Are you taking full advantage of social media?

The other day I was chatting to a friend and successful entrepreneur, when she commented on some of my recent initiatives and asked how I found out about and used so many of the new social media and online tools that are now available.

I must admit, until then I hadn’t given it much thought and to be honest, I’d not even realised what and how much I was doing. Since reflecting on this conversation and specifically, on my friend’s question, I’ve become even more aware of just how amazing technology is and just how much I’ve been able to use it in recent years to achieve some amazing things. Let me cite for you just a few of the activities in which I’ve engaged over the last month or so.

• I’ve been building up a following on Twitter and following some other amazing micro-bloggers.
• I’ve been connecting to some incredible people through LinkedIn and communicating with academics and experts all over the globe; these are people I would rarely have had the opportunity to meet or interact with only a few short years ago.
• I’ve participated in several Skype calls; that’s free conversations with colleagues and clients in other states of Australia and other countries.
• I’m beginning to play with and work out how to utilise Facebook as a social and professional network.
• I was the guest expert in an online forum discussion hosted by a fantastic non-for-profit I help out and in which a group of young people were able to discuss mental health issues and ask related questions they’d probably never normally discuss or typically ask if not for the anonymity of the online world.
• I’ve delivered several Webinars (such as this one coming up) in which hundreds of people from all over the world can log on and gain access to information they otherwise would never be able to find or utilise.
• And I’ve written and started to offer a free online course providing information for those trying to overcome depression but geographically unable to access a professional or financially unable to afford professional fees.

Why am I telling you all this?

Well, partly because each and every item listed above barely even existed 10 years ago and so I think it’s absolutely amazing that we can do some of the things we can do now. But more than this, I’m not necessarily trying to promote my specific activities or even to promote these incredible tools (although some of you might be interested in both of these) but more so, to highlight my answer to the question I asked myself following my chat with my friend.

Just to remind you, the question was “Why am I doing all this?”

And my answer, having now given this much thought, is to build trust and relationships. There’s no doubt that the technology behind many or all of these tools and sites is incredible and there’s no doubt that I couldn’t have even contemplated doing some of these things five to 10 years ago. But there’s also no doubt that the reason I spend some of my valuable time tapping away and organising events which directly bring in no revenue or provide no immediate benefits is because they provide me with incredible opportunities to help others, to enhance my reputation, to grow my network and to promote my expertise and services to people who in the normal course of events I might never meet and who’d probably never hear about me. And what’s the secret to success and happiness if not building good and positive relationships and doing good things to and for others?

As I started with a question I thought I might also finish with a question…What are you doing to take advantage of technological advances and ultimately, to build your network and boost the relationships you have with others?

Dr Tim Sharp’s latest book (out now) is ‘100 Ways to Happiness: a Guide for Busy People’ (Penguin). You can find out more about corporate programs, presentations and coaching services at www.drhappy.com.au and www.thehappinessinstitute.com. You can also ask him questions using the comments panel below.

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