more

February 4, 2010 · 6 comments

So.

Here’s the thing.

I want something more. I want to BE something more. I want to be more involved, but I have no idea how.  (And I’m not talking about my marriage or my family or my boys…I’m talking about me and this online, social media world)

Take for example, my office…

I wanted to get the office online, so I built a website.  I think it’s pretty decent.  I made it so patients could email us and even download their paperwork from there to save themselves time.  I wanted to put us on Facebook (because really, who isn’t on there these days?), so I did….but now I don’t know how to keep up with it, how to get people to it, how to USE it.  Same with Twitter.   I wanted to start emailing my patients newsletters, appointment reminders, special sales, only to find out that my staff has been skipping entering email addresses.  I did create a survey that can be completed online, and it has been getting some response, but how do I get more?

Take for example my Melanoma…

I wanted to create a place to share my stories and the stories of others – kind of a support system for people with similar experiences, as well as resources and other ideas.  So I created Defying Melanoma  – but it’s only MY story, and my resources are the same as everyone else.  How do I make it stand out? How do I get people to share their stories? How do I make it a community?

I wanted to go to Blissdom, but with my business being in such shambles and my not having been paid in awhile, the only way I could’ve gone was by winning a trip (which I didn’t).  I know that there are other ways to learn, but I have no clue where to start, so I really felt like that conference would have been the opening that I needed…not only to meet people, but to learn how people do things.  I’ve never met anyone who I know online, and it’s times like these – when so many are together, or when they are working together on websites and writing together, that I feel totally left out.

You can certainly say it’s my fault – I’m not assertive with people and I totally suck at small talk.  I don’t ask for what I want, mostly because I am not really sure what that is. I don’t have much of a following here, so it’s not like I can use this place as a starting point. I’m not a fabulous writer – I just write what I think – I’m not an amazing photographer or web designer or social media expert. I want what everyone wants…to be liked and accepted and admired.  There is no one thing I am awesome at.  I have a ton of skills that get me by, but nothing that sets me apart. I’m a decent cook, I take fairly good photos, I know a lot of useless facts, I can build a decent website, I have some technological skills, I can sew and scrapbook; I can clean and be snarky.  I have common sense.  But, master of nothing.

I’m not even sure where this whole “poor me” thing came from today…I was just cleaning and hanging out with the boys and checking twitter…

I’m not looking for anyone to blow smoke up my ass or anything…I’m a good person, smart, halfway decent looking, funny…I just feel like I’m being left behind in this whole social media world we live in.

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

witchypoo February 4, 2010 at 2:58 pm

I’m totally overwhelmed by it, to the point that I want to dump Google Reader, and FaceBook never gets my attention.
.-= witchypoo´s last [bit of blogging genius] ..Funeral Potatoes =-.

Reply

Jen February 4, 2010 at 3:00 pm

I totally understand this feeling. I’ve been trying to get more involved myself. I want this “new” thing that I love so much to become profitable for me. I don’t want to sell my soul or anything I just want to be able to make money doing something I love for a change.

Reply

annettek February 4, 2010 at 4:27 pm

Let me just say, ME TOO! The worst thing for me is that I did go to BlogHer and I still didn’t get the answers to those questions. I suck at promoting myself and I’m definitely feeling left behind. I’m very glad you vented for me. 😉
.-= annettek´s last [bit of blogging genius] ..just give me something to blog about =-.

Reply

Loralee February 4, 2010 at 11:38 pm

Babe, we all have these days. They SUCK.

Promotion can be tricky (AND I SUCKETH AT IT, TOO). I have learned LOADS by being on the board of my local chapter of Social Media Club.

I also follow women who are freaking awesome at it and try to look up stuff online as much as I can.

It can all be overwhelming.

But I truly think you can do it, sweetpea. xo
.-= Loralee´s last [bit of blogging genius] ..I should probably start off this post title with a warning telling you all that I have pretty much guzzled my weight in green cough syrup. Which, due to my non-drinking, Mormon upbringing and freakishly lightweight status means I am TOTALLY SLAMMED. So ya know…you have been warned n’ stuff. I loathe grody green cough syrup. Because I pretty much think this stuff tastes like ass. Or worse than ass. IS there anything worse than that? Wait…I don’t think I want to know that because really, tasting like ass is bad enough, thanks. MAN, does this stuff make you completely plowed. I think the Care Bears were here a minute ago. It also means that you don’t give a freaking frig about, uh…ANYTHING. Which totally comes in handy for me right now.Though I should probably have figured out that I shouldn’t go NEAR MY COMPUTER on any kind of mind altering substance. (I am quite enough sober, right?) but hey…it’s fun. And this is a nice stress reliever since I am working on like, 5 posts and 5 projects all at once. It’s nice to just throw something out there without being all anal and overthinking it all. Although I am probably going to have a killer case of posting regret in the morning. I hate computer regret. It sucks a duck. I need to learn to just just walk away from the computer. Or call a friend. Or eat an entire pie. I kinda think I vote for the pie because I have a fierce streak of phone anxiety. And the new phone I have has a touch pad keyboard and I suck at using it. I think that my extremities are too cold AND I have like, zero coordination and bad tech karma so I am pretty much screwed in this area. I mis-dial people ALL THE TIME ON IT.I swear I kept calling this Yak-tending Afghan dude one time when I was trying to order Chinese take out. Or maybe it was the right number and I just really suck at accents, who knows? Which reminds me, if I call my bank to get a new ATM card ONE MORE TIME and cannot understand what the HELL the person on the other line is saying I am going to go open up a firece can of “Utah Pioneer Stock WHOOPASS” on someone. For reals. I don’t care that companies outsource but for the love of all that is holy I HAVE TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND 1 of 5 WORDS THAT COME OUT OF THEIR MOUTHS, OK? And I was just kidding about the whole “Utah Pioneer Stock” thing. I am freakishly weak. It’s a well known fact. Ask anyone. I also have a freakish hairline, which is only slightly less well known by people. And I am prone to cold sores when I am sick or under stress. Which is TOTALLY known by EVERYONE but people are polite and pretend to notice that I don’t have a growth the size of Mt.Rushmore on my face. Right now I have one on my lip. It’s awesome. And I am going to lunch in a few days with a total stranger. NOTHING says “GET TO KNOW ME!!!” like Herpes, right? Rad. Maybe I’ll insist that we go to that Chinese place that I tried to call earlier and see if there are any Yak-tending Afghans in the region. I hope not. I don’t have anything against Yaks, I just don’t think that they are very sanitary, you know? I’d also hate for a local business to be shut down just because someone bitched about a stray Yak hair ruining their Too Wong Foo entree party (or whatever). It would make me cry. And I have cried too much tonight. Which I totally blame on aforementioned green cough syrup of ass. It tends to make me just a tad emotional and a liiiitttlllee bit off kilter. Which explains why I am crying my eyes out over the soundtrack of “Goodbye Mr. Chips” and contemplating streaking down my snow laden street in the middle of the night. Nah. That just sounds like too much effort and I hate the cold. Dude just thinking about going outside nekkid right now is making my girly bits write letters of protest. Watch, so I will be getting a stern letter of censure from the UN. Not that the UN would take an expressed intrest in my girlie bits. It might cause outrage and lead to centure from…uh…wait….who centures the UN when they are in need of a sternly worded letter? I have no clue. I have no clue about a great MANY things. Like why THE HELL I still watch “Lost”. I swear that show exists PURELY TO MAKE MY HEAD EXPLODE WEEKLY. It’s like that bad boyfriend that you know makes you miserable but you just cannot walk away from. Just watch. The end is going to have Jack and Sawyer giving in to their pent up, frustrated man-love and getting married (Woot! Gay rights! Yay!) Kate will start making her own line of cuff jewelery with that ditzy,evitcted housewife from “Real Housewives: OC” and Sun will deliver her baby. Only it’s black and is the love child of that totally hot religous/drug-dealing guy that died in Season Two.The fact that she had a 4 year pregnancy is EASILY explained by that Jacob guy that is older than Jesus’s sandles only you have to go snorkle in a pond of Jello pudding and grab a purple lily pad on the bottom with the number 3 etched on it in ancient Arabic before he will tell you. Then the island explodes. The End. Now, I know that leaves I few loose ends. Like I know all of you want to know WTF Claire always looked fresh as a daisy but Kate looked like she wrestled daily with a pack of dirty bikers to get a buck for the payphone but too bad so sad…some mysteries on that island are just too much for the human mind to wrap itself around. Kind of like this post. Dude, I SHOULD have been a writer for Lost, right? Maybe I can submit this post as part of my portfolio of why they should accept me to prove that I can write things that MAKE NO FREAKING SENSE AT ALL! Will you all vote for me if I put a glittery badge on my site? Or ads? What if I took out an ad petitioning for a spot? No? You are already overexposed by that freaking mom and her freaking secrets about tooth whitening? Yeah. Me, too. In fact, if I see one more ad or Tweet about it I WILL hunt her down and throttle her for the eleventyhundred forks she has made me want to stick in my eye. Talk about over kill. Kind of like this entire post. Or post title. Whatever. Either way, I should wrap up. I’m tired and want to go to sleep for a eleventyhundred years. Which I think this stuff is totally capebable of making happen. Which means, in conclusion, that though it pretty much tastes like ass… =-.

Reply

flutter February 5, 2010 at 10:34 pm

HOly crap, I had to scroll for like, 10mins after that comment! 😛

why doncha email me? I can help.
.-= flutter´s last [bit of blogging genius] ..Shawty’s got me singin’ =-.

Reply

Shine February 7, 2010 at 9:36 pm

I know exactly how you feel honey. I’m into a number of things, none of which I am amazing at. But I’m kind of getting the feeling I need to decide to throw myself with careless abandon into my passion (writing) and just go for it. I think at times I’m hesitant because I’m unsure it’s worth it. But I think that even saying I tried will be worth it in the end. You have a lot going on right now…make the best of it and your chance to shine will make itself apparent!

Reply

Cancel reply

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: