Chris, the Outside-In Guy: Kelly Hocutt is back with more thoughts on entrepreneurship. Three months ago she wrote her first guest post, “What does it mean to be entrepreneurial?” and she is checking back in.

One thing I can tell you is that living an entrepreneurial life goes by at the speed of light. It’s a fast-paced environment where your days, weeks and months pass by in the blink of an eye. Another thing I’ve learned about is the power of an entrepreneur’s handshake.
 
In a time when new entrepreneurs are often found sitting on a couch in their living room or local coffee shop, I’m left pondering what tools I need to be a successful entrepreneur. I have learned a lot from team members at CBI Group who value relationships first and also from the recruiting industry that relies heavily on networking.
 
It’s easy to squirrel away and use the Internet and social networking to build a successful business these days, but what new entrepreneurs may be missing is the value of old school relationships. I’m talking face-to-face meetings. Getting out of your PJs and meeting people who introduce you to people who introduce you to people. Instead of more followers, fans, sponsored Emails to subscriber lists and all counts of virtual relationships, I want to keep track of the real life handshakes I have in my career.
 
I’ve learned that real life handshakes signify commitments made and follow-up steps that you actually follow up on. And it takes handshakes to be a successful entrepreneur. So while I’m tempted by the articles about 20 something entrepreneurs that started companies equipped only with Wi-Fi and a laptop, I see way more value in meeting people, hearing their story and building partnerships on my path to success.
 
What’s your career handshake count?