Blogging While Brown, The First And Most Important Lesson

Making connections is every person's dream to getting where they want to be in life. Networking events help speed up the process of meeting new people, whether they can get you to the next level or they will make good friends. However, there is one struggle no one prepares you for in this networking battle. No one brings this particular struggle up because people just don't see it as an issue. The issue is getting rid of the "solo" mindset in order to move forward and make long lasting connections.

The battle between always being solo and meeting tons of new people happened over the weekend. Before this weekend I've probably met 10 people at the most since 2013 started. They've all been new co-workers. The people at restaurants and gas stations I frequent have been accustomed to seeing my face and talking. However, these people usually see me coming in by myself.

Let me give you a little description of why I've been such a loner. Unanswered phone calls and people never being available to hang out get on my nerves in the most extreme ways. I understand people get busy, but I'm not going to sit around and wait on others. So to avoid the annoyance I've been running the streets by myself. I haven't been calling anyone in a while to hang out and do fun things. Instead, I just get up and go whenever I please.

However, the whole point of Blogging While Brown was to network with tons of people who have the same interests as me. I was excited, exhilarated, thrilled, jumping with joy, and just plain ready. It was all mapped out in my head how I would introduce myself, take every call, actually look up the people I didn't already know, follow them on twitter right away, etc.

As the pre-conference, Business of Blogging, approached it all worked out. I walked with several people to the conference spot and we all got to know each other. Throughout the day I met a lot of people. However, something happened around 5 or 6 pm.

Exhaustion hit. My brain felt like it was in overload. During that Friday alone, I think I was handed around 50 business cards. Plus there were women from TV Land there. There were people who could possibly change my whole life sitting in the audience next to me, in front of me, and along side me. I became overwhelmed. I needed to process it all. I wasn't as prepared as I thought for it all. However, the networking wasn't over.

Saturday came and I had to pull myself together. I approached new people, but the "solo" part of me was trying to give up. The "solo" part of me wanted to sit the rest of the event out on the sidelines and rest my mind. There was much more to do, so I dug deep inside and found the passion that brought me to BWB.

Overall, I'm glad I went and met some wonderful people. I'll do my best to keep in touch with everyone. Also, to keep the battle from happening again I'm going to try to roam around the streets with more people.

The "solo" life must go. No one ever achieved their goals alone. I'm rejuvenated, refreshed, motivated. Networking events here I come.

The only thing is I wok full time. Karla Trotman gave advice on balancing your own business while working full time. Now is the time to put the knowledge to use. Stay tuned for more Blogging While Brown posts to come.