Last May I knew that I was hooked on Social Media & the study of how it could be applied to marketing. I translated the use of the tools for our readers at our DigiScrapInfo.com blog with favorable response. After reading Seth Godin’s book, the Dip. I realized that I was in a cul-de-sac as he called it & ready for new challenges. On finishing the book, I realized that I had reinvented myself as he talked about! I had learned new skills & was interested in exercising them.

Then the opportunity to do this arose & I had to make a decision. This isn’t new to me because when I’ve switched jobs, I’ve radically changed careers.

What I want to comment on is how welcoming I’ve found this professional community to be! I’ve been bouncing around on blogs since last March which led me to creating this one. But a part of me says, ‘Connie, why are you here?’. Granted everyone has been SO very supportive and I’m totally humbled & overwhelmed at my acceptance. The momentum is incredible! After one week the feedback has been very gratifying. Thank you to all who have graciously welcomed my new space on the web.

This morning there were some great URL’s posted on Twitter & this interview with Seth Godin that Geoff Livingston had on his blog caught my attention.

BB: Businesses are starting to really eye social media for marketing purposes. What do you think will happen as more businesses engage their communities directly?

SG: Businesses screw up all the time. They do it by being greedy and non-transparent and breaking promises. I have no doubt that they will do that here, big time.

Seth has the same kind of dry sense of humor that I have & appreciate. At first I chuckled, but then it dawned on me where my focus is at & what I have to share with you. My experience has been organic & at a grass roots level. I’ve mixed the concepts with practical application & had successful experiences. I encouraged our readers at DigiscrapInfo to join Facebook & to explore the various marketing opportunities there. And they have! I blogged yesterday about the Kaboodle app. recently launched. Yesterday 20 of my friends had added it & this evening Facebook said another 26 had. This tells me a lot! Shel Israel had noted that only women had answered my question and that’s because 75% of my friends are from our community.

About this quote, I’m going to put on my web strategy hat for this paragraph. I agree that companies will mess this up. Without being honest, authentic & genuine, it’s going to be rough for them to be successful using social media for marketing. Some are going to fail miserably & blame the tools themselves is my prediction & social media will be discounted. My role will be to work with my company’s customers in a way that respects their dignity & honors their contributions as well as provide excellent customer service. I will be a voice of the customer towards the company & a voice of the company in the other direction.

I really like Chris Brogan’s post today too about inviting corporations into the conversation & helping them. That’s the other place where I see myself contributing. I want to help businesses realize how valuable social media & it’s tools are. Granted I will be working for one also in that sense. How will I do this? Well, to start with I will be presenting at a Facebook conference! It’s very exciting news to announce on the eve of my joining a new profession too! Stay tuned & I’ll post the info as the official news is released!

And I must say thank you all of you who have:

  • patiently helped me with questions & concerns as I change professions
  • those that have befriended me on Facebook & Twitter
  • and to everyone that has shared conversations with me around the web

Please let me know what I can do for you!. Feel free to add me in Facebook & Twitter & I look forward to our future conversations & giving back to the profession!