Hello everyone! I’m excited to begin blogging here!
As I am sure you have noticed from my title, I am not a Mom…yet. However, the reason I was drawn to doing business online was because I began thinking ahead to when my husband and I do start a family (hopefully not too far off). I decided I wanted to craft a flexible business so that I can be home with my children when the time comes. Couple that with a strong desire to work for myself and here I am.
One of the most supportive groups I’ve found is here in the Mompreneurs Online community. Not only is everyone more than willing to share helpful information and cheer you on, the ladies are inspirational to me in a big way. Seeing so many successful women juggling both a family and a business helps me see that it is indeed very possible. And I always appreciate the candor–sharing both the good and bad and ups and downs of being a Mompreneur!
As for my business, I’m an Online and Social Media Marketing Consultant, Trainer and Coach. I teach small business owners and professionals how to conquer the overwhelm of online and social media marketing to increase business and maximize profits. My mission is to teach others how to gain more time, money and freedom by leveraging the power of the Internet.
I’ve always been interested in media, communication and technology. In college it was mass media—TV and radio. But I have really been an internet junkie since I was a teenager. I started my first blog in 2004 and have had several since then. About 4 or so years ago, as new media was really coming to the forefront—podcasts, RSS, social networks—what people refer to as Web 2.0—I became really fascinated with that.
Around the same time I started a couple of businesses and really became aware of how big of a role marketing played in keeping a solo business afloat. It wasn’t enough to be good at what it was you were doing. Since I was so comfortable with technology I really immersed myself in learning all of these online marketing techniques. There started to be a buzz around this thing called social media and I was drawn to how this could be used to connect to all of these potential clients and customers. And be done in such a way that was very natural and not a type of “push” marketing which never sat well with me anyway.
I really liked the whole relationship-building aspect of it and that at its core it was about connecting and conversation. I was seeing that the results could be phenomenal. And because I see so many solopreneurs struggling with marketing, especially because they feel it’s sort of disingenuous and “yucky” and the whole resistance to the early morning business card exchange type networking, I realized there was a real need to teach these social media/online marketing integrated strategies. To show them it doesn’t have to be such a struggle and that you can really leverage this technology.
So, that’s a bit about me. I can’t wait to help you learn more about social media and online marketing! I am looking forward to the discussions.
Christine Gallagher, MLS, MSIS
Online and Social Media Marketing Consultant, Trainer and Coach for Small Business Owners
http://communicatevalue.com
Friend me on Facebook: http://profile.to/christinegallagher/
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChristineG
Link up on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/christinesgallagher
Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran