Who is Social Media DIY Workshop?
Charlene Kingston is the person behind Social Media DIY Workshop, teaching small businesses and solopreneurs how to incorporate social media into their businesses. Social media changed everything for her business, and she’s now helping others do the same. In short, she had a vision, and her vision has became her passion.
In 2008, Charlene decided to check out social media even though none of her friends or business associates were using it. What she found led to an epiphany. She started meeting business people in her city, Phoenix. She started attending meetups. She found herself using a social presence to establish relationships with a lot of people. Well-connected throughout the Phoenix area, she spoke at a few startup events A lot of attendees were interior designers hungry for good information about how to cope with the new social culture of business.
“Then my business took off. People needed good information, and practical instruction. Some of these small businesses are still acclimating to the 21st century, just getting onboard with social networks. Others are technically savvy. But they all need to understand the social ecosphere, and it’s my job to help them do that effectively.”
“These clients deserve to know how to enter the social ecosystem — and to do it right. That’s where I come in. I’m so tired of small businesses getting taken advantage of by unscrupulous “web experts” who conduct business by using technical jargon and fast talking to swindle people out of their money.”
Nimble, Deployed
As her reputation as a technical advisor on social media grew. Charlene quickly realized that in this instructive, advisory role, she is the product, she is the brand. Her reputation and her relationships were her main assets.
“I was going through a growth spurt, and knew that I needed some worktool support. Things were falling through the cracks. In my world, a growth spurt becomes evident when something breaks. My wake-up call came when t missed an important deadline. I knew I needed a better way to keep track of my tasks and my contacts so that I wouldn’t lose credibility. I needed a new CRM to keep everything straight.”
“I asked a trusted friend for advice, and Nimble was on the short list. I did my due diligence and a couple of things started to tip the scale for Nimble. Most important was that Nimble understood the social piece, understood that the social part of the relationship can’t be in a compartment away from the work. Nimble merged social with workflow — where it should be.”
“Using Nimble was like entering what appeared on the outside to be a small tent (like the magic one in the Harry Potter books) and finding yourself in a huge room. It’s bigger on the inside. Nimble was so much more than I had expected — I couldn’t even imagine the efficiency, the changes to my workflow — the things I would be able to do.”
“The funny thing was that I was thinking with my old worktool mindset. But here came Nimble, just in a different class entirely. I didn’t even know what I had been missing until I saw how much better my life got using Nimble.”
Suddenly it was all together: my to do list, task management, email, social streams. Right now I’m looking forward to setting up Saved Searches to help me more efficiently monitor the social sphere in a more targeted way — with several keyword and hashtag searches combined into discrete searches so I can spot hot topics and trends.”
The Future Is Unfurling
Charlene likes warming up relationships in advance of — or in the midst of — “doing business.” She says that it “makes doing business together so much more pleasant and natural.”
Charlene’s business model is based on generosity. She understands that people do business with those they know, like, and trust.
“I love what I’m doing and I’m filling a need. Nimble is helping me to take the “happy accident” of my new career path — and do it confidently”
Alyson Stone is director of content strategy at Nimble, and writes frequently for the blog.
