I’d like to toss out a few definitions, if you don’t mind.

When it comes to networking, I have personal definitions of three different kinds:

• Social Networking: Using social-networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for mainly social (read: personal) reasons
• Professional Networking: Using either social-networking sites that have more of a professional bent (I’m thinking LinkedIn and others of its kind here; Twitter counts here, too), as well as professional networks (like Sibdu, one of my clients, that does commercial real-estate professional networking)
• Handshake Networking: Getting out to events (whether they be local meetings or chamber gatherings, mixers at conventions, etc.) and “pressing the flesh,” as it were

I’m building my business on the first two points. After a BNI meeting I had today, though, I realize that there’s still a lot of value in this kind of networking — even with the rush to use the online varieties. Since I’m an old salt at the handshake variety, I’m hoping I can convince you that the third can be just as important as the first two.

Remember the good ol’ days? I know whenever I read that line, I always cringe. I think, “oh no, it’s another story of how things used to be before the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, Twitter, etc. I don’t care; it’s a much better world nowadays!”

Well, that may be true in a lot of ways. But I’m convinced that all of our electronics and tech mumbo jumbo have caused us to lose touch … literally. I’m talking about getting away from the desk, out of client calls and meetings (where you know everyone anyways) off of LinkedIn and Twitter, and into a situation where you may or may not know anyone — at the beginning, anyways.

When I was in commercial real-estate brokerage, it surprised me that more commercial brokers and agents didn’t go to chambers of commerce meetings, BNI-esque meetings, etc. Were all of these brokers too busy to go out and meet the people who could lead them to new customers? Did they not want to explore vendor relations that could also get them referrals in the process? Heck, didn’t they just want to meet new people?

I always met all kinds of residential agents (which was a good thing for me; I’ll explain why it can be for you in a sec). But hardly any commercial people were there; which was great for me, because I’d walk out with all kinds of cards with people who may have needed space down the road. If I were still in brokerage, I’d be following up with those people to this day.

I think the problem a lot of business professionals have with handshake or face-to-face (F2F) networking events is that they’re looking for the immediate “big bang” out of them. To put it in commercial real-estate terms, they want to walk out of a mixer with a hot lead on a tenant-rep deal for 25,000 SF, or a listing for leasing an entire office building in the hottest area of town. I’m sure you can plug in your own scenarios for your kind of business.

Guess what? It very, very likely ain’t gonna happen. I’m not saying it’ll never happen, but it likely won’t.

What you will find, though, are people who know other people who — again, in CRE terms — may be willing to get you in front of people who need 25,000 SF, or who own that office building and have had it up to friggin’ here with their current leasing agent.

That’s why you need to: a) go to events, and maybe even join a chamber or two; b) continue to go to meetings to be well-known and build your brand; and c) practice proper etiquette. Because after all, you want to be known as that great gal/guy who (for example) leases/sells commercial real estate, not that guy/gal who reminds people of the stereotypical used-car sales lizard.

I had referred to residential agents earlier. For some reason, a lot of commercial real-estate types don’t see residential people on the same level as them. Residential agents get treated like the underclass. My experience with residential agents was always positive, because I made it a positive experience. I always treated them nicely, listened to them, and genuinely cared about what they thought and said. About 80% of the time, I’d usually get their card and a commitment that they’d send me any commercial referrals, since they generally didn’t know any commercial people. And I ended up getting referrals, too.

I’m willing to bet there’s similar types of situations in your business. Even if there isn’t, the person you meet at a business mixer or event can be your next partner. Plus, always keep in mind this one point: You never know who knows whom. So the next time you want to blow off anyone at a networking function, keep this story in mind.

Here’s two articles I’ve written in the past that will help you with your handshake networking efforts:

• Follow Up for Success – Tips and suggestions you can use to follow up with the right people following a networking event
• When a Call or Voicemail Just Won’t Do – Talks about the lost art of the written note, and how you can stand out from the crowd by sinking a little time and money into this attention-grabbing vehicle — especially after a networking event.

You can use these two articles for follow-ups to your online networking efforts, too. In practice, you should be using online and offline networking equally.

Contact Bob Woods at Infonitum.