Getting a Foot in the Door

Flowing towards success first entails getting a foot in the door. That foot in the door can create the opportunity to get the ball rolling. Years ago, a young entrepreneur would determine a target person, business, investor, or mentor and show up at the door of their office or home. I imagine that getting a foot in the door would be a process.

I grew up in the age when the telephone was the way to communicate. The main challenge was getting someone’s phone number and getting them to take your call. You could also attempt to send a letter to their place of business or home, but the odds of getting a reply was tough. What do you do then? Well, you call and call and call on the phone. You can go and knock on the office door. You can wait outside until the person you are trying to meet leaves the office so you can deliver a ten second meeting pitch. If that doesn’t work then simply try again.

During architecture school I worked for a blueprint reprographic shop. I would print and deliver large scale construction drawings to architect and engineering offices around the city. I received my first architecture internship during a delivery. I went into the office, something I’ve done many time before, I provided the drawings and, one day the company owner happened to be at the front desk. “Is there an internship available?” He looked at me squarely and led me to the long conference table for a talk.” After ten or fifteen minutes I excused myself because the parking meter was expiring. I had a second interview and was hired.

That foot in the door was set up for months. Every time I visited the office, I was neat and well mannered. If there was ever an issue with their order, I worked to fix the situation quickly. When viewed from that perspective you will notice that an opportunity begins months and months prior to an actual conversation or meeting. After my sit down conversation with the company owner, he may have spoken with his colleagues, his associates that had interacted with me and experienced my level of quality customer service. By the time the second interview came around, I already had the job.

Getting a foot in the door occurs everyday, every hour, every minute and second. Getting your foot in the door is a habit; it is a way of daily life.

Today’s world is different. Social media provides a way to get your foot in the door and it also provides a means to vet a potential candidate. Getting to and through the front door in the world of social media is much more challenging than it once was. There is a lot more visual contact and information to sift through; on both sides. Who is this person? What does this person do? What does this person want? What can this person do for me? Who is this person associated with? Is this a scam? Where does this situation potentially lead to? On the other end, the side of the entrepreneur can look and ask: do I really want to connect with this person? What do they truly stand for when you peel back all the image layers? What is their operational style? Do we speak the same business language?

Twitter is the new front door and the process is the same. In the old days, you sent a letter, made a phone call, and knocked on the door. Now you find someone influential you can relate to and send a tweet. You wait a while and send another tweet regarding a position they have. When you get a reply, or a retweet, or a like, your foot is in the door. Then you send another tweet, and another, not too fast and wait patiently. These tweets can serve to provide a more personal window beyond what you are trying to do.

The next communications can begin to open up what it is that you do. You can send a link to your website, a video about your latest and greatest projects, and propose a conversation. Then, you wait. If nothing comes from this; it is no different than getting a phone hung up or being told to get lost. Believe me, I’ve been there many times.

These initial messages are the digital knocks on the door; they are the office visits to deliver the set of plans and exhibit your levels of personality and competence. I presume that the difference in using social media as a platform to opportunity is the increased public nature of your interactions. When I send a message via social media, it is visible to the world. Normally, I would not operate in that fashion, but we live in a different time and different ways to maneuver. Our connections are visible and that visibility needs to be taken into account when determining who and how you want to interact and deal with others.

The conversations and meetings that follow will continue to ask those critical questions listed above. You can then determine the real from the frauds. You can see those who want to make money and get rich with or without a purpose and those that endeavor to build wealth. As for me I am all for building wealth, but at this stage I am sticking to my purpose which is on simple word: Build. Before you build wealth, you must first build. As a developer, If I build, I build wealth. I love to build;cwith diligence, and a good team, the rest will take care of itself.