What Exactly Do You *Do*?

Random Instagram Photos. Yes, I love social media!

I get that question alot. I'm new at this business thing, and I've blogged recently about how I finally made the decision to branch out on my own. Still, I haven't done a whole lot of advertising. I cross-post things occasionally on my personal Facebook page, but for the most part I don't want to turn people off by talking about my business all the time. I even feel weird blogging about it now, though I absolutely love it. I've always been a connector, and social media is all about connecting with others. It just fit to help small businesses do the same.

So, as my business Facebook page says, "Content Creation and Management." What the heck is that? It's exactly what it says. I create content in the form of posts, tweets, updates, photos, memes, podcasts and video for use on social media. I've been volunteering my time for many years now with KWSS radio and TechPhx, and running their social media. I've learned so much, and am fascinated with the way social media works, and how people respond to it.

It's also interesting to see how small businesses use it, which is another thing that prompted me to start this business. Number one thing I see? Businesses don't put enough into their social media. This is not their fault however. As one of those small business owners, I get it. Time is hard to come by. When you are out there working on the other 5,000 parts of your business, you can't exactly stay connected 100% of the time on social media. You've got things to do!

This is why I made my business social media. I make the posts, I check the comments. I interact with other people and businesses for you. I find information to share that is relevant to your brand, so that you become a valuable source of information for anyone who follows you. My philosophy is if people get to know you and what you are about, they will want to know more about your business. After all, we started our businesses because we have something worthy to share, right? That's what you want people to see, and I help make that happen. I help you be seen.

I can also help you be heard. With years of audio and podcasting experience, I know the value of using a podcast to further your reach with current and potential clients. People love to listen to stories and learn more about who they are seeing in their social media feeds. Podcasting is the perfect compliment to social media promotions.

So that's really it. That's my business. My business is helping small businesses be seen and heard. I help them make it more personal and engaging. There's alot of content out there, and my goal is to make a small business stand out from all of the other content out there, so their name is what comes to a person's mind when they are looking for something specific.

Not only do I do this to help businesses be successful, I want to get to know you too! Social media works for me because I'm so social! Find me over on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

You Deserve A Break Today

The only television channel available.

This past weekend I, my husband, and kids drove up to the Cutler family cabin just north of Pine/Strawberry. My husband's grandparents bought the land over 30 years ago, and as he was growing up they built the cabin from the ground up. They also never put in satellite or any other luxury other than electricity and water. It's a wonderful escape for a day or two, because there is also no internet and cell phone service. You are forced offline.

Usually it's nice to get away out of the Phoenix heat, but this time even at nearly 90 degrees in the afternoon, it was on the warm side, so we decided to come back down a day early. I had originally prepared in advance to cover client accounts through Monday, as well as my time on the radio. Sunday night we returned home, instead of Monday afternoon.

I nearly went on the computer to check email, and then I paused. No one knew I was home yet. I was caught up through the next day, and all my clients knew I was out of town for 24 more hours. Even the auto-response on email was still on.

So I didn't check my email. I made a small list of things that I have always put off doing around the house because work was either in the way, or by the time I was finished with work, the last thing I wanted to do was something around the house. That is how I spent Monday, and it was great! Monday night I went and checked in because that was my original plan.

What alot of people don't realize is that managing social media is a 7 day gig. If you don't post something every day, thanks to the lovely Facebook algorithm, the stats drop. It only takes about 24 hours for that to happen. You don't have to post as often on the weekend, but a business still needs to maintain a daily presence. Luckily you can schedule posts in advance, but you need to watch and interact and respond to your followers.

When I don't have internet, I play!

I've now decided that once a month, I'm going to take a free day. Take the extra time to prep everything for clients and the radio in advance, and take a true day off work. Whether I use it to catch up with things around the house, or do nothing, or both, I found that the break was needed and I was ready to get back to work!







Thanks for reading! If you feel so inclined, you can follow my daily ramblings on Twitter, and get all sorts of information from my Facebook Page! See you around the interwebs!