A recent blog post in our company blog shared Bob Parks’ testimonial of his personal marketing success story from simply “hanging around” his local coffee shop (a nationally known and well-branded coffee franchise) and building a social network, almost by accident. Here is a more involved feature story about his ongoing and “brewing” success story.

I’ve always referred to personal brochures as “cup of coffee” biographies. In other words, they contain stories, anecdotes and personal information that you might share with someone over a cup of coffee.

Well, Bob Parks of Louisville, Kentucky, has taken this concept to a whole new level. In fact, most of his business is literally done over a cup of coffee at his local coffee shop. It’s an approach Bob likes to call “relationship selling” and he can attribute almost all of his business to simply talking with people and handing out his brochure personally.

Now don’t get me wrong. Bob is not waiting in the corner of his national coffee franchise and pouncing on people as they walk through the door like a car salesman. His approach is much more delicate, and it helps to go back to the beginning in order to explain how his own style of personal networking evolved over the years.

Bob spent many years working for one of the world’s largest cabinet manufacturers. He would travel the country making sales calls and training other salespeople. Bob became known as the ultimate “problem solver” and he went wherever he was needed to help the company be successful. Through this experience, he honed his sales skills and learned the value of building positive relationships. “The more you talk with people, the more you learn and the more you are able to help them with what they need,” he says.

During his travels, Bob also became quite a fan of this popular national coffee franchise. Wherever he went, he would go to the local coffee store and get his favorite brew.

When the time came to set down his career roots in Louisville, Bob settled on a career in real estate because he knew his ability to build quality relationships would suit him well in this business.

Not long after he started in real estate, Bob’s personal life took a turn for the worse. He was getting divorced, and the experience took quite a toll on him. His regular morning visit to his local coffee shop then became more than just a routine. It was a social escape from everything that was going on in his life-a place where he knew he was always welcome.

Then one fateful day, Bob ran into an old friend at the coffee shop, who was there with one of his friends. He joined them at their table and the three began to chat about life, business and anything else that was fresh on their minds. They decided it would be fun to meet up on a regular basis every weekend. And so, Bob’s “Coffee Shop Group” was born. More friends started joining them week after week and the group continued to grow. Before long, there were 10-20 regulars that met up every weekend-people from all walks of life and various business backgrounds. They got together, talked, shared ideas and built a strong network with one another. Meeting with this group even introduced Bob to his second wife, Beth, who was also going through a divorce and was brought to the coffee shop by a friend. “We were introduced, started talking and before we knew it we were married!” Bob says. » Read more: Generating Real Estate Leads Through the Power of Social Networking