I want to stand up, be counted and give a testimonial shout out to a few blogging friends of mine.   Here’s to Mike Sansone, Sandy Renshaw, and everyone on the I-List.  Let me tell you how they have changed my business life. 

Two years ago I met Mike Sansone at an entrepreneurs’ gathering. There we were, like-minded souls, sharing start-up stories and wine.  We had a nice visit but I couldn’t get my head wrapped around how blogging could be a serious business tool. (Wasn’t that what those cube rat Gen Xers do when they wanted to look busy but not be working?) I liked him well enough and respected his opinion, but I just could not "see" the power of using social media to grow my speaking and coaching business.

Fast forward several months and I was introduced to Sandy. She patiently pitched me on the creation of a blogging website for my business.  I knew that I needed a different website as I had just undergone a rebranding to enhance the business.  But the sites that I saw just did not make sense to me for my business model.  Again, I just didn’t "get" what she was saying to me. 

Ah, that sweet synchronicity!  Sitting at my hair designer’s studio one day, I picked up a copy of Wired magazine and read with interest about how CEOs were using blogs as a tool to build client and stakeholder relationships.  Eureka!!!  That was the key that I was searching for to make sense of this blogging phenomenon.  I started to see the light of the blogosphere shining brightly in front of my eyes.  If the big guys in the C-suite could blog and get results, then, I declared, so could I! 

Immediately, I called Sandy and we discussed the parameters of my new website.  Then I ran into Mike and we discussed how to make a blog entry come to life.  Then I began attending his Central Iowa Bloggers meetings.  The bloggers in Central Iowa have now become my family.  I trust them. I love them.  They give me hints and tips to make my messages clearer; more effective.  They give me hope that I, too, can be a Master Blogger someday.

But, the greatest thing about the ROI that I have gotten from investing the time and energy into the new and improved way that I do business (and it has been a time commitment!) is that just this week I have booked two speaking engagements and have been asked to serve on an Advisory Board as a direct result of my use of social media. That’s right… who knew…by building relationships, building trust and consistency with others in my blogging community, I have gained business. 

To Mike Sansone– thanks for having faith in me that I would one day "see the light".  To Sandy Renshaw– thank you for your patience as we developed a website that I love.  To Timothy Johnson, Art Dinkin, Angela Maiers, Chris Punke and all of my friends on the I-List:  I couldn’t have come this far without your help and support. A heartfelt thanks for your guidance and wisdom.

If you are thinking about starting a blog, I have one question to ask:  What are you waiting for?  If I can do this, so can you!  And there are lots of supportive people out there to help.