What would you think if I told you that about 30 seconds of time invested netted me about $ 20,000.

Sound too good to be true?

Are you suddenly bracing yourself for some quick get-rich MLM scheme?

Well, relax there will be no pitch and I promise I'll never pitch you on any MLMs.

What I'm talking about is leveraging 30 seconds of connecting to make a very real and powerful impact on a relationship I have.

It all started with an article. An item that caught my eye and I thought might be of interest to a particular business colleague of mine. I read it (that took slightly more than 30 seconds to be fair) and then forwarded it to them. That part really only took 3 seconds.  I penned a quick note to them which took the other 27 seconds that simply read this:

Hey Friend,

Saw this article this morning and it immediately made me think of you. Given what we talked about the last time we met over coffee, I thought the timing couldn't be better so I'm sending it to you. Hope it helps.

Ripple On!!!

Steve

That was it. No big deal right? Well as it turned out that investment of time was a big deal for my connection. They found a strategy that kicked off a conversation with another one of their vendor partners and things took off from there. It was a home run in terms as far as building and strengthening our relationship.

No, I wasn't expecting some slice of the revenue pie. I didn't ask for any referral fee. I had absolutely no expectation of any return of the favor. I did it because it made sense to do it. End of story.

Or was it?

We all know when we create a Ripple for someone you never know how far and wide those Ripples might go. And when they come back to you.

But they almost always do.

Almost 30 days later, my contact was at a board meeting for an organization she helps run. They were discussing the need to develop some curriculum for the continuing education training program for their members. My contact thought they needed to know about my book and the various ways my methodologies could be applied in leadership, human resource management, sales, and customer service. She suggested that they look at bringing me in to develop some specific training for their organization.

And of course, they did.

What could you do with 30 seconds today to invest in a relationship that might be important to you? You never know how far and wide the Ripples you create will go or just how they may return to you. One thing is for sure, you'll never know until you try.

Ripple On!!!