Like many people, I am a natural introvert. I am quite comfortable being alone, or with my family, or with a friend or two enjoying a nice quiet conversation or just chilling. No need to be out at big parties, among large groups of friends or moving like a social butterfly. It’s just not me.

In my early 20s, I learned in a leadership development program that if I wanted to be more – that I would need to get out of myself, connect with other people and be part of what is happening. And so that has been my personal journey – something my wife and children know very well. I extend myself for business, community and networking. Then I need “alone time” in ample measure. It’s a balance.

So I speak from personal experience as I reluctantly mount this soap box and deliver a message that not everyone wants to hear:

Social networking and using social media is not about sitting comfortably hidden behind your computer screen bonding solely through electrons with the rest of the world. Unless you do your business entirely through the Internet, you need to get out, press the flesh and make personal connections with people in the physical world. That’s where the magic happens.

It’s the same with education. We can learn so much sitting by ourselves, reading books and watching webinars. But there’s much more that we can learn face-to-face, interacting with people in the physical world.

And so it is a personal plea, as well as a professional and business call to action: If you are serious about social media and social networking, you need to invest the time and energy to get out of your office or home and connect with people in the physical world.

We have many opportunities to meet other social media aficionados through tweetups and similar gatherings. I hope you will consider being part of what promises to be a phenomenal day at the SoMeBizLife Conference on June 1 in Doylestown. It will be social. It will be educational. And it will be a powerful way “to be more.”