… E-mail is not dead! While it may seem “old school” in this era of social media and apps, e-mail remains the number-one way to communicate in the digital world.

However, e-mail filled with weighty promotions and a constant drumbeat of “buy buy buy ” is definitely antiquated. It was the moment it was created, for that matter.

Mine the power of email for your business, whether in one-to-one communications or in the weekly or monthly e-newsletters and announcements you send to customers and associates. Two things are key to e-mail success: conciseness and personality.

Be concise. The world is on-the-go and everyone’s inbox is full! Whether your message is read on smartphone or desktop computer, remember that it’s best to keep it brief, clear and to the point. Don’t forget a precise call to action when applicable: whether it be to call you to discuss an issue or click the included link to your website to check out your pre-holiday specials.

Be personable. Be clear, be professional — but be you. This is important not only in your private communication with your customers or clients but in your mass e-mail to your database. Take a moment to read your latest company communications with a critical eye and mind: Were they interesting? Were they helpful? Did they grab and keep your attention? What could you change or add that contributes? How about tips for the use of your product? A spotlight of an employee — or a customer?

Subscription content for an e-newsletter can be very valuable but blend it with articles, tips and columns contributed by your staff … and you! Remember that in this mobile world a 500-word limit is a good rule of thumb! Consider transitioning from a monthly e-publication to brief — and helpful — weekly communications.

Most of all, have fun! Just as chatting with a customer can mean a nice break in the day for each of you, sending a friendly, helpful and “chatty” e-mail can have the same effect. And impact.

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Our worlds are whirlwinds, aren’t they? I say “worlds” as we see how quickly our real life situations can change as well as we see breaking news on local and national media. Our personal worlds can instantly change just as we see events impact the lives of others.

We should each take a long and deep breath. And we should give more focus — and credence — to what is happening in our personal and business lives. What we need to be most attuned to, what we can best influence, what we must step in and change — and what’s going to impact us and those who count in our lives.

The internet and social media have caused many to leap to impromptu decisions about companies and brands, and then form impromptu conclusions about people. Let’s not let that same instantaneous thinking affect us in forming opinions, assumptions and conclusions about new contacts and potential new relationships — whether offline or online.

Step away from your phone, tablet, laptop .. the internet and social media. Think for yourself. Form your own opinions and — more than anything — open yourself once again to new relationships and new opportunities. Give someone new and something new a chance. And better yet, foster that growth by taking things to the next step and the next level.

Don’t be so quick to form opinions and buy into others’ judgments and conclusions from what you hear and from what you read in social media or elsewhere on the internet. Return to thinking for yourself and considering what is best for you. Keep your eyes — and your world — open to what is .. and what could be.

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Whether owner or sales representative, you find that so much is missing in the world of networking. I’m not speaking of your computer or phone system — I’m speaking of the other “key” network in your company. Your referral sources, your activities, and most of all, your pipeline.

As I signed on this morning to check email, I was greeted with a vaguely-veiled desperate plea to attend yet another networking group meeting — and invite friends — in order to help resuscitate a dying organization.

I hate writing with dashes. When I’m writing with dashes I’m apologizing. And I’m going to stop that now. I’m going to stop apologizing for YOU.

If you are in leadership in a group that is “drying out and not thriving out” the problem may be YOU. You are not encouraging, teaching and helping cultivate and grow quality one-to-one interactions that lead to business, that lead to business, and so on.

If you are a member of a group that is “drying out and not thriving out” the problem may be YOU. If you have dared to whine “I’m not getting leads” YOU are the problem. One: you are thinking of them as “leads”. And two: you are not giving. You are not reaching out to invite fellow members for meaningful one-to-one interaction … between the two of you and among your group.

If you’re just spouting your speel and passing out your business cards, your company might as well purchase a robot. Cheaper and as effective.

You get together every week, every month. You sit in a conference room or around a table — yet you barely know each other. So how can you REFER and RECOMMEND? How does a stranger REFER and RECOMMEND you?

Lose the scripts, lose that stupid freaking timer, stop killing trees with little “lead” slips and “thank you’s”, and get serious. You won’t need a timer when you have the right mission and mindset: to be the best resource you can be for the others. You won’t yammer on and on and on. Instead, you’ll succintly and confidently convey how you need help. And, most of all, others will clearly convey how you can help them.

That, friends, is networking.

How do you move from the mechanical to the meaningful? Get to know people. And let them get to know you. Be top-of-mind for each other so that you are seeking — not just listening for — opportunities for each other.

So stop. Stop making me have to write with dashes and ellipses (go to Google!), stop just showing up, stop allowing your groups to die, and stop thinking it’s all about you.

Who? Me? All about me? Never?

Oh, really? If you are not making the effort to get to know others and connect them with others, your focus is on you. And don’t you dare argue that you do not have the time to do so. If that’s in your head right now or has managed to fall out of your mouth, it IS about you.

Hey, YOU. Be a connector. Don’t just show up. Show what you can do for others.

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