance in Austin, Texas. Thom is a great guy with a lot of knowledge in an area that intersects with my business — public speaking. I have knowledge in an area that intersects his business — social media marketing.
In his post, he asked if anyone was interested in doing a brainstorming session either via Skype or phone. Thom had done these sessions late last year, and it led to him seeing his most successful year to-date in his solo business. I immediately replied that I was interested.
The way the session worked was very simple. We each took ten minutes to present our main issues/targets for the last quarter of the year. The other person then responded with their initial thoughts, and the two of us went back and forth around those ideas. Then we swapped roles.
Engaging one-on-one via Skype was definitely the way to do this activity; the visual cues are essential. The outcome was not a solution but rather a pathway, a sense of direction for where things might go, along with recommendations for how we might get there.
I ended up providing Thom some thoughts on public speaking promotion, while he in turn gave me his thoughts on social media marketing. That is the great opportunity in this type of situation — you just never know how they will turn out or what either of you will bring to the table.
The fact that this started from a post on a social network is just another example of how social networking can improve your business in ways that you haven’t even begun to think of. It isn’t all about marketing or selling via those networks, but rather about building relationships that will help you when you most need it.
Thom and I walked away from our session with homework to do and the knowledge that if we need it, we have someone out there who will hold us accountable to make sure we deliver.
Who could you reach out to for a brainstorming session to finish your year strong?
Image credit: miracle
I enjoyed reading this article. I have two of my former college instructors, now as students/clients, but with their level of knowledge and experience, they still bring a lot of suggestions and advice when they stop by for help with the Adobe software. One is a Photoshop instrutor, but he ‘s not proficient with InDesign. The other is a Litho Press instructor who has recently purchased Adobe CS5 (I’m still working with CS4.) They both come to my home office for instruction, but I think of them as colleagues now more than former instructors or now my students. The sessions are always enlightening all around.