FaceBook, Social Networking and What's Up?

As friends have reminded me, it's been a while since I've updated this blog. The Yuletide is a busy time in any ministerial household and Lindsay and I have been dealing with holiday services, entertaining and activities. Also, one of our beloved cats gently passed to her ancestors this month. We miss Freya, our senior citizen who died quietly at home after a five year battle with kidney disease. It's probably an eccentricity, but our cats mean of a lot to us and the death of one of them shuts us down for a time.

But I've not been idle. My practice seems to be relatively unaffected by the current recession, and client care has had my attention. For some reason the Ethics Committee of the National Guild of Hypnotists has been unusually busy too (I'm the Chairman).  While most of the issues that have come before the Committee are not really ethics issues (for example, they concern business deals gone wrong), it still takes some time to deal with them in an appropriate and helpful way.

The task before me currently is to figure out a way for my practice to better embrace the "new media" of social networking and electronic communication. I've concluded that the "old media" of the Yellow Pages and Surface Mail have had their time. The focus of the next generation of small businesses and practices will rely on social networking and computers to let people know they exist.

As of July, I will terminate all Yellow Pages listings and am in the midst of creating my professional presence on social networking systems such as Facebook and Twitter. The test marketing of this new approach showed a very high degree of client acceptance. Over the years people have asked for some way to get "more" of me than they can get at my clinics, programs and private sessions. The social networking systems are a way for me to provide that in order to deepen my professional and personal relationships.

So if someone is curious about what I am up to, what books I am reading or recommend, etc. you can learn that by becoming my "Friend" on Facebook. The Twitter microblog feed will soon appear there as well.

Leaving a note on my Facebook "Wall" becomes a great way to keep in touch after our consultation has ended.

Additionally, I can send my "Friends" an event notice if I am speaking somewhere they might want to attend, and people can use my "Friends List" to look for referrals to colleagues and professionals I trust.

Even at this early stage of development I'm impressed by how much I can do on Facebook to provide informal assistance to colleagues, clients and others, and that's neat. I like systems that are fast, efficient and are gentle on the environment.

If you want to know my Facebook status or go to my Facebook page, return to the Welcome page of this web site. Scroll down and you will see the Facebook banner. Just give it a click.