This past Wednesday morning I gave a presentation on “Blogging and Social Networking for Professionals” at SAILS, one of my networking groups. SAILS (Serving and Inspiring Leaders’ Success) meets every Wednesday morning from 7:30 to 9:00 at the Hampton United Methodist Church in Hampton, N.H.
The previous week, Pauline Maloney, one of the group’s facilitators, asked me how much time I thought I’d need for my presentation. Together we decided that a half hour would do, maybe a few more minutes for questions. Well, thirteen people showed up for my presentation (considerably more than have been in attendance in recent weeks), and I started speaking at 8:00. I invited questions and dialogue throughout. The next thing I knew, it was 9:00 and I had barely finished the blogging portion of the talk.
I was thrilled. The energy was great and the questions were even greater. A couple of times I had to back up, as I had made assumptions about certain topics. Years ago I registered the trademark Demystifying Technology® because, frankly, I’m very good at that. This experience humbled me, though, as I had to go back to the very beginning on more than one occasion. (“In the beginning the earth was formless and void . . .”)
As an example, it hadn’t occurred to me that people didn’t know that a blog was nothing more than a specific type of website. Everyone knows that they should be blogging, but the lack of introductory-level information is holding a lot of people back. So as I continued to answer questions and proceed with my presentation, I realized that I needed to turn this into a course of some sort: online, seminar, workshop, or maybe all of the above. Stay tuned. I’ll let everyone know when it’s ready.
Meanwhile, although it’s relatively easy to set up a blog (at least for someone with my technical background), it may not be the highest and best use of everyone’s time. So, another service I’ve started offering is to set up people’s blogs for them. I haven’t yet decided on a pricing structure, and my first clients are sure to get the best deals, so if you’re interested in learning more about this, drop me a line and let me know.
Part Two of my presentation—the part about social networking—has been scheduled for Wednesday March 18th. If you’re local, do plan on attending. How great if even more than thirteen people show up!
