Thank you to BING Social Search for sponsoring my post about social media. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Social Media has taken the world by storm and impacted my life personally and professionally. I remember when I first heard about Twitter, I laughed at the idea of people speaking to one other people publicly over a platform and keeping it within 140 characters. My exact words were, “why would someone want to follow my tweets to see what the heck I’m doing all the time”. Now I look back at that statement and laugh hysterically. As soon as I gave Twitter a chance I instantly became a Twitterholic! That’s what I get!

I use Social Media as a tool to market my graphic design business, push out information about entrepreneurship as well as connect with bloggers from all over the world. I’ve met some really good friends through different social media channels and managed to build the relationships that blossomed into personal relationship as well as in cyber space.

I started blogging to document my journey from corporate America to entrepreneurship. It changed over a couple of years to blogging about branding, social media and technology. I showcase my graphic design work on my site and Facebook Fan Page but, I don’t blog about graphic design or solicit sales through my posts. I use my blog as an advertising and branding tool for myself as well as promoting other brands. I blog about 3-4 times a week and maybe more depending on current events or what’s on my editorial calendar. I have truly met lots of people who have become friends through blogging and when I attend blog conferences, it’s GREAT to meet the people you speak to online constantly. Social Media is amazing and everyone is jumping on board, and more businesses are joining daily. Below I’m pictured with Michelle and Stephanie (bloggers) with whom I met on Twitter, we got a chance to meet in person and now we’re Facebook buddies planning vacations together!

Social Media has affected my professional life tremendously and I’m nothing but thankful. I was previously in the Sales Coordinator position for an alternative newspaper. I was blogging heavily working with national brands and on Twitter and Facebook 24/7. I assume my superiors took notice to what I was doing. They went to a national newspaper convention where social media marketing was a huge topic to promote publications. The speaker happened to be a blogger and they took notes and came back refreshed with tons of new ideas on how to utilize what they learned for our newspaper. They took an inventory of all the staff and went through the process of who they thought could take these new ideas and run with them and be successful while having a passion for it. I guess I stood out like a sore thumb because I was offered the position and took it gladly and I’m now the Marketing Coordinator for our publication.

I use Social Media personally and professionally and I’m online 24/7! I have a passion for networking & marketing and it creates ways to communicate with many people and engage. I’ve heard this statement many times and I agree with it completely… “It’s all in the relationships”