When I signed up for Twitter four years ago, I had no idea how much it would help me to expand my network. I’ve received referrals and inquiries, books and products to review, guest blogging opportunities, and connections to people I now consider friends, even though we’ve never met in person. One of those people is Linda Samuels, author of The Other Side of Organized.
Linda is a regular participant in the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, and was kind enough to write a guest post for me about how she fulfilled her dream of writing a book, so when she invited me to take part in her ”Ask the Expert” series, I didn’t hesitate for a moment. If you’ve ever considered enlisting help, whether from a virtual assistant such as myself, or in any area of your life, I hope my answers to Linda’s questions will enlighten you and perhaps even encourage you to take that next step.
You may not realize that the topic for August’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival was Top Ten Lists. Linda’s submission was titled 10 Best Sources for Organizing Help, and much to my surprise and delight, not only did she include the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival on her list, she cleverly used that opportunity to announce my upcoming appearance on her blog.
Linda and I are very different kinds of people: my personality type is ISTJ while hers is ENFJ, yet despite that, or perhaps because of it, we get along nicely and learn much from each other. Our relationship reminds me of that old song:
We belong to a Mutual Admiration Society.
Is there someone in your life who inspires and supports you? I’d love to hear about it!
Janet- Words cannot begin to express my deep gratitude for our connection and friendship. One of the most wonderful aspects of engaging in social media is getting to know amazing people, like you. Talk about inspiring and supporting…you are the definition on both.
Thank you for all your phenomenal sharing. You give our organizing industry a great venue to contribute to every month with the PO Blog Carnival opportunity. I am thrilled that you said “yes” to being an Ask the Expert” guest. I love how you responded to the questions, and the post continues to generate engaged conversation.
To my inspiring, supportive friend…wishing you a fabulous day. Sending you my appreciation and thanks for this beautiful post and for being the amazing person that you are.
This is a great example of how collaborative teaming is possible, and POWERFUL! Congrats to both of you for being a shining example of synergy and partnership in a world of bitter competition and snively smallness… Shine your lights – together they are so much brighter!!
Thank you, Cena. There is always room for everyone to thrive. It’s especially wonderful when we can help one another to do so. I appreciate your lovely words. Honored to be involved in an industry of giving, fabulous people like you and Janet.
Love this post! Its all about how to play well with others, a topic that goes from Kindergarten through adulthood, but not always well done. I love that connections exist virtually, especially for Janet and myself as introverts, but also that those connections lead to great bonuses financially and in other ways. Thanks for sharing a great tag for all of us to follow!
Wow, Ellen! What a surprise that you describe yourself as an introvert. I was surprised when Janet told me that she was one too. This doesn’t come across through social media or in person.
I love your comment about playing well with others and how that theme follows us from early childhood through our adulthood. Social media is yet another way to expand on this theme. The connections and new forms of communication are wonderful. While we get to see each other once or twice a year, we can stay connected through our social media channels more regularly. You’re always sharing great content and I’m appreciative of that.
I love that comment too! Once I made a Follow Friday recommendation and “plays well with others” was the reason I gave for the recommendation. There are a lot of people on social media who seem to think it’s all about them, and it’s a joy to find people who are in it for the relationships.
I think social media is great for introverts, because it’s essentially a form of written communication (which we prefer) but it comes across as spoken word, making us seem more extraverted than we really are. I’ve blogged a bit about this at http://introvertretreat.com but not for quite a while, and I think I need to cover that topic again soon.
You’re on to something big here, Janet. Social media as an introverts paradise. OK. Maybe that’s a bit extreme. But what’s interesting is that as an extrovert, I also find social media a wonderful way to connect with people. Face to face communication is still my preferred mode, but what I’ve come to realize is that communication takes many forms. All of them are useful and engaging if you’re using them in a positive way. Looking forward to reading more about introversion. Please send me the links when you’ve got a new post up.