My Social Media Inspiration and Sphere of Influence
The volume of information available to us on the internet today is completely mind boggling to say the least. It has revolutionized the way we work, live and play and made information available at our fingertips. But it also take so much time to investigate what makes sense for you to read that pertains to your business, your interests, etc. If you're like me, time is never plentiful enough. I need 48 hour days to get done what my mind wants my body to handle on a daily basis!
But I've found a few really informative and reliable resources, mostly through social media. My involvement started during my last few months as an innkeeper. Our inn was under contract and I knew I was going to need to start a website for my new venture as a lodging broker. I designed and managed our inn's website so I became accustomed to making changes at will. I wanted control (so I'm a bit of a control freak, there, I've said it) of my own brokerage site. My agency has a beautiful site but I wanted my own. So the easiest and quickest way at the time was Blogger by Google. When I began to play around with the blog and got used to the concept, my creative wheels started spinning.
Then I joined Twitter. I clearly remember very early on, following a couple hundred people in the real estate industry but was particularly drawn to three women early on: Maya Paveza, Diane Guercio and Lesley Lambert, affectionately and professionally known as the Twitterqueens. Their premise is "Empowering the use of Social Media in Business". I would watch their use and interaction on Twitter and comment on occasion, eventually engaging with them, joining the Twitterqueens group and gaining a real appreciation for support and networking. These are women who are well seasoned in real estate but show a personal side as well, indicating they're real. It was about 6 months later when I attended a Real Estate Bar Camp in Boston in June 2009 where I met Lesley and Diane as they both live in Massachussetts (Maya lives in Delaware and wasn't able to make it). I did meet Maya on a quick visit back to see family where she, Marney Kirk and Derek Massey met me for lunch in Baltimore before I headed back to Maine that afternoon. Shortly thereafter, Melissa Del Gaudio came into my Twitter stream with her creative wordsmithstress commentary and I knew I had to meet her. Later that year my husband and I went to the DC area to visit family; Maya arranged for a Tweetup in Baltimore where I met Melissa and about 20 or so people "IRL" that I had been talking with on Twitter, including Kathy Sperl-Bell and my friend Marc Pina who shares my affinity for David Yurman jewelry, Seinfeld and designer fashion (Marc fashion, me, handbags), in no particular order. It was really nice of Maya and everyone to take the time to come meet me! Some time later I was invited to Twitterqueens Blog Talk Radio for a short interview on how I use Social Media in business. In May 2010 I was finally able to meet Chris Nichols and Bill Lublin at NAR Midyear. I still have yet to meet Debbie Kirkland among many others, but I will one day...
At the Real Estate Bar Camp in Boston that summer, I met Joe Cascio, whom I had been talking with on Twitter for a while before we met. Joe showed an appreciation for my photography (I posted photos on Flickr and Picasa) as did Jeremy Blanton. Jeremy saw some of my photography and encouraged me to start a photoblog. For me, that was a perfect idea! I'm not a true writer...for me it's all about the images, so that's what I did. I met several people at that event whom I continue to talk with on a regular basis and I appreciate those relationships. I met Bobby Carroll for the first time at Bar Camp and ever since, Bobby has been one to continually both praise what I do and give me tips on how to enhance what I do. Thanks as always. Bobby!I also met Monika McGillicuddy, a New Hampshire REALTOR, and since then I've been fortunate enough to teach a Social Media course for the Maine Association of Realtors with Monika.
In addition to reading some popular real estate websites, I started reading Mashable for everything Social Media, 1000WattConsulting, Professional One Franchising, Twitterqueens, all for Social Media as it relates to real estate. My "go-to-guy" for web tech questions is Darin McClure of Ready-to-Go Information Technologies - RTGit.
I then started seeing posts by TechSavvyAgent which is tech info for real estate agents and was able to expand my social media tools. What I didn't understand, TechSavvyAgent explained so that I could. I am a regular reader and really have them to thank for much of what I've implemented over the past couple months. I realized that so much of what they do for real estate agents could apply to those in the hospitality industry. And that's how TechSavvyInnkeeper.com was born. I've been educating my buyer clients for quite a while but this way I can share what I've learned with anyone who would like to learn the basics and then some.
But I've found a few really informative and reliable resources, mostly through social media. My involvement started during my last few months as an innkeeper. Our inn was under contract and I knew I was going to need to start a website for my new venture as a lodging broker. I designed and managed our inn's website so I became accustomed to making changes at will. I wanted control (so I'm a bit of a control freak, there, I've said it) of my own brokerage site. My agency has a beautiful site but I wanted my own. So the easiest and quickest way at the time was Blogger by Google. When I began to play around with the blog and got used to the concept, my creative wheels started spinning.
Then I joined Twitter. I clearly remember very early on, following a couple hundred people in the real estate industry but was particularly drawn to three women early on: Maya Paveza, Diane Guercio and Lesley Lambert, affectionately and professionally known as the Twitterqueens. Their premise is "Empowering the use of Social Media in Business". I would watch their use and interaction on Twitter and comment on occasion, eventually engaging with them, joining the Twitterqueens group and gaining a real appreciation for support and networking. These are women who are well seasoned in real estate but show a personal side as well, indicating they're real. It was about 6 months later when I attended a Real Estate Bar Camp in Boston in June 2009 where I met Lesley and Diane as they both live in Massachussetts (Maya lives in Delaware and wasn't able to make it). I did meet Maya on a quick visit back to see family where she, Marney Kirk and Derek Massey met me for lunch in Baltimore before I headed back to Maine that afternoon. Shortly thereafter, Melissa Del Gaudio came into my Twitter stream with her creative wordsmithstress commentary and I knew I had to meet her. Later that year my husband and I went to the DC area to visit family; Maya arranged for a Tweetup in Baltimore where I met Melissa and about 20 or so people "IRL" that I had been talking with on Twitter, including Kathy Sperl-Bell and my friend Marc Pina who shares my affinity for David Yurman jewelry, Seinfeld and designer fashion (Marc fashion, me, handbags), in no particular order. It was really nice of Maya and everyone to take the time to come meet me! Some time later I was invited to Twitterqueens Blog Talk Radio for a short interview on how I use Social Media in business. In May 2010 I was finally able to meet Chris Nichols and Bill Lublin at NAR Midyear. I still have yet to meet Debbie Kirkland among many others, but I will one day...
At the Real Estate Bar Camp in Boston that summer, I met Joe Cascio, whom I had been talking with on Twitter for a while before we met. Joe showed an appreciation for my photography (I posted photos on Flickr and Picasa) as did Jeremy Blanton. Jeremy saw some of my photography and encouraged me to start a photoblog. For me, that was a perfect idea! I'm not a true writer...for me it's all about the images, so that's what I did. I met several people at that event whom I continue to talk with on a regular basis and I appreciate those relationships. I met Bobby Carroll for the first time at Bar Camp and ever since, Bobby has been one to continually both praise what I do and give me tips on how to enhance what I do. Thanks as always. Bobby!I also met Monika McGillicuddy, a New Hampshire REALTOR, and since then I've been fortunate enough to teach a Social Media course for the Maine Association of Realtors with Monika.
In addition to reading some popular real estate websites, I started reading Mashable for everything Social Media, 1000WattConsulting, Professional One Franchising, Twitterqueens, all for Social Media as it relates to real estate. My "go-to-guy" for web tech questions is Darin McClure of Ready-to-Go Information Technologies - RTGit.
I then started seeing posts by TechSavvyAgent which is tech info for real estate agents and was able to expand my social media tools. What I didn't understand, TechSavvyAgent explained so that I could. I am a regular reader and really have them to thank for much of what I've implemented over the past couple months. I realized that so much of what they do for real estate agents could apply to those in the hospitality industry. And that's how TechSavvyInnkeeper.com was born. I've been educating my buyer clients for quite a while but this way I can share what I've learned with anyone who would like to learn the basics and then some.
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There are too many people to note with whom I interact - you inspire and influence me on a regular basis. Thank you all!