Last week was a whole bundle of incredible experiences for me.  It was so overwhelming, in fact, that it seemed like the “NOW DO YOU GET IT?” gods had decided to teach me a lesson.

On Saturday I presented at LaidOffCamp in Gilbert (see my post here), and witnessed an amazing instance of a community beginning and developing over the course of only 4 or 5 hours.  The community-building continued over the next few days as many of the participants took the universal advice of presenters and started to reach out to the other folks they’d met with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

On Tuesday I was contacted by a writer working on a presentation about the benefits of social media for small business.  While I’m certainly not a social media expert, she was looking for entrepreneurs using social tools to grow their business, and I can certainly speak to the value of that (as you’ll soon see).

On Wednesday I took advantage of my kids being back in school, packed up my stuff and headed over to Gangplank, a co-working facility a few miles away.  I had wanted to try Gangplank out as a break from my normal workspace at home, and Wednesday seemed like a good day because I’d also have the opportunity to attend a brownbag presentation by the intriguing (and, it turns out, engaging and insightful) Joshua Strebel, whose company Obü Web is headquartered at Gangplank.

A far more prestigious visitor graced Gangplank on Wednesday as well — an ABC News team, who arrived to capture video and interviews for a national piece they’re doing on the trend towards co-working.

I arrived home Wednesday afternoon to find that I had won a new project — a large segmentation analysis for a major national retailer.  The opportunity had come my way after I connected with an old college friend — one I hadn’t spoken to for over 20 years — on Facebook.  Turns out he’s in California running a small business that does the same kind of audience segmentation work I do.  A few chats down the line we agreed that we could work well together — and submitted some joint RFP responses, one of which came through in a big way.

Now that my head has stopped spinning from the incredible rush of  last week, I’ve had a chance to sit back and think about the implications of all this good stuff.  They consolidate a number of realizations I’ve been mulling in the last couple of months of starting — and building — my own small business.

Realization #1:  Community Counts

For your business, for yourself, for your sanity — for God’s sake find some like-minded folks and dedicate some of your time to hanging out with them.  The first time I started my own business I didn’t bother — and while I had great clients and good steady work for four years, eventually I accepted another “real job” in part because I desperately missed the social aspects of an office.  If you’ve left a job to start out on your own (either by choice or necessity) this is particularly important — like it or not, you’ve probably left much of your former community behind (or vice versa) and you should start building a new one, pronto.

Which is not to say that community only serves the “softer side” of being an entrepreneur.  I recently gained a big project with an old college friend I hadn’t spoken to since graduation over 20 years ago.  How?  Facebook!  It’s amazing what you can discover about the network you already have (but may not have considered for work-related benefits).  I’m not advocating that you browbeat your old high school and college buddies for work or jobs, but take the time to find out what everybody’s doing — it might open some surprising new doors.

Realization #2:  Social Media Doesn’t Isolate

Contrary to what appears to be popular opinion, getting involved with social media sites like Facebook and Twitter DOESN’T necessarily reduce you to a moon-eyed lump of deteriorating (and unnecessary) muscles and ligaments.  While it can be time-consuming (and sometimes, at least for me, a great procrastination tool and criminal time-suck), I have found it a great way to meet and get to know people in the Real World.

Twitter, in particular, is a great way to find and talk with people discussing stuff you’re interested in.  Unlike LinkedIn, Twitter doesn’t require you know somebody to listen to (or publicly chat with) them.  And Twitter’s search function makes it easy to find relevant conversations to eavesdrop on.

The trick, of course, is to actually GO OUT AND MEET PEOPLE YOU MET ON TWITTER.  Find local events they’re attending (Twitter’s GREAT for this) and go.  Hang out at co-working spots.  Go to happy hours or breakfasts – the Twitter crowd is famously fond of free, casual, come-as-you-are opportunities to meet and greet in real life.

When I started my first consulting practice, social media didn’t exist.  Just six months into my new venture, I have a larger, more relevant and more productive network than I ever gained in four years the first time around.

Realization #3:  Pay It Back (or Forward)

Part of being a member of a community is CONTRIBUTING.  As great as your network may be, they’ll tire of you quickly if all you do is show up and ask for support.  Speak at a brownbag – comment on other people’s posts – help somebody out.  Whatever your thing is, give some of it to somebody else.  It feels good and it’s good for you — and your business.

Personally, I try to split my “time/effort pie” three ways:  one chunk for stuff I do for pay, one chunk for stuff I do for free because it will build my business, and another chuck for stuff I do for free because it helps somebody else in my community.  The ratio changes based on what’s happening, but I’m trying to maintain about a 60/25/15 split.

Realization #4:  It’s Never Too Late (Or Too Early)

Man, I really wish I’d started all this community-building earlier – it would have made those first few months of my new business a lot easier to handle.  Having said that, I can certainly testify that it’s never too late to get on Twitter, sign up for Facebook, update your LinkedIn page or start attending an event or two in your community.  You (and your business/career) will be better for it.