Most of us are "linked in", "connecting', "inviting" then finally we are "liked". Its' become the way we have "learned" to communicate. I just had someone say to me, "I joined Facebook" because I was a Military wife and had no friends at our new post, and wanted to "make" some.

In my last blog, I talked about are we really present in our own presence. It's hard some days to be totally present as we have so much going on. I am a relative “newcomer” to the world of “Social Media”. I resisted because of two main reasons: first there are people in my past I just did not want to "connect to", and second I didn't want to be consumed (I know me) with spending all my free time on “Facebook”, “Linked In” or any of the many "social media" venues out there. But primarily because I see "face to face" diminishing and I love to see you and speak directly to you. I think it's the best and most effective way to communicate. I mean unless you can see the other person's face it's hard to tell what their perception is of what is being said. And people do business with people they feel comfortable with and trust. Tell me how is it possible to develop a level of trust if you don’t develop a person to person relationship with them?

It’s been a tough two months “re-launching” the business I had in AK, not just the usual “start-up” challenges, but primarily because of trying to figure out how I fit “social media” into the mix. I know from simply observing that this is the way most businesses are now “found”. Even the “recruiting industry” which I worked in for years has gone the way of “social media” to Pre-hire. So where do we go from here???

 I have been busy Networking getting my Company’s name out there both online and “in person” and I am asking all of you ton’s of questions because the business environment has changed dramatically since I had my business. And I have heard about some real “winners” in the business world. Businesse's I am told who listen to what their clients are looking for and “help” them get it.

One of those businesses is “Rainmaker Marketing”, right here in big/little Spokane. I have heard no less than a dozen times in just the last month what a great job they did for a client. And so I asked the person “what set them apart, why should I consider using them?” And pretty much across the board the response was, “because they gave me exactly what I was looking for.” In product, in budget, in time frame…”

What I know about “Rainmaker Marketing” is that what they were doing first and foremost was listening, and it was face to face. How else could they “see” the passion on your face when you spoke about what you wanted the piece to look like you needed them to create. And that my friends  I feel is the “missing link”: face to face communication, we can and do communicate a myriad of other ways. But it is the “f to f” we need to establish and maintain so we may know how we can serve you.

Otherwise it’s just “selling” it’s not “telling”, which is the art of communication in person, your clients tell you “this is what I am looking for…” and you are able to “tell” them about a product or service which may be exactly what they need to get that business in their door.