New Year's Resolves and Thanks

As 2011 draws to a close (and I have to be honest, for many reasons, I am not unhappy to see the back-ass of it!), I feel compelled to talk about the things that DID work in 2011.  Without a doubt, most of the great things that happened all had to do with some kind of social networking.

Now, I am not saying that my life without Facebook and Twitter and Linked In would have been empty and devoid of anything.  Indeed not.  I am a wife, mother of two amazing children and I feel incredibly certain that 2011 was my break-in year.  But, I would be remiss if I didn't give some credit to the aforementioned sites.  Let me elaborate.

I wrote and published two books in 2011.  I joined Facebook in June after my publishing company's marketing director advised it was an effective tool for getting the word out about my books.  I had much trepidation and was unsure of what I was doing.  I needn't have been.  Facebook embraced me like a long lost daughter.  I now have well over 650 people I am happy to call friends and even fans.  In 2011, I wrote three more manuscripts and am thrilled they will be the foundation for the successful 2012 I am predicting.  In the words of another author, I am going to work hard to make 2012 my BREAK-OUT year.

I then tackled Twitter.  Slow going at first, I have found that not only is it a great place to showcase my sharp and dry wit, but also a killer place to network for my books.  I have followers, which boggles my mind, and I follow the people and companies that are directly related to my writing.  And it is beginning to pay off in small ways.  I'm not afraid of it anymore and I can now count myself among the legions of people who understand the word "hashtag".

I had been blogging all along, but now I became more focused on the benefits of that as well.  And again, social networking rewarded me handsomely.  I saw my blog followers grow from 11 to over 90, and the "lurkers", those who don't officially follow but check you out every day, have grown the hits on my blog to well over 5000.  I consider that wildly successful.

And lastly, due to my hastily at first and then later more detailed profile on LinkedIn, I have landed what just may be the job of my dreams.  I wasn't looking, but was contacted by a recruiter who read some key things on my profile that matched the job he was trying to fill.  In short order, I sent in a resume, received an interview, conquered that, and landed the position.  It will increase my family's financial position considerably and give me a daily feeling of productivity while being rewarded for my expertise.  Simply put, I am over the moon.

So, I owe all social networking a big thanks and a huge hug.  I love my friends on facebook, I enjoy my contacts on Twitter and I am grateful for the ability to profile myself professionally on LinkedIn.  And I'm not done.  I have recently learned about Tumblr and intend to attack that as well.

So, for all of you who have questioned the value of internet networking, STOP IT!  Get on here, and get on here now!  I'll save you a place next to me!

Happy New Year!