Social Media Breakfast

This past week I took a big step forward for my massage practice and attended Social Media Breakfast Maine. SMB Maine is a monthly event put on by Amanda O’Brien and Kyle Pouliot of Hall Web Services to facilitate networking, communication, sharing and learning around the social media sphere. This month’s topic was about Blogging for Business, which I thought might be useful for me in starting my massage practice! Plus, Amanda is one of my oldest friends in the world and I wanted to get in on this work life of hers that I know nothing about! (This is also Justin’s world as well, so I’ve been wanting to understand a bit more about all this computer/web stuff that is so foreign to me!)
The moment I walked in the room I knew it was the right place to be… I forgot how much I love community, networking, learning events! (In fact much of my interests involve education and community in a variety of ways.) I am quite a shy, quiet person but I do love meeting new people and deepening connection in the community on a personal and professional level. The atmosphere was very relaxed but professional and although it was scary, it felt good to be sitting at a table and talking to people about who I am and why I was there. Introducing myself as a Massage Therapist and talking about newly starting a business gave me a boost and made it all more real and concrete for me. So far I have been stuck on my couch thinking about business cards and panicking about how to actually take action and find clients. This event helped me move into action and feel more prepared!
Three speakers addressed several different aspects of blogging and gave me some great tools and perspective about starting a blog for a business. The last speaker was local Portland business owner Chantal, who by sharing her experience helped make all of the advice and information more accessible and real. The entire experience made me feel prepared with a few new tools to start my own business. I have more than business cards now; I have ideas, motivation and some confidence that I can do this. Better yet, I’m not doing it alone. Resources exist everywhere and I have many at my disposal within my network of friends and family, and countless more out in the community.
I believe that things happen in their own time. It has taken me two years to feel ready and truly interested in starting my own massage practice, for many reasons, but it finally feels like the right time. As scary as it can be to put yourself out there, whenever I do I get good things in return which encourages me on. So I will continue to stumble forward in hopes that this is the right thing in this moment. Thank you all for your support. Stay tuned for information on my upcoming website!