The real world postcard project is ongoing. I’m reaching out to friends, fans, and followers that are interested in receiving a postcard. There are no strings attached. I’m not selling anything. It’s all about reaching out to folks in an old fashioned and real way.

So shake of your shyness, and drop me a line. Postcard Sign Up

If you are interested in sharing out some postcards, please drop me an line and I’ll let you know where to send them.

Yours,
Todd

P.S. If you’re not interested in exchanging postcards with me but still love the idea, please check out Postcrossing, the premier postcard exchange site.

The mail brought some smiles today. A package from across the oceans arrived from my friend Strictly. She’s been a fan and friend for a while now. We share a love for sharing our music and our hearts. Kathy, her real name, also is a fan of my postcard project.

In that spirit is why this package was sent from Australia. It brings me more wonderful cards to send out. Check them out.

Talk about a wonderful surprise to come home to.  The cards are beautiful and bright.  There are animals, scenes and more.  So neat to see Brisbane and Queensland on them.

It’s going to be fun sending those back out to friends old and new. Who knows. Kathy might be getting one of them back. Ha.

Twitter isn’t just about talking online, it’s a way to foster real relationships.

Social networking and media can fool you. Oh yeah, you’ve got a hundred contacts here, a 1000 there, and more folks are friending you on Facebook every day.

But what’s really happening? Is the world knocking your door down? Are these folks really your friends? The hard truth is that most of these folks will engage you in no more than water cooler chat.

Reality can be rough, but this isn’t out of your control. There’s hope and better relationships ahead. We just have to step off the path a bit.

What can you do? How can you turn contacts into partners, associates, and friends? Investment!

The biggest mistake we make is looking for more when we’re not willing to take the first step. As in relationships of any kind, it takes time and effort to form a bond. This is amplified in some ways by the sheer distances across which we reach with the internet.

Investment isn’t about spending more money, or taking out stock in a the latest Facebook copy cat. It’s about investing in those threadbare connections. Turn the water cooler chat into sharing about plans, dreams, and that secret tattoo.

As a person struggling with this every day, and feeling the pressure myself, I’ve set myself on a path to move through this struggle. There are a few things I’ve done to move things forward.

- send postcards – folks really enjoy these, and they give you a chance to send a hand written and personal note to someone, an individual, across miles, and even across oceans. This is the personal touch that gets remembered and says, “I like you.”

- ask how you can support them – I find myself more and more asking how I can support people. Yes, I fail sometimes, but I’m getting better. But it’s about the effort. Get in there and actually support folks. Don’t just cheer on the sidelines! Visit their blog, link to them, send your friends to their site, pimp out their book, or even consider praying for them.

- pick up the phone – if you can’t be there, the next best thing is a human voice. I’ve witnessed first hand how life changing a single phone call can be. It doesn’t have to be a heavy thing, but reach out, touch someone’s life today. You can’t do business either until you connect.

- when all else fails, visit in person – I’d taken the opportunity this year to do just that. I’ve to meetups, lunches, breakfasts, and dinners, blogger meetings, tweetups, and taken photo walks. Heck, we even stayed at a Flickr friend’s house for a week. Wow!

I’m no genius and these aren’t brain surgery level tips. These are simple and practical things you can start doing today.

To show you I’m serious, email me, DM me, send me a private Utterz, call. Tell me about yourself, how we can connect, and where you’re looking for support. Beyond that, I challenge you to reach out today to one of those people you’ve got in your contact list and let them know you’re more than an avatar.

PS – get an avatar with a smile why don’t you.

     I’ve been running the Social Networking Postcard Project for several weeks now.  A couple dozen postcards have gone out.  If you haven’t asked for one, Friday is the day. Just direct message me on Twitter.

     Today though, I’d like to point you to another postcard project, one run by eMailOurMilitary,  Postcards Across America.  This project is both easy to participate in and doesn’t require you to invest in a fortune in postage.  

     What’s it take?  Buy up a bunch of postcards, write a message to ‘Dear Soldier’, or something similar. (Avoid saying sailor, marine etc.  These may go to any branch.)   Stuff that bunch of postcards in an oversized envelope and send them to:

     Yep. It’s that easy.  What’s holding you back? Can’t find postcards?  I’ve had the best luck at tourist attractions, Hallmark, and Wal-mart stores.  Your local college might have some as well.

     If you’ve ever been away on duty or a long trip, you know already how much mail means.  Please consider joining this project.   Have you already jumped in?  Come tell us about it! Share some snapshots and stories.

     The postcards have been put out again. As in previous weeks, 1, 2, 3,and 4 the opt in was closed on Friday night. The postcards are written, stamped and out. They should be leaving my local area on Monday, the 19th of May.

Twitter pals to get postcards this week are:

• LizaJne
• laurak
• etherjammer
• mokum
• moritherapy – again

     Twitter pals of mine are given the chance on Friday night to DM me and ask for a postcard.  I’ve been of the mind that social networking needs to have more social involved.  In that spirit I’ve been trying to visit in person, talk on the phone, send personal video messages, and doing this postcard project.  At about 6 folks per week, this will take forever but it’s fun.

     I’ve been asking if folks will at least tweet about the postcard or write a blog post.  There’s no obligation though, and I hope no one stops themselves from asking over that worry.

     If you’d like to do the same thing, jump right in.  Whatever you do though, I strongly encourage you to not make Twitter your only social medium.  Get in there and connect with people.  Talk to them, write to them, send them a video or a song, but definitely make the effort.  People will notice.

     What are you doing to connect?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6eAtD7-2Po]

     The postcards have been put out again. As in previous weeks, here and here and here, the opt in was closed on Friday night. The postcards are written, stamped and ready to go out. They should be leaving my local area on Monday, the 28th.

Twitter pals to get postcards this week are:

• Dayngr
• JSpaghetti
• rmsylte
• remarkablogger
• callkathy
• conniereece

     Twitter pals of mine are given the chance on Friday night to DM me and ask for a postcard.  I’ve been of the mind that social networking needs to have more social involved.  In that spirit I’ve been trying to visit in person, talk on the phone, send personal video messages, and doing this postcard project.  At about 6 folks per week, this will take forever but it’s fun.

     I’ve been asking if folks will at least tweet about the postcard or write a blog post.  There’s no obligation though, and I hope no one stops themselves from asking over that worry.

     If you’d like to do the same thing, jump right in.  Whatever you do though, I strongly encourage you to not make Twitter your only social medium.  Get in there and connect with people.  Talk to them, write to them, send them a video or a song, but definitely make the effort.  People will notice.

     What are you doing to connect?

The postcards have been put out again. As in the previous weeks, here and here, the opt in was closed on Friday night. The postcards were written, stamped and dropped off at the post office yesterday. They should be leaving my local area on Monday, the 21st.

Twitter pals to get postcards this week are:

• Hunee
• carseycritter
• moritherapy
• shashib
• revtriste
• gdruckman

Twitter pals of mine are given the chance on Friday night to DM me and ask for a postcard.  I’ve been of the mind that social networking needs to have more social involved.  In that spirit I’ve been trying to visit in person, talk on the phone, send personal video messages, and doing this postcard project.  At about 7 folks per week, this will take forever but it’s fun.

I’ve been asking if folks will at least tweet about the postcard or write a blog post.  There’s no obligation though, and I hope no one stops themselves from asking over that worry.

So how do you get in? Friday night I’ll put out a call on Twitter for folks to DM me and mention postcard and provide an address.  Sometime during the week though, there might be other chances to get in.  I’ve also been taking special requests for friends.

Think you are too far away? I’ve sent cards overseas and to Canada.  Don’t want to give out your home address? I’m okay with a P.O. Box or other safer address.  Don’t want to give your real name? Just tell me how to address it.

I’m anxious to reach out to you too.  How would you feel about an email in reply to your comment? Let me know.

As a real world social networking effort, I’ve asked my contacts to let me reach out to them with postcards.  Several folks have opted to participate this time.

@Kforbriger

@jougen

@jacklhasa

@logandawg

@GeekMommy

@brendathompson

@shawnz

This exclusive offer is now closed for more applicants.  There will be other opportunities to get a postcard from me with a personal note.  I’ll be sending out different kinds of postcards as I find them.  This weeks is mostly Austin post cards as I had some left, and a couple of others.

I’ll be putting these out today after I get the last few together.  The last ones I sent took a few days to reach their desinations, so I’ll confirm each DM I received for the cards I’m sending out.

What are you doing to really connect with your contacts? Meeting them, phoning them, sending them a postcard?

(PS. Please send one back if you want or share the fun and send your own. If you blog about it, consider tagging it “Social Networking Postcard Project”.)