Keeping It REAL

A few years ago a very good friend of mine gave me the opportunity to manage the Twitter account of a fairly large business. Given that Twitter was still relatively new and businesses were still working out the details of how the platform could work for them, letting me do this was a pretty big risk for him. Then I read about this conference called TWTRCON in San Francisco, where businesses would be sharing information about exactly this topic. I wasn’t sure about what direction I was going in with this project, but I knew that this would be the place that I would learn.

I wrote a heartfelt letter to ask that I be considered for their Go Standby program, where people could attend for what they could afford to pay. I explained that Twitter had been an incredible outlet for me as I was fighting the foreclosure on my home.  I wrote about the people I had met on Twitter that had encouraged me, others who had been through the same thing, and how the resources that I found through shared links changed my life.  I wrote about how I had gone from being hopeless and nearly homeless, to someone with a purpose and a community of people to support me. 

I added that I hoped to develop my own business model to utilize these resources to help others. The topic of social media for business at that time was still very new. I understood the basic concept but I had NO idea what to expect.  I simply knew that I had the professional background and marketing experience to make a business of my own successful.   

The brand has recently been changed from TWTRCON to The Realtime Report – to better reflect the scope of how the realtime web is redefining PR, marketing, customer service, and product development.  No matter where you are in business — if you are utilizing social media, mobile marketing, or any other platform that works non-stop and in real-time, REALTIME NY 11 is the conference for you.

Three years after that first conference, I’ve created a small business as a virtual marketing assistant – managing social media profiles, maintaining small projects, providing administrative services, and consulting on digital media resources. Am I going to get rich? Probably not. Am I happy? YES. Am I an expert? Nowhere close.  Am I doing what I said I would do? Absolutely.  I attribute my accomplishment and my continued motivation to The Realtime Report.

I hold this conference to the highest standard and use it as a benchmark for any other event that I even begin to consider attending.  When you work for yourself, you must choose professional development wisely and spend your resources on the things that will bring the most value to your business. 

Here is what I think you will walk away with:

Be inspired.

Big business, small business, freelancers — every group is represented. You’ll have the opportunity to learn about how people at all levels of business are creating new technology, implementing innovative ideas, and utilizing these resources on an every day basis to connect with their clients in a way that matters. It will inspire you to do the same.

Meet incredible people.

So, I waved at MC Hammer at the first conference I went to, and I chit chatted about nothing of value with Martha Stewart’s technical assistant at the second. That was the closest I got to famous people and I am absolutely fine with that. Obviously I did not absorb the greatness that these people had to offer — but that was my fault, not theirs.  I was overwhelmed at both the San Francisco and New York conferences by the big business names around me and spent lots of time soaking it all in.  I did meet some incredible people who did not intimidate me, including @jpeez & @tonia_ries. The networking opportunity at this event is AMAZING.

Learn.

The people presenting at this conference are the best of the best from their respective businesses. While some of the technical aspects are beyond what I will ever understand — the presentations on marketing strategy and broader implications of social media on business and commerce are invaluable.  It will keep your wheels turning for weeks after the event has ended.

Create value.

So here’s the question that is asked over and over again in this field:  How do you measure ROI? Lots of people will have different answers,  depending on their business and how they are utilizing these resources. The return is sometimes measured in number of followers, number of interactions, number of retweets. Translating this  into profit is the key to creating value for business. In this conference, you will hear how others translate this for their own businesses and consider how to create value  for your own. We’re not all going to be responsible for starting a revolution, but the value in social media is just as diverse as the businesses and people who use it.  I learned that and continue to learn that from The Realtime Report.  

Hope you will too.  The next conference is Realtime NY 11.  It is an all day event and will be held on June 6, at BB Kings Times Square in New York City.  There are still ways to save on the conference fee.  Contact me for more details or visit the website to register. 

Peace.  

Disclosure:  I currently work as a Community Manager for The Realtime Report.  I was not paid to endorse the conference in this blogpost.  Amen.

Image Sources:  Karen Stadler, The Realtime Report FB Fanpage

Twitter Love

Where do I start?

I don’t know why it never occurred to me to do this before. But I was tweeting this morning about working on my taxes, and I mentioned all I had lost trying to save our home…and a writer named Beth Wareham who tweets as @PowerofNo responded to me, sparking a tweetstream soliciting donations to help raise money to save my home.  I explained that it wasn’t just one months mortgage payment but closer to $42k that I needed. 

When I first started on Twitter, my intention was to gather information about foreclosure and loan modifications, and to educate myself on the best way to go about trying to save my home. What has happened in a year is completely different from anything I ever expected.  I have connected with others who have helped me helped me look for a solution, vent about the obstacles I face, and celebrate every tiny victory I have had along the way.  Working to save my home dominated my life, and become almost a full-time job…..the connections I have made helped me start living instead of worrying.  For the first time in a long time:  I felt energetic and excited, and could see beyond the doomsday foreclosure.  We have a long way to go before we save our home, but the idea that life can go on regardless of what happens, resounds to me in the echo that the Twitter community provides on the daily.  Here I am, a year later…. humble and thankful for the real friendship, inspiration, and pep talks that got me from there to here. 

My hardship letter hasn’t worked with my mortgage company, maybe it will help on the web.  I feel like I have to preface my request for donations and help with a little more about my story.  The easiest way is a timeline.

• March 2007 I was diagnosed with a bone tumor in my knee. It’s an uncommon condition called Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS). The surgery was invasive & left me with a foot long incision in my left leg.  It took me months to walk again and I used most of my sick leave.  Mortgage:  Current
• April 2007 I found out I was pregnant with my second child. I was hospitalized for exhaustion several times, and went into heart failure right before I gave birth to Olive.  (I was diagnosed with a heart disease ten years earlier when when I was 22 years old.) Mortgage:  Current
• January 2008, I lost my job because of my employers leave policy.  My cardiologist said they would help me file for short term disability, the HR office said I would quailify for unemployment.  I was sick,  tired, still in heart failure, had a newborn, and was suffering from postpartum depression.  I did not file for any of it. Mortgage: Payments deferred for six months.
• March of 2008, my mother asked me to take over and close our family business, which my mother ran for 26 years. She was ill and ready to retire.  They have legal custody of my two nieces, (my sister is unable to care for them) ages 12 & 15 at the time.   They asked if I could take them and I agreed.  This is how I ended up with five kids.  I have a son, a stepdaughter, a daughter, and two nieces.  Mortgage:  Subprime adjustable went up approx $400, we could not make payment.
• August 2008 to May 2009, I returned to work part-time.  With five kids — one in daycare, the money I made wasn’t even close to what we needed, and most went to the cost of childcare.  Balancing it all started to take a toll on my health and I left my job to try and figure out how to work for myself from home doing consulting and promotion. Mortgage:  We started our first loan mod, made payments & then they wanted a balloon payment. We couldn’t afford it. We started it again.
• May 2009 to Present:  I have an established clientele. I have four of the five kids full time, serve as home base for the different sets of co-parents, try my best not to get hospitalized again, and I work….as much as I can.  Even if I worked full-time…it’s not enough to catch up on how far we fell behind.  Mortgage: We have been under review for modification several times since we fell behind in March 2007.   We have tried two different programs and are now under review for third.  The first two times, it failed because of balloon payment requirement. The third time it failed because my husbands salary dropped dramatically for six months. Calling and waiting, waiting and calling.  I think our mortgage company knows less about what is going on than we do. The problem I have is one lots of people are going through.  A series of posts on my “progress” with our mortgage company is here.

Like most of American families, I make difficult and humble choices to make ends meet.  My experience with illness has taught me to be thankful, creative, and balanced.  If we can catch up on our mortgage payments, we won’t have to continue to live in limbo while we negotiate a loan modification.  I want to raise $42k or as much as possible to bring us current.  I haven’t filed for bankruptcy, haven’t applied for welfare, haven’t filed for unemployment.  While these resources are available to me, I simply can’t feel good about it, when I know there are others who need it more than me. 

What followed the mentions by @PowerofNo was a list of suggestions from others on what I could do to help raise money…a list of incredible suggestions that I plan to follow up on.  Until then, thank you so much for the donations that you have sent, the ideas that you have shared with me, and the generosity that I continue to find in all of you.

If you have extra, I would appreciate it…if you don’t?  I appreciate you still. 

Peace.

Baby Steps

I have been on Twitter and blogging continuously for a little more than a year now.  In comparing my online life to my real life, it means that I have just really learned how to walk.  Additionally, it means I still take naps, don’t fully understand the consequences of my actions, may occasionally use my potty mouth, and word vomit on a regular basis.  To demonstrate that I am actually capable of writing a post without some deep and hurtful introspection, today’s post is about the best way to represent your authentic self even after (accidentally) creating an online persona. 

These are the five lessons I have learned: 

1) Choose wisely.  If you did not initially use your real name, you will have to learn to answer to the one you made up.  If it was a name close to your own name, you’re in luck.  If not, then hopefully it did not have the words “sexy”, “kitten” or “douche” in it. 

2)  Don’t lie.  Sometimes tweets and status updates stay in timelines for a while.  Remembering a lie is SO much harder than remembering something true.  If someone asks you days later about the safari you say you went on, you will be able to describe with relative accuracy even the tiniest hairs on the ass of the elephant that trekked you through your tour.

3)  Don’t let people hurt your feelings.  It’s easy to translate online backlash into real feelings, but there isn’t much difference between hate in an online community and hate in real life.  It won’t bother you if you don’t let it.  While it’s tempting to react, remember that you didn’t use your name anyway, so they hate someone who isn’t real.  The joke is really on them.  Fools.

4)  Share truth.  While this looks very close to my advice not to lie, it’s not actually the same thing.  My everyday truth is my commitment to being an authentic mother, daughter, sister, wife, and friend.  I said authentic…not perfect.  Sometimes that truth is mixed in with me at my weakest, demonstrating how unloveable, impatient, and intolerable I can be.  It’s the good and the bad in my life, and not just the things I want people to know.  How interesting would I really be if I talked about farting sunshine all day?

5) Live your life.  I’m online almost all day long.  This isn’t because I don’t have a life or don’t appreciate the everyday things going on around me.  It’s simply how I live.  It’s where I work, it’s where I play, it’s where I find the answers to all life’s toughest questions.  If I’m not online, there is usually a reason.  But in between the moments of chaos and the solutions that help me find my way, I’m still living my life.  Tweeting about it doesn’t make it less fantastic…it just makes it way funnier. 

Peace.