social media logos

It started innocently enough – having written my way down to part-time status with my main client, I found myself with some time on my hands, and a burning desire to “get good at something specific” in marketing. And I’d learn it over Christmas.

Diving into the social media pool
I decided that something should be social media.  After all, here I am – a marketer that spends considerable time writing web copy.  Why not check what all the fuss is about concerning using Facebook for business, Twitter and LinkedIn?

Freshening my Facebook
Facebook was easy – sort of.  I’d been on for a year and a half, collected way too many silly applications and a whole bunch of friends (ok, a hundred or so) representing a lifetime of moving around and trying to keep in touch.   First thing I did was grab Facebook by the scruff of the neck, turn off all sorts of notifications, and get it to stop bossing me around… at least long enough to invite a few more friends and make a page for my business.

Blogging for branding
Next, I took a look at my baby blog – started so that I could muse about ADHD, but named for my business.  OK, so I was having an identity crisis.  ADHD is still an abiding interest, but I’d have to blog about it elsewhere.  I’m still too swamped in the social media learning curve to have started that blog up, but if you joined me then and are wondering when I’m going to get around to blogging about coming “out of the fog” again, well, bear with me.

So the blog has made a right turn, and now it’s my repository for social media thoughts, especially for people who are new to it.  Because really, most people are new to it!  (I mean, if I can become the top of the Twitter elite for Victoria BC in less than a month, then you know that we’re still in the infancy stages of this stuff!)

Taking on Twitter
Then I cranked up Twitter, attached it to Facebook and Facebook to my blog, and badda boom badda bing, we have social media visibility!  Except that still, nothing looks quite the way I want it to.   I’ve just found a theme that I like on my free WordPress blog, so the upgrades are coming.  Once that’s done, can embedded YouTube videos and Flickr photo galleries be far behind?  They’re all complementary ways to connect…

LinkedIn, too…
Oh, and I fired up my LinkedIn account too, because after all, I am a business woman, and this site has wonderful connecting functions for people in business.

Learning from the Pros
As all this was happening, I was finding interesting, savvy social media people to follow on Twitter, and they’ve been educating me every single day about the best ways to connect with mentors, with potential clients, and with people who are just worth knowing.  Checking on TwitterGrader, I went from a fair-to-middling-for-a-newbie score of 54 (out of 100) in mid-December to over 96 a couple of days ago.  And 435 people think I’m interesting and relevant enough to follow.  Imagine!

Racing up the learning curve!
The thing is, my head is still spinning from jumping onto this merry-go-round so quickly.  Clients are starting to ask how they can use social media effectively, and I’m putting together proposals that will help them take advantage of the relationship-marketing heart of social media… without causing them to lose sleep or productive working hours.  I’ll do that for them!

And to be sure, there are wonderful tools to help sort all the posts on all the sites – like Ping.fm, TweetLater, TwitterFeed, Tweetdeck, and so on.  As well, I’d like to thank some amazing social media professionals, pro bloggers and simply fine people I met on-line who are my role models, like Mari Smith, Nancy Marmolejo, Sherman Hu, Chris Brogan, Maria Reyes McDavis, and Michele Price.

Do I feel ready to pass along what I’ve learned to the 99 percent of Victoria business owners who know social media is “out there” but don’t know how to make it work for them?  As ready as I’ll ever be…

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You see, I’ve had my Facebook account for a year and a half, and have gathered friends – real friends – from just about every period and every aspect of my life.  Do I want to risk alienating my real-life friends by yammering on about my business with every status update?  I don’t think so!  Turns out that my Twitter friends are no different.  Of course I can talk about my work, just as I would in real life.  And if I’m excited about a turn of events or something new I’m trying out, I’ll post it on Twitter (and by extension, myFacebook status).  But if I’m making my post all about me me me, and what I have to sell… my friends devolve into my customers, and my customers never become friends. 

No thank you.

It is possible, though, to post about what I’m up to in my business if it’s just one ingredient in a thoughtful, respectful and positive stream of tweets/status updates.  The other ingredients include actually being interested in what other people are saying, responding to the posts of others, passing on great information… but more about this in my next post, which is on being Reciprocal.

Oh, and guess what?  The 3Rs have now become the 4Rs because when I planned the outline for this series, I actually hadn’t factored today’s post in.  It just flew out of my head and onto the screen.  Call it the wonder of blogs…

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Since starting this blog a couple of weeks ago, dusting off my Facebook profile, and getting started on Twitter, things have really started to come together for me online.  I have to credit a few online mentors for getting me started down this path.  First is Lorrie Morgan Ferrero, of Red Hot Copy.  She did a lot of work on marketing to women, particularly social networking, and put it into what looks like a fantastic seminar called the She Factor.  I hope she puts it on again – I’ll find some way to get down to California and take part next time, instead of just listening to the preview teleseminars.  Second is a guest of Lorrie on one of those fabulous teleseminars, Nancy Marmolejo, whose company is Viva Visibility.  Nancy really is a social networking diva, and she lays out very clearly how you can multi-task, and look like you are 10 places at once on the web, and have all your social networking tools singing in harmony.   I want to be just like her – spending my time making life easier for other people around the world, while still being home when my kids get back from school. 

Third, another great woman that I “met” through Lorrie M-F (didja know you were so influential, Lorrie??) is Melani Ward, writer, coach and seriously wonderful person.  If you are interested in reframing your story and making it work to build the life you want, and you aren’t afraid of being honest with yourself  and open to spirituality, she’s a great teacher.

Finally, I spend a few minutes each morning with Bob Proctor and his terrific video-based coaching program, Six Minutes to Success.  Combined with my daily run, it’s a perfect way for me to get into focus.  I recommend it for everyone who wants to do more with the talents they’ve been given – especially if they have a lot of talent and need to overcome ADD-type symptoms!

Disclosure – Lorrie, Nancy and Melani didn’t pay me to say any of this – I just think they are doing what they oughtta be, and want to pass the kudos!   And while I have an affiliate link to Bob Proctor’s Six Minutes to Success Program, I would recommend it from the very bottom of my heart, even if I never made a penny off it. 

Who are your favourite online mentors and Web 2.0 buddies?  Leave me a comment and let me know…

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