Firstly, I'm a day late.
Not in a philosophical sense, but this email was literally meant to go out yesterday. I apologise.
The whole "every Tuesday" thing is clearly running on South American time this week.
(I can say that; my partner is Brazilian)
At least you know it's me writing it, currently in Gails feeling guilty about losing the standoff with a ham & cheese croissant.
But it gets like that sometimes, doesn't it.
We have the best intentions to cover all bases, optimise up to our eyeballs and automate ourselves out of the business.
Unfortunately for Elon and his merry men, it's just not possible.
Instead, we have to make choices about where to invest our time, our money and our limited resources.
The last few weeks have been a real reminder about the importance of getting out and connecting with people face to face.
I've been thrown into roundtable dinners, 1:1 coffees and two days spent in Tring at Ideas Fest, meeting some of the heavy hitters in the business world.
Who knew Greg Jackson from Octopus was such a normal guy?
If there is one thing standing out amongst all of this noise, it's this:
People are brilliant.
We need these conversations, these connections and time spent around one another to get anything done. Business still runs on people trusting other people, whatever the automation crowd tells you.
But we can't do that in every room, every week.
Jumping from face-to-face events is brilliant, but you can only stretch so far.
So what happens on the weeks you can't be in the room?
Or when you make great connections, what’s the first thing you do?
Add each other on LinkedIn.
The platform gets a load of stick, rightfully so, but it's still the easiest way to stay connected to people you want to do business with.
Unfortunately, so many of you never post on there.
So you’re adding all these connections to a dormant account with no personality.
Instead, show up the way you would at an event
The founders I work with aren't chasing viral posts or a perfectly lit studio setup.
They're consistent. They post with the same voice about real stories in their business.
That consistency is what builds trust over time, helps people remember you and turns cold conversations warm.
New connections learn a little more, become part of the story and ensure you’re not forgotten.
Visible beats polished
It’s never going to be perfect and you don’t want it to be. If you’re just reading from the computer like a broadcast, it gets boring.
That’s why scripted videos are for sharing information, not storytelling.
You want to show a little character, a little personality. Let people know the real you.
Anyway, we’re late enough.
Drop me a note if you’ve no idea what we’re talking about.
Catch you next week (on Tuesday)
Josh