Really? It's been eight months since my last post?

(The following blog entry was originally posted on Blogger on 06/12/11)

My apologies to anyone out there who's following me and reading this drivel. I haven't posted anything since August 2010, and it's a testimony to a) a rebound in the economy late last summer, and b) that rebound translating into a freighter-load of new projects that landed in our busy little company, and c) a little help from LinkedIn.

I remember a former client of mine (a marketing guy) emailing me back in probably 2006 or 2007 about urging me to join LinkedIn and I went pfff, nah, I'm not interested in another social networking site. And he said no it's not like that, it's more focused on businesses and professional networking. I still poo-pooed it and dismissed it, skeptic that I am.

Then about a year later I kept hearing chatter from colleagues and clients about LinkedIn, and it seemed like it was gaining momentum in the business world. Not long after that it became downright embarrassing if you didn't have a profile on the site. Peer pressure won, so I joined up (as did my business partner) and we started banging out the invitations.

Cut to 2011, and between the two of us, we've amassed a list of current and former clients that would impress any new business developer. But as everyone knows, a LinkedIn profile is only as good/current/relevant as the profile itself. And some people in our networks seem to not give a shit about it at all.

Then there was the example of one of our former clients whose profile announcements, ("so-and-so has just updated his experience") kept appearing almost daily for about a week. And I'm sure his co-workers must have seen them too. I said wow, sounds like so-and-so is either looking for a new job or is on the cusp of landing one. Sure enough, he emailed us both a couple weeks later and said "hey guys, I'm over at _____ now, here's my new info...". "Really? Best of luck in your new role. Thanks for letting us know!" (Like we didn't see it coming.)

In addition to the LinkedIn contacts and potential new business tool it represents to a small business like ours, we also took it upon ourselves to try a new business developer -- as in, a real person -- in late 2010 and early 2011. She found us on the internet and was old school: only wanted to work by the hour ($100 an hour and no commission on future billable jobs), and would work from a list of companies and contacts that we'd provide (which we culled from a 4-inch thick 2009 edition of Advertiser's Red Book we'd scored off eBay for $35). We picked our dream clients, and she went to work, burrowing her way into those selected companies. She'd get a contact and his/her info, forward to us, and we'd email them an intro letter, along with a link to our website to see samples of our work and to contact us if they needed a shop like ours.

Seemed fairly simple right? The process was relatively easy to manage and could all be done with email. My feeling was, if we got 1 new client, just 1, especially one that's outside the magazine publishing industry, from which we get probably 95% of our revenue, then this effort was worth it. As of this writing, not a single meeting has resulted from our efforts. We got a few nibbles, a few replies, mostly "check back with us later" or "check back when Jill or Richard or Amy is back from vacation." That sort of response. There are still a couple from that list who may have some potential, but I'd say it's probably a long shot.

All that said, I still feel optimistic about our networking prospects, and the power of a site like LinkedIn. And I think the year is going to be a good one. Early this week another former co-worker of my business partner emailed him (via LinkedIn) and said he was at a new company and was looking for a small agency/creative team and we met on Friday. It all transpired in less than a week. Maybe he's just kicking the tires, or maybe it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.