Build Community, Attract Clients

Ever since I can remember I have loved going on adventures. When I was a kid, living in Michigan, our family would get in our mustard yellow, compact but comfortable 1979 Toyota Corolla and head out to the great unknown. Well, that’s what it felt like for me. I bet my mom and dad knew exactly where we were going.

Another great memory I have is of my parents taking my sister and me to the Ann Arbor fair every summer.
Man, there were so many different exotic foods to try, drinks of every color and flavor you could want, different music and rhythms, beautiful clothing styles, and so many different people from different cultures. I took in every sight, smell, sound, and taste. I think that’s where I got all of my passion for food and travel.

I absolutely love trying new things, meeting new people, tasting foods I’ve never tried before. I really enjoy listening to people talk about their country, their culture.
I love the sound of exotic music, with instruments I’ve never heard before forming rich melodies. Boy, that really moves my soul!

One of my weaknesses is watching shows about food and travel. I was, and still am a huge fan of the show Parts Unknown, hosted by the late Anthony Bourdain. I’ll watch anything produced by Rick Sebak. He and his crew travel all across the country filming different specials ranging from roadside attractions to breakfasts in different cities or shows about hotdogs or sandwiches and how differently they’re prepared in separate parts of the US.
Well, you get the point. I love a good adventure. Well, as long as it has great food, tasty drinks, and lively music!

But, what draws me about these adventures is more than the journey, the destination, the food or cultures. While they’re all important, what I love most is the people. I’m really drawn to the sense of community, the shared human experience. Converging in one place, sitting and sharing time with others while learning from their own experience. I am definitely drawn to community.

The Spanish cities and towns in the 18th century were designed around a large community gathering place called the plaza, meaning the place. The plazas, which still exist and are still a big part of Spanish life, is the equivalent to what we know as the town square.
These spaces were designed as a place for people to get together and spend time in leisurely walks, visiting with friends and family, hey, even for going on a romantic stroll with a sweetheart.
Through the years, these plazas became the gathering place for social events and parties. In other words, for building community.

I often ask myself why community is so important? Why entire cultures revolve around having a sense of togetherness, of sharing experiences, of having places specifically designed for people to come together and spend time exchanging ideas, anecdotes, even food with each other?
I’ve reached the conclusion that when people come together and share a moment with others, that moment, that time, while it may be similar to other moments, it’s still very different, no two moments of shared experience will ever be the same. That’s what I call added value.

Added value is an experience which we’ll want to share with others, we’ll want to talk about it with our friends and family. These experiences enrich our lives, make us feel valued and appreciated. Also, when we experience something good with other people, even if they’re strangers, that sense of community makes the experience much more valuable than if we were to enjoy it alone. That’s why watching movies or eating great food is enjoyed better with others.

Your business, organization, or career can be served well by creating experiences for your customers and clients. The better you become at creating a sense of community for those around you, at designing really cool experiences for others, the better you get at adding value to others, the more others will want to be around you, your business and your brand. You can become that plaza where people in your community want to hang out and spend time with.

You can start by having a client appreciation hotdog lunch, or maybe a workshop on a topic that’s important to your customers.

You could have a birthday cake every quarter for clients and prospects born during those months and invite everyone to celebrate and get to know each other.
You could also have an international cultural dinner and invite your customers to join in the fun.

The ideas are limitless, don’t require a large investment of time or money, you’ll be building community, adding value to others, and your brand will be smack in the middle of it all.

Hey, give it a try. The worst that can happen is…
You’ll have an adventure!

Drop me a line and share with me your most cool adventure.