It's good to talk

I always remember the BT ads from the '80's with Bob Hoskins (see link above) for 2 reasons - I couldn't believe that one of Britain's best and most respected actors could sell out like that (although I suppose it is a step up from Jessica Rabbit) but mainly because of how phenomenally successful they were - I read that they paid back t0 1:6 ROI and Hoskins' parlance made its way quickly into every conversation


How things have changed and the adage "It's good to talk" now means via IM, text, email and social networks - we no longer actually speak to each other but ironically we actually communicate more. The rise of social media has driven this more recently with the likes of http://www.facebook.com/ facilitating millions of ongoing chats and the ability to voyeuristically read posts and blogs about every subject you can imagine (and some you can't) as well as viewing and discussing strangers opinions about anything from holidays http://www.tripadvisor.com/ to training for a triathlon http://www.tritalk.co.uk/ - this is now a mainstream communication channel.

Recently however I have noticed more and more an analagous situation arising in business where more and more people want to meet and chat face to face and how sucessful this interaction can be for "doing business". Since setting up Gravity I have made a concered effort to get back in touch with old colleagues / suppliers / Clients and partners and have also talked passionately about my business with anyone who will listen (including a guy on plane who is now one of our partners companies) and this has reaped great rewards in referrals and new business.

So I guess the message is that it is still "good to talk" just make sure that some of these conversations remain face to face !