2009 April

I read a lot of blogs, I’m not one who comments unless I feel an article has touched a nerve in such a compelling way that I have to speak my mind. This is actually pretty difficult for me, because I am an opinionated person. I just choose to be careful about public response.

I also am involved in communicating on Twitter as often as I can. About 50% of the time I am watching and responding to things I read, and the rest I might comment about business, talk about coming work or more often just rattle off a thought I have at that moment because of something that has impacted me with the hopes I might help others in the same predicament.

I read a lot about the “Experts” issue, because I don’t have much choice, the group I follow are collectively people who are involved in Social Media in some business manner, but prefer that people not refer to themselves as experts. I am on the fence on this issue, primarily because noone knows who gets to set the criteria for the so called “Expert”, but there are many compelling ideas behind the concept. Do you have to be a marketing professional already? If not would some of these people qualify?

I know I am not a Social Media expert. How? Because my peers do not communicate with me on that level. In fact I don’t believe I rank on anybodys scale as a person knowledgaeble on this topic. But still, I do offer classes on the subject to local Small Businesses and I do make a small profit doing so, because my time is still worth money to someone. And more importantly, I do this for a good reason, someone needs to do it for a couple of reasons:

1. If you jump into this eyes closed, you can quickly become overwhelmed or underwhelmed. If you don’t know what to expect and some of the rules you are expected to follow (and yes folks, there are rules even if they are not posted anywhere on the sites for these tools) you will give up quickly having accomplished nothing and likely not to see the value it can bring to you.
2. I have goals that are much broader, I want to further the cause of Small Businesses like mine. It is a real struggle and has some very large ups and downs and education is a big part of how I feel I can offer something back.

Hey, I don’t have all the answers. But I’d rather do my best than do nothing. I want to believe I can help you, and I know that is a mix of my ego and my desire to be humble all jumbled up into one.

I know I have helped people, and know that I will continue to learn and pass that information forward as I can. I also believe that there is no “right” way to get involved. I teach an approach, be yourself and learn to build value to others. That is how I have grown my business before I knew a thing about Social Media! So really, I’m teaching a marketing class, or am I just teaching a class in common sense? Sometimes others just need to hear someone else say its ok before they act.

Im involved in Social Media, and you should be too. Follow the path that got you to where you are. It’s Ok!

Rosy Villa - @rosyblue

There are many people that use twitter for many different reasons, getting to know others, education, sharing information. How do you get the most out of twitter and what do you hope to accomplish?
Before joining Twitter, I sent out a weekly newsletter to family and friends. It was a hit and I really enjoyed it. Then, I decided that I wanted to write a blog. But, I had no clue what I needed to do, so the blog idea was placed on the back burner. One day I was reading the New York Times online, I came across the blog, Shifting Careers by Marci Albohers. The blog talked about putting yourself out there via a social network called Twitter. I created an account and that was it. I was clueless and didn’t really know what to do. I was getting followers, but didn’t grasp the concept of following back. Oh the pressure,  I didn’t update for a couple of months. After reading several articles and blog posts about twitter, I decided to use twitter for fun. But, as time has gone by, I realized that I’m using twitter, not only for fun, but educational  purposes, sharing information to people outside of twitter. Plus, I have met some amazing people. And, most importantly, I have realized the importance of social media for business and career, perhaps using twitter someday for this purpose, too. Twitter has changed what I would like to accomplish in life, it like I’m in a candy store and can’t decide what I need to do first. Since using Twitter, I have discovered that I really enjoy writing and  the possiblies are truly limitless. So watch out world, Rosy is here to stay!

Tell us where you are from and what you do for a living?
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. However I had a moment of exploration and moved briefly to Costa Mesa, California (in the O.C.) for 7 years, but missed Los Angeles and moved back. Ah, there is nothing like home sweet home. I have always worked in the health field. I started working in a doctor’s office (truly enjoyed it). The doctor that I worked for was the best (great work ethic and dedicated to the well being of his patients). Then, I moved on to a major Health Insurance Company, I worked in Customer Service and Claims. I loved the interaction with people (even if it was over the phone) and the satisfation that I was able to assist. It was a new experience and learned quite bit. And since I love helping people, the work came easy.  I moved up quickly in the company. As much as I loved the work, the environment was toxic and stressful. After several years,  budget cuts and buy outs,  I made the painful decision to leave two years ago. It was a scary decision, but a brave one. I decided to take my life back. All I was doing was working 10-12 hours a day,  6 days a week with little vacation time. It was time to go and decided to explore other options. I don’t think that I will ever truly leave the healthcare field, it’s too important to me. So as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says, “I’ll be back.”

Do you know others who use Social Media tools like Twitter in your area? What would you say about the knowledge of people in your area about Social Media in general?
I have a few friends who use Social Media tools like Plurk, Facebook, Identi.ca and friendfeed. To be quite honest, most of my friends use it for fun. Like me, we starting to use social media to enrich our lives and careers. We are a wee behind, but we will get there shortly.

What gets you really motivated and excited?
What truly keeps me motivated and super excites me is my thirst for knowledge. I’m curious about this world, always have been. And it’s keep me open minded. I have always been this way, I remember reading a book as a child, if I didn’t understand the word, I would look it up in the dictionary. I’ve always been a hard worker, nothing stops me from learning new things. I think staying motivated requires that you evolve as a person. I’m not the same person I was in my twenties. I love that about myself.  I just want to be the best person I can be.

Give us one crazy fact about yourself you haven’t already shared.
I own a lot of books, I’m forever reading.  When I hear about a new book, I must have it. I get a crazy feeling and start trying to figure out which is the best way to get the book a.s.a.p. And the truly crazy thing is, once I get the book, it’s probably another 5-6 months before I get a chance to read it (I always have a stack of books to read). I know, I know.