My mom was a small business owner when I was growing up. She had a fashion design company that she really enjoyed and which was profitable. We would attend the big trade shows, hold small “Tupperware” parties within neighborhoods, host lunches and cocktail parties with other industry people and prospective buyers, the whole deal. Many of her peers and the buyers were surprised at how successful she was and would often remark how impressed they were with her ability to “predict” the next trend, and how well she was able to connect and understand her customer. They often thought that it was that because my mom WAS her own customer, and that’s what enabled her to be so dialed in. And that was partly true. She was her own customer in the sense that she was a part of her customer’s community. She understood her audience because she was in communication and was engaged with her audience, she was social with her audience.

And that brings us up to today.

There’s a stigma that Twitter is about people stating “what they had for lunch today”. But what if you thought about it as something else. What if you had the power of Google, but instead of being able to search web pages, you could search what people are saying and thinking. Now imagine having those small Tupperware parties where you would try to get to know people quickly and get the word out about your product in small circles and having a little bit of a good time while doing it.

Twitter can be your new venue to have those Tupperware parties. Instead of having enough people to fill a room or two from the local neighborhoods, your “circle” can have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people attend your Twitter party and tweet together. You can almost instantly see what the trends are in what they are talking about, discover what they’re true interests are, and opinions of your product. And when everyone is talking at your Twitter party, it only gets bigger, as the word spreads very quickly. Do you remember how quickly word spread on the Hudson River plane crash last year, where the first word of it was on Twitter?

There actually more tweets than there are people in the world, over 6.8 BILLION tweets. That’s a big Tupperware party, with a lot of people tweeting about topics that are relevant to YOU.

Trade shows are great for finding out what the rest of the industry is doing, and for meeting people whom are already looking for your product. Of course you could also go on LinkedIn, and do that exact same thing. Imagine automakers being able to be involved in industry discussions with auto dealers and the insight that would provide both parties. You have the change to network outside and above your normal circles.

Let’s say you wanted to work with a particular advertising agency *AHEM* , but you wanted to check if you had any contacts at that agency first. Check the company’s LinkedIn profile and see if you have any friends or associates there. Did you know that all 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented on LinkedIn? Chances are you’re only one or two connections away from one of them.

Cocktail parties are great for connecting with peers, maintaining relationships, and starting new ones. But how would you like to be able to host a “cocktail party”, where afterward you could find out the demographics, interests, and hobbies of every person that attended? What if you could find out what drinks everybody liked, what was discussed, what the opinions were of the people who attended, and who got along with whom. You could do that with Facebook, and you’d have a potential audience of over 350 million people a day.

Looking back, we now realize what my mom was doing when she attended all of these events. She was listening to her community, she was talking to her community, and she was being a vital part of her community. And being a part of that community created long lasting relationships, and gave insight into the behavior and wishes of those communities, and the value of that hasn’t changed.

What’s changing is where these relationships and communities are happening. They are no longer happening solely at dinner, over drinks, and at conventions. They are happening online on these digital spaces everyday. What’s left now, is for us to change, and adapt to these new spaces, and to continue to venture forward and grow.

Take the first step and leave a comment below and tell me about your experiences meeting people, networking, and doing business via social media. Or just leave your Twitter or Facebook address. I’d love to hear from you either way. Let’s be social.