I’ve been planning to launch this site, at least in my mind, since last October. As they say, thinking about something and actually doing it are two separate things. Being a huge advocate of planning helped me tremendously. I gave myself six months to prepare, knowing well that once my blog site was published I would have to be prepared to, well, blog.

Effectively engaging into social media practices naturally takes time, and thought, about what one wants to accomplish. I spent more than 40 hours in live workshops, seminars, and various presentations from those who knew more than I did on the topic. I don’t believe for a second that once we post our Face Book and LinkedIn pages we can qualify ourselves as an expert. I will continue to have a lot to learn, but am getting better at “getting it.”

Since October I have discovered countless new websites in which I learned something new and relevant. I have enjoyed the referred posts from colleagues and have been quite active in leaving comments to blogs I felt provided value to me.

To be a best-selling author, one would have to write a book. We all know people who want to write a book, but never will simply due to time constraints. These potential best-selling authors are all over the Internet writing short posts, referencing powerful sites, and sharing expertise, experience and humor with others. It’s an eye-opener for me to discover so many people whom I will never meet in person but can enjoy their contributions via personal branding websites.

There are a number of people encouraging me to do this – launch kathycarrico.com –  and start writing daily. So here I am on Friday, June 11th going LIVE!  “Good for me,” I say to myself, because regardless of who reads what I write, or who takes time to comment, blogging is absolutely one of the best processes I’ve discovered that keeps my mind sharp, organizes my thoughts, and provides therapeutic solitude as I reflect upon what interests me and what value I can share.

Many thanks to my NSBDC family who keep asking, “When are you going to start blogging, KC?” because for some insane reason they believe I’ll get this. Oh, and let’s not forget, I am not the “techy” type like Kristy Crabtree who built this site and provided the best photo of rural Nevada I’ve ever seen.  She’s got to be the one of the smartest and easiest persons to work with…totally non-nerdy and absolutely has the best hair of anyone I’ve ever known, seriously! It is a pleasure, my friend, to do business with you!

My biggest thanks goes out to Bret Simmons, who is actually in Spain as I write, who turned my head around at the Sparks Chamber Business Forum last fall, in a mere 60-minute presentation on the whats and whys of personal branding – so, Dr. Bret, thank you for providing YOUR value to me!