My blog was one month old this past week & it’s time to note the momentum & milestones. I think it’s worth celebrating! And maybe chronicling the significant points on my path will help others that are interested.

People have been asking me how did you arrive here? This past week the feedback from people adding me on Twitter & Facebook has been – I enjoy reading your blog. That is so motivating! I enjoy sharing my resources in the hopes that people will find joy like I’ve found. It’s so awesome to hear of my online friends getting jobs as social media specialists. There’s no question that there’s a lot of momentum in this space!

My Milestones on this journey:

January 2007

March & April 2007

  • our repetitious typing made us realize that we needed FAQ’s to link people to
  • I started looking for solutions to growing our website to better serve our readers
  • much blog reading & getting involved in the conversation
  • late April I found Jeremiah’s blog & realized Web Strategy was the term for my maximizing efforts & was intrigued by the concept of Community Manager
  • we added a wiki to present information in a website style
  • started blogging & sharing my Web 2.0 marketing knowledge with our community in terms that was useful for them

May 2007

  • at 41 & with an impending empty nest, I decided to pursue this new direction
  • end of May I read Seth Godin’s book & realized that I had reinvented myself
  • announced to my husband that I wanted to work with Social Media online

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007 finds me

  • sharing web strategies to improve ACDSee’s website next week
  • encouraging the staff to join me in this vision of communicating with customers (but they already ‘get it’ as they’ve had a Community Manager position for a year)
  • train some of the staff to use LiveWriter & blog at www.blog.acdsee.com
  • with over 211 friends in Facebook & 110 on Twitter (there is overlap)
  • with an incredible network that is growing day by day
    • you’re welcome to add me on Facebook & Twitter – links are on left
    • a blog sharing My Conversations
      • in a month’s time 38 posts & 75 comments
      • people are finding me – Thursday I had 50 readers here
        • on that day 3 people googled my name

Are there secrets to accomplishing this? Not really & I’ve put the keys here for you. There are backlinks throughout this entry for more reading. I chalk it up to:

  • listening to what’s going on (read blogs, books & educate yourself)
  • participating, sharing, & contributing (it’s imperative to learning & networking)
  • give back more than you take – Jeremiah O & Chris Brogan are masters at that (emulate that in your own style & it will be appreciated by everyone)
  • hard work – I grew up on a dairy farm & it was 24/7. I’ve noticed that the successful people in this space don’t shut down on weekend. I’ve always been a workaholic anyway.
  • commit to yourself – Jeremiah has a great post on paying yourself forward. Put things in this order:
    • yourself & your family
      • follow your passion
    • your work
      • follow your passion & make sure work is something you enjoy doing! Then you don’t have to go to work for the rest of your life!
    • find a balance – but commit to lifelong learning

So my advice is that if you’re interested in social media, connect with the resources & learn as much as you can. The rest will happen. I totally believe that we are free to choose our own path. Chris Brogan has an inspiring post today, Make a Project to Jumpstart your Dreams.

Life is about making your dreams come true. I’ve accomplished this one & my next is world travel. Spring will find me traveling abroad for the first time! What are your dreams? Are you living them? I challenge you to establish them, then pursue them!