Friday, August 14, 2009

Stand Out by going back to the Basics!

Oh, how we get caught in our daily thoughts, busy schedules, trying to multitask and satisfy different people at once. Hopefully, not forgetting about our own needs as well!

I really prefer not to stay away from My Blog for so long. It was inevitable, though. Let me explain.

Vacation time came around, and as part of a well-balanced life, we all need a break. The wonderful event of two friends getting married abroad a cruise ship leaving to the Bahamas was just the right vacation we much needed. We enjoyed every moment of this adventure and thank our friends for an amazing time! Following, continuous preparations for the upcoming Orlando Citrus Club Member Business Expo in September have taken quite a bit of time and creative thinking energy out of our daily routine. Nothing to complain, though. The second semester has started out with very good spirits and ideas, and I immediately saw myself strongly involved in aiding another company I love in developing their new brochure and stationary items. (Please note, I am not a graphic designer on top of all! I help with the wording and strategic placement of such).
New clients, networking events and meetings have come along and the semester has a very exciting outlook!

I will briefly write a note on online Social Networks and other online Social Programs available to us. There are plenty, however, the ones I use are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and although I have an account with Orkut, I might soon delete it.
Do you feel online social networks are taking over our social lives, at some level? I absolutely think YES. To many, it feels like if you are not part of it, you are missing out!

In my opinion, social networks are here to stay and are here to grow day after day. We lose the personal touch of chatting with a friend in person or over the phone. We lose the motivation of writing a real Thank You card on paper or sending out real paper invitations, handwritten, because all can be done online for no cost and so much faster. It's instant! The online social world is powerful.

It's fast, it's real and it's quite efficient.

You plan a party: You create an event on Facebook, and invite your friends to the event. They will know through Facebook that your party is on this day, at that time, and what the theme is. Fast, simple, no real cost associated with it.
You update a friend: You have big news and it's 01:40a.m. Your friend lives across the world, 5h ahead of you, so, you send her a message or a wall post to ensure she receives the big news early in the morning. You don't want to call and wake her up, do you?
Your company is in the news: You Tweet about it on Twitter, letting all of your followers know about the great reviews on your business.

Easy. Fast. Efficient.

BUT (there is always a "but", isn't there?)...

These are the times when you NEED to STAND OUT.

In this era, you WILL stand out by going back to the basics.

YOU WILL STAND OUT BY:
  • Calling your friend early in the morning and personally/over the phone, give her your amazing news.
  • Writing out real-deal invitations to your party and mailing them to your friends and family.
  • Sending a copy of your company article/review to your favorite clients, friends and family, BY MAIL with a handwritten note!
  • Writing a post-card to clients, friends and family directly from your vacation spot.
  • Sending your friend an update on what's going on in your life in form of a handwritten letter, with pictures you printed out and a fun magazine article you think he/she might enjoy reading.
The Internet world is FAST and EFFICIENT, however, if you want to let people know HOW MUCH you care for the relationship you have with them, invest the TIME and seriously commit to it. I love online social networks, and I am certainly not advocating for people to leave them. I am very active in all I am part of, and dedicate time to it. I enjoy it and see how useful they can be.
But keep in mind as well:

Going back to the basics, right now, will REALLY make you stand out from the crowd.