Are You a Social Media Animal?

Part 8: Right From the Start

Social Media: Social media are computer-mediated tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities (Per Wikipedia) Right below this definition was a picture of Beyonce in the dress of the century. YOWZAH! If I looked like that, I KNOW I wouldn’t have to work as hard as I do to keep my name out in the public. But I don’t! I’m now down to 5’3 and a half inches and do not have the booty for that dress. The good news is, I know that. What I didn’t know three years ago was where I was spending my time within my business. I was hiring (Check), I was sending out newsletters (Check), I had brochures and a website (Sort of Check) and I had a good set of clientele. So, what was I missing?

Social Media! And that phrase means WAY more than just tools, my friends. It takes a young man/woman’s mind. I never tweeted, I was one foot in and one foot out in Facebook, I did have a lot of LinkedIn connections but just let them sit there and my website was online but not enough ME in the picture. No tweets, no Instagram, no SEO, no Pinterest, NO INTEREST in it. I was still watching my business in Black and White TV while the rest of the world was into COLORFUL connecting. Even my kids were social media geniuses. My son had more connections on LinkedIn in six months than I did in 3 years. My daughters were the princesses of Facebook. How I admired their youth and how they adapted to change in media mania.

Twitter and Instagram were on fire and I was still trying to light a fire from rubbing two sticks together. I am energetic when I want to be and my interest was SPARKED when I attended a women’s networking meeting called Spark and Hustle. I would’ve never heard about it if not for Stacy Kildal and Dawn Brolin championing its merit. This was a game-changer in my life. With the help of the lovely Tena Pettis from Tenacious Edge, I not only tweeted my first tweet, but I rebranded my logo, my business cards and my website. Jenn Puckett was another catalyst that ramped up my world by guiding me through the process of building a functional and fabulous website so my clients can browse, my prospects can make an appointment and anyone can use my tools to help communicate with me.

Social Media Princess steps into my life: June 2014. Her name is Wendy McCance and she is my coach and my friend. She has made me conscious of my presence in the cloud and has taught me how to use my time wisely for the greater good: Building my business! I take the time to share my thoughts about business, pictures of my lovely family and even some Michigan State Football scores. Because it’s all about being personal, it’s not just business. People want to connect with Christine Galli and know that she is responsive, consistent and caring. That is not found in the name of my company, only my business services are in Technology In A Box. I use the social media tools to get out cool messages and share other’s innovative ideas. It’s a big business world out there, but my numbers and my name are rising to the top. But with Wendy, I won’t stop at just 6 months of making attempts. It is a lifelong commitment in today’s world to get your name out in the public. Its advertising at the least, it’s sharing yourself at the most!

Moral of the story: Know your business and your strengths but make it easy for others to know you as well!