Deborah Hanchey over at My WP Works recently completed the Virtual Event Specialist program through the VA Classroom and offered to try out her new skills for me. I, of course, chose to talk about my favorite subject: social media.

We cover a lot of ground in 17 minutes, from statistics, to why you need social media, to how to plan your social media activity.

It’s all valuable information, so please take a look. I’d love your feedback!

This morning I taught a group of two dozen local contractors about social media. The class met their CEU requirements for the year, so it was a mixed bag of interest levels. Many did not even have websites, and some didn’t have an email address. Since I knew that going in, I was happy to entertain them with lots of examples of why and how they should consider social media as a marketing component. While preparing for the half-day class I found lots of good examples of how contractors around the country are using videos, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. I am so thankful for how social media has changed the face of my own business, how I market, how I learn, and how I can help my clients. My Twitter and Facebook connections have proved to be the major source of information for me and I am grateful for how willing people are to share what they know. Social media also provides the socialization I crave while working from home. It’s the tool I didn’t know I needed until I found it!

I hope y’all have had as fulfilling a week as I have. It’s been so busy – in a good way – that I haven’t slowed down enough to post until now. Yesterday was my Lunch & Learn at the Small Business Development Center here in town. They are housed on the LSU-Shreveport campus, and since I have a growing relationship with both the University and the SBDC, they asked me to offer a class to their business contacts. The topic was my signature speech, “Three Reasons Your Business Should Use Social Media.”

After talking to over 30 eager business owners I drew two names (from their business cards) to receive a free 30 minute consultation with me. There were lots of good comments and participation from the group and that really gets me fired up. Being out of my home office is a very welcome change.  Working from home is great, but I miss the interaction with real people. All of you work-at-home people know what I am talking about!

If you have a business or are thinking of starting one, then by all means contact your friendly, neighborhood SBDC. They have lots of free classes, some for a small fee, and they offer excellent information and resources on a variety of important topics. I took a couple of classes when I first started my business, and took advantage of free counseling with their business consultants. Here’s a link to the Louisiana SBDC page, or google to find your own state’s website.

Thank you, SBDC!  Have you taken advantage of their offerings yet?