Expert(ish) Advice...

Last week, Scott Miniea, Social Media Strategist for William Woods University, sent me a Facebook message and asked if I might have any time and/or interest in participating in a workshop on social media for business owners.  He thought I might have some insight into using social media and particularly, blogging, for new and growing businesses.  And if you've read this blog at all for any amount of time, you probably aren't terribly surprised that I responded "YES, YES, YES".  (Well, I may have played it a little more cool in my actual response to Scott, but in reality I was super excited and super flattered to be invited.)  My conversation with Jeanne may have looked a little more like this...

Held earlier today on the William Woods University campus in conjunction with the Fulton Chamber of Commerce, approximately thirty business owners were there to get the scoop on using Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and other social media to drive business.  And in a nice coincidence, Scott was talking about hashtags when I walked in and my first thought was, "I should have brought Jeanne to this." #HashtagIsNotAPerson.  #TrueStory.

Scott did an amazing job of discussing using social media and analyzing the data that sites like Facebook provide to maximize reaching potential customers.  I was pretty much glued to his every word and almost forgot that I was there to share some expertise on blogging.  And by expertise, I mean my simple proclivity to tell PJP stories late at night.

So here is the basic run down I gave today if you are someone who is starting a business and actually reads this blog in order to gain some insider tips.  First of all, you should probably find some legit source of expertise, preferably one written by someone not currently wearing pajamas.

If you are going to use blogging as a business tool, do it because you like to write.  Not because you feel like you should blog or someone else thinks it is a good idea.  As an avid reader myself, I favor blogs that are consistently updated and that tell a story.  Personally, my goal on this blog is not to discuss pie baking all the time...but to tell the story of two women who own a pie bakery.  There is a subtle difference between those two things.

I want the blog to reflect the reality of our day-to-day in growing PJP.  We make the conscious decision share the good, the bad, the hilarious, the heartbreaking, the annoying, and the overwhelming parts of our journey to world pie domination.  One day, those emotions will be a very real and integral part of our story.  Also, if the E! Network ever makes a "True Hollywood Story" about PJP, we can be correctly quoted.

And finally, there is no secret to blogging.  That's the secret.  It is really about finding the voice for the story you want to tell and knowing that it has to be done, even if you are the only person who will read it.  As Flannery O'Connor once said "I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say."

So, much thanks to Scott and the William Woods crew for allowing me to be a part of a great event.  And thanks to all the attendees who spent the time listening to what I had to say today...