Oh Web 2.0 is rocking and rolling. People are flocking to the sites and are on a mad dash to see who can have the most friends the fastest. It is amazing now I know when my friends are using the restroom because of the web. I mean come on guys. Seriously?

I remember when people would not get a cell phone because it invaded privacy at home. Now if you don’t have 15 different ways to be accessed at any moment people call 911 and send out a search party. So I say to you what is your limit and are you still making sure you have time to keep your sanity. And are you still keeping some of the old school methods that work? After all a sane or somewhat sane person’s mind will focus a lot better and produce better results than a stressed out maniac any day of the week.

I admit I have accounts on all of the social sites and I think it is amazing if you learn how to use these sites for friendship and business. It is the way of the new world after all. However, you can still learn super success from those predecessors to the new trend. The old school business traditions are there because they worked. Many of the methods are now outdated but many never will be. Don’t forget that when you jump into this new world. Both have strengths so don’t you limit yourself. Deal?

First, don’t forget to apply the law of “leave me alone for a bit.” Make sure you have a few times a week where you are totally unreachable. For me when I play softball I don’t respond to email. I just don’t. It is my get away. I can focus only on being silly and having fun. It relieves stress and has me rejuvenated when I come back to my on call life that we all live now. It is a simple thing to ignore but if you do not give yourself a break you are not as sharp as you could be which can really hurt your business. Don’t burn out..take a break!

Second, remember that even though it is on the net you still can make a real friend. I will always be old school in my thought on this. I am not interested in spamming 5,000 people to see if I can get one to bite. I know it is the law of numbers but you know it is also the law of the simple minded with very little long-term traction. I am a firm believer in relationship building and offering something if you feel someone is qualified. You do that and you keep a friend with the possibility of them coming around later if they were not ready for your product the first time. Spam someone and you lose out on all ends of the spectrum. I can hear some now…you are outdated Anderson. Well, this philosophy has me driving an incredible car, giving money to charity, living in a beautiful home, traveling when I want how I want, waking up when I am done sleeping etc.etc…so I think it might be one of those things you might want to re-consider critics ☺!

Make a friend. Genuinely learn a little about them. Show you are actually interested in them and see where it goes from there. Sure you might not have as many friends as someone else on twitter, but I promise you number of twitter “friends” is not correlated to amount of success. Number of real friends however just might be.

The web is awesome. Change is good. Learning the new stuff will absolutely help you out in business. However, don’t forget the old school methods are still in place and some will never cease to be effective. Combine old school with new school with common sense and you are on your way to freedom!

To Your Success
Young Guns Always Wanted

Wesley Anderson