Comments on: Business Happens at 2:00 am

By: Personal vs Professional Relationships: The Key to Business Success

Personal vs Professional Relationships: The Key to Business Success — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:37:19 +0000

[...] by thinking “how can you help me grow my business” instead of thinking “wow, you are a cool person… let’s be friends” then probably more than half of these deals would never have happened.Build Friendships [...]

By: How To Make 2011 Incredibly Awesome

How To Make 2011 Incredibly Awesome — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:03:47 +0000

[...] ”BPB” Business Passion Business or “the 2am connection principle“ [...]

By: Brad Hogenmiller

Brad Hogenmiller — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:32:20 +0000

It's the social media/tech set version of taking clients golfing or to baseball games. I don't want to do business with your pocket square, I want to do business with YOU.

By: SXSW Recap: Why it is THE place to be. : Boot Camp Digital – Internet and Social Media Marketing Training and Consulting

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:01:36 +0000

[...] isn’t work, the party scene is where some of the best connections are made. My friend Lewis Howes (who I sadly hardly saw this year) points out that some of the best business is done at 2am [...]

By: lewishowes

lewishowes — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:27:29 +0000

Good point… you don't want to be sloppy drunk (as I have never been drunk for this reason) but you want to get away from the office, the conference, the board room… etc. and get in a friendly environment. Drinking is fine, but not necessary, as long as you get away from the stuffy office and connect on a personal level

By: lewishowes

lewishowes — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:25:09 +0000

Ryan, You are right… the “old school” corporate guys used to have a cigar, some scotch and do business with a hand shake.

Who likes to be all stuffy and serious when making a deal? It's more refreshing when you feel relaxed and trust the person you are doing business with because you really like them as a person.

We will meet up soon my man, sorry I missed you as well.

By: lewishowes

lewishowes — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:22:57 +0000

Krista- great seeing you as well!

I agree… and these shared experiences don't always have to be at 2am, but it seems like thats when they take place during conferences such as SXSW.

Look forward to seeing you in Ohio soon

By: ryanstephens

ryanstephens — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:10:44 +0000

I've always been a proponent of this approach, but I think now more than ever people value REAL people. We don't care if they've had a few drinks. It's not “unprofessional,” it's they way the oil companies and other multi-conglomerate deals have been done for decades. I have a post somewhere about how Happy Hour is phenomenal for brainstorming new business ideas, and connecting joint ventures, etc.

Glad you had an awesome time Lewis, and hate that it was a bad weekend for me and we didn't get to meet up.

By: Krista Neher

Krista Neher — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:59:19 +0000

Lewis – it was great to see you at sxsw – totally agree with your post. We connect with people through shared experiences (like partying) and that creates a stronger bond or basis for business transactions (people do business with people they know and like).

Sorry we didn't get to hang out more – we'll have to actually connect in Ohio one of these days!

By: Aircut

Aircut — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:26:41 +0000

Great post, Lewis and I have a great story:

A friend of mine whose father owns a small business for years has had his other son doing all of the web design, marketing, etc. He’s done a “fair” job of it, but not great. So at my friend’s wedding a couple of months ago, I ended up at the reception sitting at the bar with his father. I ask (as I often do) “how's business?” and he proceeds to tell me that they need to step up their marketing and so forth. Since we both had designated drivers (hear that, kids?), we bought each other several rounds of good-cheer and I told him about what I do in social media. Since I market a new product, and he need help with marketing a new product, we ended up exchanging cards, and I will be doing some freelance work for him this summer in addition to marketing the AirCut. A word on alcohol, though: It pays to always know your limit so you're not sloshed and end up insulting a client. In the right amount and situation, I believe some client relationships can only happen when letting your proverbial hair down once in awhile. Thanks for the post and letting me comment, Lewis!