Going Through The Back Door

Anybody who knows me well, knows how much I love facebook. It completely levels the playing field. If you are an entrepreneur, you can truly compete with the behemoth businesses when it comes to messaging, building a community and a solid brand, just by becoming a savvy facebook user.

But there is something else I love as well. Facebook allows you to develop relationships in a way that you might have been a little hesitant to do off line. For some, it is very intimidating to pick up the phone and say, "I just wanted you to know that I have always admired you...wanna go grab something to eat?" So often, "would be" relationships never happen because we are simply "too scared to go for it!"

Social media gives you an opening to communicate with someone you've been admiring, dying to meet, or wanting to business with in a natural way. And if you use it correctly, you can build a significant portion of your business using it.

In 2010 alone, I probably had at least 8 lunches with women I connected with online. Some resulted in clients, some friends and some joint ventures ...but every single one of them started by going through the back door of facebook.

So what's the backdoor?

The backdoor is the personal message area right below someone's profile picture. It gives you the chance to send someone a personalized note, introduce yourself, provide a resource they requested. It also is just a great way to tell someone you admire what they are doing a great job!

This morning, I awoke to a really beautiful note from a local woman I had never met (or heard of). In one instant, she was immediately on my radar. In one instant, we shifted from someone who was just a facebook friend to someone I was sending a resource, checking out her information and being invited to an activity. It completely reaffirmed to me why I love social media the way that I do.

If you aren't using "your backdoor," you are missing an incredible opportunity to build your network and get out there and connect on a much bigger way...a global way...I'm just sayin'!